Vintage Knitting Magazines Amuse Me

Knitting is such an old tradition it would be strange, nay, insane not to dip one’s toe into the history of it. Especially if you are a bit of a nerd. Sometimes I read up on the ancient history of it; I enjoy feeling like the latest knit stitch in the vast fabric of life. Today though I’ve been reading a little closer to home.

You see, my good friend Frankie gave me some vintage Vogue Knitting Books. I’m not sure when they’re from but the prices are displayed in shillings and pence, so it’s been a while. At

first glance, I’d say sixties at the very latest but probably earlier. So far I can’t find a single date anywhere in the rather tattered and well-loved magazines. Laziness stops me from trying too hard.

Who needs to be precise when they’re full of amazing gems of a time gone by? I’m not even talking about the knitting patterns which are generally quite shapeless and stiff-looking. No, I’m talking about the adverts. The awkwardly posing women with heavily-lined eyes and bright red lips looking vaguely amused at the cameras. Serious-looking men with big watches. Some of them have cigarettes. Even more astoundingly, some of the women have wrinkles.

The adverts are usually quite wordy and laced through with rather forceful heterosexuality. Take a gander at this example, shown below a jaunty couple sporting rather ugly jumpers (sweaters for you North Americans):

“Here’s Wendy M1 the super-speed quality that beats everything in sheer speed and ease of knitting . . . a superb pure wool that’s new, modern and exciting to use as the new M1 Motor-way itself.
In a couple of evenings you can now knit this glorious, open air sweater which is all the vogue for outdoor occasions – and has a carefree fascination for chilly days within. Chunky. Bulky. Deliciously warm. Knit it in that special colour he loves to see you wearing. And what better than to knit him one too!”

And it’s only 8d post free!

That was from the 59th in the series. I have another one that’s much earlier – 37th. Some of the designs are quite pleasant in an angular sort of way. Obviously this edition was published before the prohibition of visible waistlines.

Most of the adverts are illustrations rather than photographs. One picture has an impossibly thin woman reclining over a slightly nonsensical attempt at literary seduction:

“On being Sophisticated.
An obvious but unaffected air of quality with a nonchalant acceptance of current fashion lines is essential.
The unselfconscious air of quality in Marriner’s Heritage wool places it way up top and the latest fashion trends in Marriner leaflet design show the way to sophistication.”

Perhaps they were hoping to stun their audience with the sparkling (and repetitive) vocabulary so that they don’t notice the complete lack of substance. Which, to be fair, is the general idea of most advertising.

One column advises customers to enquire to “J. & W. Bastard Ltd. at Frog Island Mills”. Teehee.

BREAKING NEWS! I found a date as I was scanning the tiny print for more hilarity. The 37th is from 1950. That’s the earliest I have. The others are the ccc45th, 51th and 59th. By flicking through the magazines you can see time ambling casually by. Restrictive women’s underwear slowly disappears, abandoning the defined waist somewhere in the 51st edition. There are fewer ads for baby-related products the further you step into the latter half of the twentieth century. Nylon is introduced to wool and they hit it off right away, embarking on a glorious and long-lasting romance that ends in fabulously wearable sock yarn. Everyone faints as machine knitting becomes popular, a sure sign that we’ll be living on the moon a few years later.

And, over half a century later, I get to sit here (on Earth, since there’s no yarn on the moon) giggling and sharing it with you.

Finishing Things

Since the start of the year I have been finishing things.

I finished the blue granny-square blanket for the apartment. A vast and snuggly expanse of crochet for our new apartment.

I finished a pair of socks made from Tosh Sock in the colourway ‘Fjord’. It really does look like little fjords, the way the yarn plays out its colour.

I finished a small green bracelet with a simple cable design.

I finished a tiny pair of handwarmers whilst watching Supernatural from the rest of the Tosh Sock since I was loath not to use it.

I finished a pair of socks with Cascade 220 yarn (my first time with it!) for a good friend. No pictures because she must see them first.

