Front Cover Stitchcraft Magazine No. 175 - late forties

The caption for the pattern reads,

"By Request", for all those readers who have begged for a jumper with stags across the yoke.

I wonder what was in the air in the late forties, that caused such a demand for stags across the yoke.

Slip Stitches

Slip stitch slipover from Stitchcraft August 1951

I've been badly neglecting my slip stitch collection and was reminded when browsing through my vintage magazines.  This caught my eye.  Quite an impressive effect.

Close up

I must have a try at swatching this one.

The socks to match

Six Items I've Never Knitted Before

I can crochet a doily (did this in Autumn 2000), but can I knit one?

I love playing with this idea of six and planning what Iwill do in 2012.  There will be six items from the stash, six WIPs completed, six new techniques mastered and six items I have never knitted before.  Draft list for those is :

• Socks (this has to be the year of the sock and will cover a couple of items in my new techiques list)
• Shawl (there is scrumptious stuff in the stash, so this will go towards my 'six items from stash' list)
• Tea cosy
• Poncho
• Doily (using DPNs will go towards the 'mastering a new technique' list).
• Hat with earflaps (done hats, but never earflaps)

I just love writing lists and have this terrible temptation to put all this in a spreadsheet.

Six new Knitting Techniques

Will I ever be good enough on DPNs to do this?
48 inches (1.22 metres) in diameter, knitted in No.60 crochet cotton on four no. 12 (2.75mm needles)
Pattern designed by 'Marianne' and priced 1shilling and 3pence.  Probably 1950s vintage.


 I'm still enjoying thinking about the 'sixes'.  These are sets of six things to tackle in the year 2012.  (Six works in progress, six things from the stash...). 

I decided I would also like to master six new techniques and the proposed list stands as follows :

• Entrelac (I'm intrigued by it) 
• Kitchener stitch (will fit with my plan to tackle my first pair of socks this year)
• Continental knitting (not sure how you would describe the way I knit.  Some sort of aberration of English)
• Knitting in the round (had a bash, but want to become more confident)
• Steeking (fits with the knitting in the round bit)
• Domino knitting  (I'm not quite sure what it is, but sounds fun)

Meanwhile, two of the 'Six Works in Progress' set are progressing well.

• Hat scarf and arm warmer set  in Sirdar Persia, very dark blue.  Just got to finish the scarf and sew up hat and arm warmers
• Mum's tunic in Sirdar Indie, going well but am going to run out of yarn, can't figure out why.  Will be glad when this is over so I can get on to something more edifying.

Six things from the Stash

On the left a Bayadere cushion - on the right a Rush Matting Stitch
Picture from 'Knitting' by Wanda Bonando 1979

Still playing with the idea of 'six' and have a tentative list of six things from the stash.

• A ripple stitch throw, possibly knitted, maybe crochet
• A waistcoat, hopefully purple
• A hat, stripey to use up odds
• A teacosy (I've never knitted one)
• A shawl (I've never knitted one)
• A bayadere cushion (I've never knitted one)

My sister gave me the book with the picture of the Bayadere cushion and I've longed to try it.  Masses of possibilities and good for the stash.  Apparently 'bayadere' is a fabric with brightly coloured horizontal stripes...or, an Indian dancer.

Six Works in Progress

Referred to as 'the pink thing'

The Pink Thing is a crocheted circular shawl where I make it up as I go along.  Been doing it for about three years now.

A Smock top baby jacket

Intended as a Christmas present, it was never really going to make it.  I've got a doll it might fit and I want to finish it to see how it turns out.  Right now it doesn't exactly look like a work of art.

A 'stained glass' throw made up of lots of knitted oblongs passed on to me by a friend.  Known as 'Sarah's thing'.

Plus

Number 4

 a hat, scarf and arm warmers in Sirdar Persia.  Hat and wrist warmers done.  Scarf half way through.

Number 5

A tunic in Sirdar Indie which mum has started, but it got a bit overwhelming.  Great big chunky knitted on great big needles.  I cannot express how much I hate knitting this.

Number 6

A peach coloured top for mum with lace at sleeves and bottom edge.  Neither Mum nor my sister could master the lace.  I was a smartass and was given the whole thing to do.  That'll teach me.  Yarn is Wendy Peter Pan and mum insists on using plastic needles.  Ghastly.  The needles will have to go and I'll live with the yarn.

