Olé!

Several weeks ago a friend and I spent time looking at 19th century patterns and found a particularly fetching pattern for a “Spanish Opera Hood.” The lovely librarians at the Lincoln Presidential Library made a copy for us and I’ve finally gotten to trying it out. I pondered over what yarn to use and did a little research into the various types of yarn and what this particular pattern calls for. I ended up using some Alpaca Cloud yarn from Knit Picks just because I had some left over and I thought it would have a nice drape and I wasn’t exactly aiming for historical accuracy at this point. I was more worried about using some scraps to test the accuracy of the pattern.

Here’s what the pattern looks like from the Peterson’s book. Very fetching, don’t you think?!

And here’s what I’ve done so far. The size isn’t really right but just because of the yarn I’ve used but so far so good with the pattern. Now I’ve got to pick up around the gray border and do the ‘lining’ which evidently is a mirror of this section. After the lining, I’ll just have to do the little extra bit at the top and I’m done! That’s all. Ha!

I've got some changes I would make to some of the procedures but only out of convenience, not because the pattern isn't clear. For instance, next time I shall use a provisional cast-on so I won't have to pick up all those stitches for the lining (263 stitches, to be exact). Also, I shall use a fingering or dk weight yarn, which is actually closer to what the pattern calls for and a little bit larger needles. I'm working on my US 4s right now (as I almost always do with lace weight yarn). I do really like the drape of the alpaca, though.

Only 1 mistake in the pattern so far, too. But it was really only a typo and was very obvious, so I don't think that really counts.

Penwiper

Since I’ve been looking into 19th century patterns (Godey’s, Weldon’s & Peterson’s), I’ve been seeing patterns for things called “penwipers.” It intrigued me because I couldn’t figure out how they would wipe pens on these beautiful knitted, crocheted and sewn pen wipers.

I was finally won over by some folks on a Ravelry vintage group when it was explained that these were covers for the actual part on which the pens were wiped and that there were often black fabrics or other dark fibers for the serviceable areas. I’ve seen one now that used a pom-pom of black yarn as the wiper part.

I’ve posted some examples of the patterns on my web site so you can have a look. I would be really fascinated to see some firsthand. Now that I know what they are, I need to start keep an eye out for them in the antique shops.

I couldn’t find any penwipers on ebay but I did find one reproduction of a book from 1896 and here are the patterns that were included:

• Angel Penwiper
• Chicken Penwiper and Pincushion
• Crocheted Penwiper
• Extinguisher Penwiper
• Fez Penwiper
• Jester Penwiper
• Round Penwiper
• Nyanza Penwiper
• Parasol Penwiper
• Tulip Penwiper #1
• Tulip Penwiper #2
• Turk's Cap Penwiper
• Umbrella Stand Penwiper and Holder
• Water Lily Penwiper
• Wheel Penwiper
• Witch's Hat Penwiper
• Another Penwiper

Better picture

OK, this is a better picture of the afghan and then I'm going to leave it.




(*Grin*!)

Quick Post

More later but I wanted to post these pics. The pics aren't very good but I'll get some better ones later. I love it. I'm really happy with how it came out.

Happy New Year

I’ve been working to get the kid’s afghan finished so I’ve been knitting flowers, leaves and

yes, a bunny. This is the bunny that lives in the hole on the mountain in the land of afghan. I can’t stop giggling every time I look at him. He’s just so flipping cute!

This bunny was actually my second bunny. The first bunny looks like a wee alien so I decided to go back to the drawing board and this is the result. See his little tail? I finished him (it’s always the face – once you get the face on it takes on a personality of its own) and just couldn’t quit giggling. I love a bunny that can make me laugh.

Another fruit of my recent research into 19th century patterns is this scarf.

I found the stitch pattern in one of the Godey’s patterns and like the look of it. The stitch looks old fashioned but the Berroco Ultra Alpaca in the denim color brings it up to date. I thought the tassels gave it just the right finish. The stitch pattern is kind of architectural and the tassels seem to set that off.

I’m almost finished with the kid’s afghan but I it’s missing something in the sky section. I’m thinking about what will fit the bill and looking for some Vanna yellow. Maybe a nice bright sun will do the trick.