And it’s not just knitting/crochet that I’ve been finishing. I’ve read books:

• The Hunger Games Trilogy (again),
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte,
• The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss,
• Changeless by Gail Carrigan,
• Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire,
• Stories, a book of short stories compiled by Neil Gaiman,
• KnitLits One and Two by Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf,
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald,
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, and
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

More than a book a week since the year started alongside all that knitting. And I’ve loved all of them, since I’ve decided to stop finishing books I don’t like.

I finished a short story about an angel and I’m pleased with it. This may not seem like much but I have been suffering from crippling self doubt/writers’ block for the past two years and have been unhappy with anything I’ve dared to write.

Despite rarely having internet, I finished a few coherent blog posts.

And now I’m finishing this one.

Vintage Knitting, Craft Books and Cats

They had great covers, too.

I love old knitting books.

Unfortunately I can’t remember where I got this link but wherever it was, I’m endlessly grateful. I’ve said before that one of the reasons I find knitting so fascinating is its long and illustrious history. The most well-documented of this being, of course, the 1800s. With easy means to mass-produce books and other resources they spun out many patterns that are still accessible today. The above link gives you a great insight into the kind of things people would be knitting at the time.

This wonderful online resource for vintage books doesn’t just cover knitting. There’s all sorts of arts and crafts related books but of course I gravitate towards a certain sector! The image to your right shows the cover of a book/pamphlet that cost one shilling and is written ‘by a Lady’. It’s how to knit in a floral style and it’s simply charming. I would love to hold the physical book, flick through its pages and absorb it that way but since that’s not likely to happen any time soon, this is the next best thing. And there’s a lot of variety there which can suck away hours of your life as you read through all the old patterns and advice given to so many women through the years.

There’s also a book on there entitled ‘Ladies’ Work for Sailors’ which is a pamphlet explaining all manner of useful projects for those not able to shunt their work onto their wives. The fact that it’s called Ladies’ work is intriguing considering sailors must have been doing these kinds of things since time began, or else walking in holey socks throughout their seafaring days. The history of gender and knitting is something I’m planning on researching at some point since it’s a fascinating subject.

In more personal news, I’ve recently received a skein of Tosh sock in the colourway ‘Fjord’. It’s to knit a pair of Christmas socks for my girlfriend and to be honest, I haven’t had the best start. The skein was horribly tangled and it took me many, many hours to wind it into a ball which simultaneously wound me right up! Still, it’s done now and all I have to do is find a pattern for it.

Not the best match for colours, but you get the idea.

I’m actually tempted to make an ordinary plain sock without a pattern. I don’t think I’d need one now.

And yes, I’m still ignoring the sock with the messed-up toe. I’ll get to it!

In non-knitting news I spent a week cat sitting for Jane while she and Sophie were in France and I kind of… didn’t leave. At the moment my house is devoid of cats due to Dad moving to Southampton and when Jane and Sophie said I could stay here, I jumped at the chance. Mostly because Jane is such a lovely person anyway. She’s making her beautiful glass beads right now while I write this post and we’re listening to a bit of Joni Mitchell. What more could I want?

Oh that’s right. Absolutely gorgeous cats. She has two, Lou and Ruby, and they are lovely.

Lou...

…is a slightly shy, standoffish girl with gorgeous markings and lovely soft fur. She took a while to get used to me I think but one morning I woke up and she was sleeping beside me. She wouldn’t let me get up for ages, demanding attention with rather fierce headbutts to the face and now she seems to have accepted my presence.

Ruby...

…is a much more social kitty who took about fifteen microseconds to start attacking me for attention when I showed up. She’s sweet and likes to hit me over the head with her tail until I stroke her. She’s lucky she’s cute! But seriously, this cat is absolutely adorable and I want to pack both of them up and bring them with me when I eventually leave.

Now to work out how to stop these two little fiends attacking my knitting…

Victorians Smiling

 Victorians Smiling II from How to be a Retronaut.