We've been walking around Stonehenge



Stonehenge from the other side of the A303

One of my aims this year is to improve my photography and the quality of my posts.  When I concentrate, I can take quite pleasing photos.  This particular post has turned out to be a lesson in what not to do. I cropped the one above to remove the fenceposts.  This has had a somewhat unfortunate effect. 

We didn't go that way

I was amused by the 'permissive path' sign, but managed to cut off the tip of the sign when I photographed it.




Map on noticeboard showing the line of Bronze Age Burial Mounds

For hundreds of years people have been digging in the mounds and in 1808 some treasure was dug up in Bush Barrow, one of the mounds in the line.  I had managed to photograph some of the items found as shown on the noticeboard - then deleted the photograph by accident.  Here is a link to some information about the finds.

Information about Bush Barrow, Normanton Down, Stonehenge

Photographed on a dull day from the wrong side.



Just good to look at

Headlamp from an old Packard car

When a design is pleasing it can be pleasing in all kinds of media and forms.  This headlight is simply good to look at as well as being unusual.  And I can't help thinking of a bobbled beret, or a table centre, or a good warm textured circular shawl for those cold January evenings.

The Packard in question

January, the time to plan

January - bare trees against a blue sky

Went for a walk on Friday, quite a long one.  Very little caught my eye for a worthwhile photograph.  But that's January.  Time to plan and look ahead, write lists and enjoy a bit of a daydream.  I'm having fun thinking about the '6 things' projects and I keep refining my list of 6 things to aim for  which now stands at :

• 6 things knitted from the stash
• 6 WIPs to  be completed
• 6 new techniques to be mastered
• 6 things to be knitted that I have never tried before
• 6 things out of all the above that I am really pleased with
• 6 photos that I am really pleased with
• 6 novels of Jane Austen - read them all in 2012

Eve Arnold

News today of Eve Arnold's death.  She photographed some of the most famous people in the world and her pictures of Marilyn Monroe are iconic.  

Eve Arnold was a photojournalist and didn't just photograph Hollywood legends.  She also travelled in China, the Middle East and South Africa taking often stark photographs of the lives of people there.

If you get a moment, google her to see examples of her photos.  The link below gives a You Tube recorded interviews with her talking about Marilyn .

Eve Arnold talking about Marilyn Monroe

New Year's Day - hope you had a good one

Yvette - the sleek and lovely Citroen Traction Avant

We went to a car show in West Sussex on New Year's Day and really enjoyed ourselves.  Only a little informal gathering outside a pub.  The Citroen Traction Avant is one of my favourites and I was pleased to see a late model.  These were made from 1934 for many years, so stylish, so French.  They were used by both the Gestapo and the Resistance.  This one is called Yvette and is a bit of a film star.

The Peugeot 402

In spite of my love for the Citroen, my selected 'Car of the Show' was this Peugeot 402.  I've never seen one before and I would go all the way back to West Sussex in the rain to see it again.

Looks like it might have been made from three different cars, but it still works for me

Deco trim on the rear wheel arch - if you look closely you can see
the head of a big cat echoing  the mascot on the bonnet

Front indicator light - look at that beautifully moulded glass

Flowing Lines

On the drive down, I managed to knit a wrist warmer in Sirdar Persia.  Not a particularly enjoyable yarn to knit with, but comes in some good colours.  I've completed a beret, a wrist warmer and am about to start a scarf for the full set.  All from stash.  Yay!

New Year Resolutions

Part of the stash - Part of the New Year Resolution

First of all - Happy New Year - May 2012 be full of all kinds of good things for you.

Then, the Resolutions.  I have joined a Ravelry group called 'Underrated'.  This group is for under achievers like me who would like to think they could knit 12 things in 2012, but don't really believe they will.  So we are going for 6 things.  There are different threads in the group and I will be working along on these :

• finishing 6 WIPs in 2012 (from all the heaps of bags around me I can certainly find 6 abandoned items)
• 6 items knitted from the stash

along with this my other resolutions include :

• no yarn buying in 2012 (Oh really?) owing to the giant proportions of the stash
• along with busting the stash learn new techniques, there are some things I would like to try.  (see the excellent Pinkundine's blog for a list of the things she aimed for and achieved in 2011 - she's only been knitting a year)    Pinkundine's list of things to try

I'm working on my list of techniques to try in 2012, but as for specific items ...

• make a pair of socks - never done it
• make a shawl - never made one

Also,

• work a bit harder on the photography
• give more back to the blogging community in terms of the quality of my blog and networking / sharing
• Enjoy it!