A Bit Unusual

It’s a bit unusual but I’ve decided I like it. It’s terribly comfortable and I think this Malabrigo yarn will work much better in this sort of garment than in a sweater. It’s such a loosely spun single ply that it pills all over the place with the wear of a sweater. This design was based on a pattern I saw in a Godey’s Ladies Book for a young boy’s Body Warmer. The picture showed it wrapped around the child under a jacket or worn under other clothes (I’ll try to find the original picture and scan it in for you to see). It intrigued me so I used a stitch pattern that I saw in quite a few other patterns. I’ve used it before, particularly in the ‘pretty man sweater’ or fisherman’s sweater (whichever, both work for me). In these 19th century patterns it’s called brioche stitch and I’ve seen it mentioned under that name and under the name, fisherman’s stitch. I learned the stitch from an Elizabeth Zimmerman article in an old Vogue Knitting magazine. There’s even this web page dedicated to the stitch and it’s variations, if you’re interested.

The way I learned to do it is to K1, knit in the stitch below the next stitch, and repeat across. The way the Godey’s Ladies Book describes it is:

Stitch Brioche, thread forward, slip 1, knit 2 together, the same backwards and forwards. (It might be better said to bring the thread to the front, slip 1 stitch, bring the thread to the back so that there are 2 stitches laying together, then knit the next 2 stitches)

Either way, you get the same pattern. And it’s a pattern you have to be a little patient with because you won’t really see it until you’ve worked 5-6 rows, at least. I also think that if you were going to use it in the round, you would need to use the version from Godey’s. And it makes things much easier if you work it over an odd number of stitches.

I finished my newest Fiber Trends felted clogs (sorry, I called them slippers before – I stand corrected) and had enough yarn left over that I made a pair of felted mittlets (my own pattern). You probably can’t see it in the picture but I did a little bit of textured stitching that just gives it a little somethin’ somethin’ up close. They fit great. All I did was cast on 36 stitches, did several rows of garter, knit plain for a while, increased for the thumb (until I had 18 stitches between the markers), knit a few rows plain, decreased the 18 thumb stitches, knit plain for a while and ended with several rows of garter. Oh, yeah, and I threw in the textured rows just for kicks.

I love these Fiber Trend felted clogs. I made my first pair 6 years ago and finally decided after they started falling apart that it might be time to make a new pair. And they only take a couple of hours to make. Bonus!

Now I have matching slippers and mittlets. Could come in useful this winter, right?

What a Trip!

Nothing like a last minute trip over about 1,600 miles to renew, redo and redecorate! What a wonderful trip and what a wonderful time with my parents! I’m so glad I went, we had a great time.

This was the first trip to Texas for Robert the Bear and he enjoyed it as well. Here’s a shot of him relaxing after a long day of driving. I ended up having pretty good weather for most of the time with just a little bit of sprinkling and clouds.

If you want to see what Oklahoma looks like, it's a variation of this all over the place (there are lots of casinos).

Here's the family story about Oklahoma. The story, I'm told, is real but the names have been changed to protect everyone. OK, here goes. Relative A and Relative B are driving through Oklahoma. There are signs along the road that say, "Don't drive into the smoke." (I saw these, too, which are what made me think of this.) Relative B asks Relative A what this means. Relative A says, with a straight face, that this is Native American country. They send smoke signals so if you drive through the smoke, you mess up the message. Relative B thinks for a minute and nods. That makes sense.

I did even have a day of 83 degrees and slept under the fan. Not that I’m rubbing it in or anything but I did. Just what the doctor ordered!

But just because you spend 4 days driving doesn’t mean you can’t knit (not WHILE driving, mind).

I made a pair of slippers (still to be felted) from the Fiber Trends pattern.


I almost finished my ‘body warmer,’ based on a pattern I found in an 1880’s pattern book, made from some Malabrigo that I’ve had in stash forever. It’s sort of a stole but it fits tightly around the body with bands that wrap around the waist. You can see the band at the lower right side. I’ve really only got to finish the bands and decide exactly how I want to do the connection (snaps, buttons, other). The body of it is a brioche stitch (which was extremely popular in the patterns of Godey’s Ladies magazine). The ends and bands are done in seed stitch to make them more stable.

I’ve finished my latest socks (made with Berrocco Sox – color 1425). Just basic sock recipe but I absolutely love the colorway on this sock yarn. In fact, I love it so much, I bought 2 more colorways!

I really thought that I would get up this morning and just be ready to get home but I really just wanted to keep driving and driving. Sigh.... It was a wonderful trip!