Sometimes I’ll stumble across a website in search of inspiration and I hit gold. I’m not in the mood for knitting right now; with NaNoWriMo approaching rapidly my writing muse is emerging happily and that is taking up all my inspiration (plus I have a mistake in a sock to fix that I just can’t face right now but let’s not talk about that!). Of course procrastination goes hand in hand with writing and I can’t say I’m too worried about that when I stumble on websites like this.

Victorians have such a formal, stiff reputation and a lot of that has to do with the photographs taken of them. When one had to sit motionless for a certain amount of time it’s not surprising that it was easier to keep a straight face! Luckily technology moved fast and gave a little leeway. Or, put in a much less rambly way:

When Joseph-Nicephore Niepce took the first photograph in 1828, his photographic plate required an exposure of eight hours. That exposure time was drastically reduced across the course of the nineteenth century, so that by the 1890s the Collodion process had cut exposure times to two or three seconds.

Nevertheless, a three second exposure meant that subjects had to stand very still to avoid being blurred, and holding a smile for that period was tricky. As a result, we have a tendency to see our Victorian ancestors as even more formal and stern than they might have been. [from here]

Seeing Victorian people in a different context has opened my eyes. They may seem historical and stuffy but in reality they’re generations of people just like us with their fashions, their passions, and their apparently unending vanity. The 1800s is the first time in history we’ve been able to uncover ordinary people in ordinary lives with the power of photographs; still prone to interpretation from the photographer and the viewer, but nonetheless still much closer to reality than old paintings and prose. Maybe that’s why I find them so endlessly amazing.

How to be a Retronaut covers more than just the 1800s. Have a browse. It’s the 1800s that catch my attention though and fill me with inspiration.

Back at Last

The last few weeks have not been too fun. I should be starting a new life in Canada but a week before I was supposed to leave, weird eye problems and headaches led me to go to the opticians and let’s just say it was a crazy week after that. One CT scan, one MRI, one lumbar puncture, nine doctors looking at my retinas, five days spent in and out of hospital, three days with a cannula, and one stonking big emotional mess later they’ve decided I probably have Idiopathic Intercranial Hypertension. It’s a fairly rare condition which means I have way too much cerebro-spinal fluid for no discernible reason.

I’ve re-booked my ticket to Canada for the 18th of December. Until then it’s a waiting game for my neurologist appointment at the end of November. I remain hopeful though; I’ve reacted very well to the medication I’m on (acetazolamide which, while magical, has seriously weird side effects) and as long as it doesn’t screw up my kidneys I should hopefully be all right.

How does this have anything to do with knitting, you ask? Well! I quit my job just before I fell ill so I’ve had plenty of time for it. At the moment I’m in the middle of knitting rainbow legwarmers, baby socks and adult socks. I’d show you pictures but since my attention span seems to have suffered I haven’t got far enough on any of them to bother!

I will, however, show you what I’ve been crocheting. This yarn is from The Sanguine Gryphon. It’s called Mithril in the colourway Flaming June and I love it. It’s soft and smooth, a pleasure to crochet with and absolutely beautifully dyed. I’ve crocheted a small shawl and am in the process of making it into a shrug.

I am not as grumpy as I look, I swear.

I’m very proud of it. It needs work to get it to fit properly and to look as good as it feels but that will come soon enough. I still have about a third of a skein left too; this stuff’s yardage is insane.

Now back to attempting to master this sock pattern that seems intent on defeating me. I’ve restarted it three times now.

What’s the bizness?

I know this is a craft blog first and foremost but there is so much more in my life that I can’t live without. Sometimes something will come along that I want to throw at everyone I meet in the hopes that its beauty will touch them too and well, that’s usually in the form of music. I have been addicted to music my entire life and I’m pretty sure that, except for some very notable exceptions that usually involved unconsciousness, there hasn’t been a day where a song hasn’t touched me somehow.

The root of it is that I’m not only a nerd for knitting; I’m a nerd for pretty much everything. And today it’s music!

