Vintage Crafting

A while back a friend came across this gem at a book sale: The Good Housekeeping New Complete Book of Needlecraft. She though of me and picked it up. It was published in 1971 and includes patterns and tutorials for knitting, crochet, macrame, cross stitch, sewing, embroidery, quilting and more stuff. The patterns range from hip/retro to goofy/ridiculous. (The 1950′s pamphlets also pictured are also fun… I’ll get to those later.)

Some inspiring patterns:

2 Dresses - one crochet, one knit

a crochet motif dress

not crochet or knit but cute!

Some pretty goofy patterns:

A "Tent" dress? Why?

OK, the sweaters aren't bad but the guy on the left is wearing a ski mask!

this is just hideous!

Vintage craft books are fun! A friend of mine has a really funny coffee table book filled with photos of ridiculous knit and crocheted things from mostly the 60′s and 70′s. I need to figure out what it was or see if I can borrow it. It’s just fascinating :)

Tags: books, inspiration, review, vintage
Category Crochet, Knit, Reviews |

A Tunisian Sweater

Sometime last week I bought a pattern for Wired, a Tunisian crochet sweater from Tension Magazine and ordered the yarn from Knit Picks.  I didn’t expect the yarn to come in until today (Monday) at the earliest so I was delighted when it arrived on my doorstep Saturday morning!  I promptly got started on the sweater even though I hadn’t really planned on starting it right away.  It’s a really interesting and challenging pattern… and completely out of my comfort zone.  All the sweaters I’ve made in the past were seamless, raglan sleeved, and worked from the top-down so it can easily be tried on as you go and adjusted as necessary.  This one is worked in pieces from the bottom up, has set-in sleeves, and will require lots of seaming.  It’s also not my usual color scheme (I bought a colorway that was discounted and saved over $11.00!)

Once I started it, I had a hard time stopping.  I actually can’t believe how much of it I finished over the weekend.  I’m almost to the armhole shaping for the front side.  As you might see above, I’m using my Denise Interchangeable Crochet Hook with a long cable.  It is way more comfortable to use than a long metal Tunisian hook!

I’m making this in the 3rd size (which is 35) and now that I have a good chunk of it done I’m a little worried that it might end up being too small.  It is stretchy and is supposed to fit tightly but it seems very narrow in the waist.  We’ll just have to find out but I do have a possible back up plan in case it is too small… I might be able to attach panels into the sides where it will be seamed.

Tags: crochet, hooks, magazines, NatCroMo, review, sweater, tools, tunisian
Category Crochet, Reviews, Techniques, Tools |

Square Crochet Hook Review

My favorite hooks are generally the simple plastic inline style but I’m always up for trying out different hooks to see if I might like it better.  When I found the Kollage Square Crochet Hooks at Yarnmarket they were like nothing I’d ever seen before, I was intrigued.  I guess Kollage started this idea with square wood knitting needles that are apparently easier on the hands than typical round needles.  I can’t speak for those as I don’t knit enough to know but the hooks are definitely NOT easier on the hands.

I thought maybe it was time I bought myself a really nice hook… but it’s not a nice hook. It’s a simple metal hook glued into a square rosewood handle… crookedly! I had a hard time taking a photo that showed this but the hook part leans off to one side.  Definitely not a hook that should have cost nearly $13 (way more than I’ve ever spent on a single hook)!  It’s also really uncomfortable to crochet with… but, you know, that’s the risk you take buying stuff from the couch…

But check it out if you dare…

Tags: hooks, review, tools
Category Reviews, Tools |