A couple of weeks ago I went to my good friend Soph’s to see her new place. It’s in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere and it’s absolutely gorgeous and of course we went for a wander around it. There was this old empty house that was creepy and intimidating so we couldn’t help but explore. Turns out it does have an owner and they really don’t like trespassers but we didn’t get caught.

It looks like it's screaming.

After some delicious food cooked by the grand Sophie herself we played her baritone ukulele (and her ordinary one too). We’re both big fans of the instrument as it’s just such a versatile one, perfect for playing when you’re looking for something low stress and chirpy. I haven’t played my guitar in a few weeks because all I want to do is strum on Jimmy, my little red uke. Of course I had to have a play with Soph’s baritone which is tuned very similarly to a guitar (but on four strings) and therefore it was relatively easy to play.

Sophie...

...and me.

One of the results of this afternoon/evening of fun was that Soph introduced me to a band called tUnE-yArDs. Normally I would be put off with a name typed like that, I’m not gonna lie. However I had no literary aversion at this point as I had only heard the band’s name spoken and really, the youtube video didn’t do much for me. Maybe I was just tired but it didn’t really click for me.

However, when Soph got us tickets to see tUnE-yArDs playing live in Bristol I couldn’t turn it down. I’m glad I didn’t.

They were amazing.

I say ‘they’ but all the wonder really comes from the frontperson, Merrill Garbus. She is nothing less than a vocal artist, layering her voice over itself to build up into artfully placed climaxes in her songs (I typed socks…) and spilling out emotion all over the place. I was tired and a little grumpy from working all day but that changed the moment she was on stage and her charisma opened up.

Merrill's mouth is intimidatingly huge when she sings.

It’s probably not music for everyone. She’s a little bizarre and it’s taken a few listens for me to really feel like I understand some of the songs, or at least see how they are relevant to me. That’s not unusual for me though.

Give her a go, you know you want to.

Links to the Past

It’s been a fun few weeks. I’ve been roasting myself alive in the Caribbean with some wonderful folks, cruising around and generally living it up. Despite my original misgivings I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed the weather! Even the humidity didn’t turn me off. Being back in not-so-sunny England isn’t much fun but fortunately I’ve had crafty goodness to distract me.

But first! Even on holiday I can’t forget crochet. What did I see this time? Well! On St. Thomas we took a walk through a few old houses and in one of them I found some absolutely gorgeous crochet blankets:

I have no idea if they’re original from the time but I imagine they are. They’re in beautiful condition and I would love to replicate them. I intend to once I have some time and suitable yarn!

The thought of people over a hundred years ago sitting down to make these sorts of beautiful creations just thrills me. It’s the same reason I love trawling through vintage patterns and researching the origins of crafts. It’s a direct link to the past that has always excited me, in the same way my fascination with etymology (the origins of words) is that it brings the past into the everyday present.

Another link to the past I’ve discovered lately is Dorset Buttons. I am from Dorset, England – I was born here and I’ve lived here most of my life. Though I have no wish to stay here forever, I feel an affinity with the area and to find something so interesting as this has made my day(s).

So what are they? Dorset Buttons are buttons (no way!) originally made from hoops carved from the horns of Dorset Horned Sheep.

They have a lot to spare… (pic from wiki)

By winding and weaving thread through and around the hoop, ornate buttons are easily created. It was a huge industry in Dorset for a long time but the invention of a button-making machine in 1850 destroyed it, leaving this county on the edge of starvation. Read more here if you like but be warned it’s a .pdf, albeit a small one.

To have a little dig around my roots I’m going to have a go at making some Dorset Buttons. I may not hunt down a sheep to use their horns since that’s a little too much effort for me, I’m sure plastic would do! I will update when I’ve given it a go.

See a tutorial on how to do it on Craftstylish. It’s a wonderfully clear tutorial and looks so easy.

Apparently my head is stuck in the past at the moment. At least it’s roomy. There’s hundreds of years of interesting things to root through. That’ll keep me distracted from the grey skies of England for a while!

Vintage Crochet Book

I’m lucky to have such fabulous friends. Along with a hand-painted zombie bag, a mountie/maple leaf necklace and a moomin soft toy, Heidi bought me this crochet book. It’s in bad condition but I adore it. Published in the 1840s it’s a small book of patterns, knitted and crocheted, and some of them are hilarious. I’ll be posting some at later dates.

The strange thing about this book is that there are no illustrations of what you’re knitting or crocheting from the pattern which makes it rather hit and miss I’m sure. It was a lot cheaper to publish without images of course but I’d be wary of putting a lot of effort into something that could turn out nothing like you imagined! I suppose that’s part of the fun or perhaps ‘Mrs Gaugain’ was particularly trusted on these matters. She certainly seems to have published quite a lot!

If you’d like to view a .pdf version of one of her published books (very different to my copy) then click here. This one has a few small illustrations to give you some hint of what you’re doing.

As soon as I get time I’m going to make some of the things from the book. How could I resist? I love the lure of such a tangible link to an era that fascinates me.

Vintage craft continued

There are so many vintage patterns available online! It’s wondrous. I have spent many an hour browsing them now, hours I should have spent crocheting things for Christmas or even my nephew’s blanket which needs to be done in a couple of weeks for his first birthday. Mostly I’ve been neglecting all the useful things to concentrate on that tenuous link to the past with which I’ve become fascinated.

This evening whilst watching Sin City (terrible, terrible film) I was playing around with a pattern dubiously named Asphyxiation. Call me strange but I’m wary of making anything to go around my neck that has strangulation as a theme, though apparently that’s not stopping me. I bought some emerald green crochet thread whilst in Newcastle and thought I’d try out the motif from it which was adapted from a 1916 table cloth pattern.

I had nothing flat to lie it on. My house is rather devoid of clear flat surfaces.

So far it’s turning out quite nice. I will carry on with it another time; it’s a bit fiddly to be doing in anything but natural sunlight I think.

Another fantastic vintage crochet blog you might want to check out is here: Vintage Stitch-O-Rama! My favourite pattern, whilst not being technically vintage, is that of a clockwork motif that would make a fantastic necklace out of thin bronze thread. I shall consider this further and maybe make it for someone as a present for Christmas; I know I have a few friends into steampunk who would appreciate it! Click through here to see the pattern for that particular piece of art.

It’s not clear yet what is attracting me to these styles of crochet work. Maybe I’m just fed up of crocheting flowers. A problem my good friend Lucy doesn’t have; she’s well on her way to creating a blanket made of crochet flowers and we spent a good amount of the time I spent with her in Newcastle crocheting pretty petals. Good times.

Vintage craft

Recently I’ve been interested in seeing older patterns from days gone by. At the End of the Road festival I found an old knitting book in the library in the woods with hilarious, awkwardly-posed pictures and I’ve been fascinated since. It’s also quite nice to have that link with the past; knitting isn’t a traditional, handed-down thing in my family and this makes me feel more in line with generations of knitters and crocheters. I’m not sure why that should be important but I like it. I don’t feel much of a link to women in the past sometimes but craft was once a lot more important than it is now and it’s a tenuous sort of connection that I cherish.

There are some fantastic vintage patterns on Ravelry if you know where to look. For example there’s a huge range of patterns from a range of decades in the early 20th Century to be found through looking at the designs by Handicrafter Magazine – I’m fairly sure that link will only work for those who already have an account with Ravelry (if you haven’t already got one you should take this chance to do so).

I wonder who this model was. Click pic to go to pattern.

Tonight I realised that I could find some old patterns and pictures from looking through the Project Gutenberg collection. It’s loads of texts and books that are now in the public domain so there has to be some knitting/crochet texts, right? Right. Not many, not as many as I thought, but I did find this little gem.

Look at the awkward front cover! I’m in heaven already. It was published by the Needlecraft Publishing Company in 1918 and is absolutely full of old-fashioned patterns and hilarious pictures so I’m going to take my time to look through it and giggle. I would love to see these patterns used, too; I have nothing close to the skill yet but one day I shall be crocheting myself a whole bunch of vintage accessories just for the fun.