VINTAGE KNITTING FOR KIDS...LIKE ME!!

I guess I am just a big kid at heart - These are part of my vintage knitting collection. A Jr. Miss Knitting Basket is 6 sided and has some great retro pictures on it! I just had to post all of the sides so that you could see the cool pics!

Below: A 1950's Ponytail case All of these are marked Hassenfeld Bros, Inc. Central Falls, Rhode Island, USA. With a little digging and a lot of luck, I found out that this was the company that eventually became Hasbro. It seems that Henry and Hal Hassenfeld opened their toy business in 1923. In 1968, the company felt it needed a trendier name - so it can up with Hasbro!




A 6 sided child's knitting kit with original plastic knitting needle and other knitting accessories.
















A vintage sewing box - complete with all a little girl needs to sew!

SOCKS IN THE GARDEN

The gardens are so beautiful this time of year that I just had to take these pictures outside! I love to knit socks and carry a sock project every where I go. I ordered this yarn from jujuknits on Etsy.com a few weeks ago - the colors were just too gorgeous to pass by. I know that the blue/green socks are a little bright but on a happy bubbly kind of day, I might just break them out with my Birkenstocks and jeans.



The pink/brown socks are Knitty.com's Thuja sock pattern - a really fast knit that always looks great no matter the yarn. The blue/green socks are from Sensational Knitted Socks-the Elongated Corded Rib. I love this book because I can pick any yarn and any sock pattern that I like and add the pattern by choosing a 3, 4, 5, or 6 stitch repitition for cables, basketweave, lace, etc....

ROAR!!!!

Finally the Dale of Norway baby sweater is done! TA DA! I got a great deal on ebay for 6 skeins of red baby ull - so I decided to make the largest size sweater possible in order to use all the yarn. Size 3T on #2 needles. Then I got the idea that I could take a Debby Bliss teddy bear pattern and make it into a lion to match the sweater. Somewhere in my tortured knitting mind, the toy lion needed a sweater and a paw print on the sweater to match. Actually I love doing the color work for the Dale children's patterns.

MY HERO.......................

Just a brief blog to tell you about my hero. Last night, I had a crying jag and he held me in his arms and reassured me that everything would be okay. I have been out of work for 12 weeks and my job is at risk. The doctors told me that I just have to wait for the meds to work and I can go back to work when my vertigo is completely gone. My husband knows that being a nurse is very important to me and that it is much more than a job. He has gone to all the doctors appointments and listened to me gripe and snipe every day without complaint.
He also never complains about my knitting. You can always find him right behind me in the yarn stores I visit - basket in hand, waiting patiently for me to drop another load of yarn into our already bulging house.
I didn't believe it was possible that 28 years of marriage would make me love him more. Lucky me!

NOW - WHERE DID MY KNITTING GO?

The fairies in my gardens have been busy!

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE BABY

The Good
It is always a good day when the mailman honks his horn. Packages!! YIPPEEEEE! They are always for me and always filled with yarn and knitting goodies!












The Bad
It took me forever to get to the mailbox - bad day with the vertigo.

The Good
Knitpicks new Option Needles - I ordered them a la carte - so that I could try them first. Plus some Knitpicks sock yarn on sale - Who could pass up the opportunity to make more socks?
On the right is the yarn that I ordered from ETSY just 2 days ago. Lovely homemade merino sock yarn --YUMMMMMM!!
Of course the new needles and the new yarn gave me an excuse to sit and knit this afternoon! Options needles knit like butta! Note to self - Must buy more!







And last, but not least, our baby robin is no longer so ugly. He is starting to look more like a baby everyday. He peeps everytime his momma comes near the nest! We spend a lot of time in this area of the garden, so mom and dad robin are used to us being around baby. I waited until they flew off for breakfast to snap this shot!

A LITTLE KNITTING HISTORY

Knitting Tote History Update!
A little knitting history for you. If you know me at all - you know that I collect vintage knitting totes (see Flickr badge for more) These are 2 of my favorites.
I have been trying to research the history of these totes since I began my collection a year ago. This weekend I found a huge box of McCall's Needlework and Crafts magazines from the 1960's and 1970's at a yard sale. I grabbed a handful, made the guy an offer, and off we went. I was thumbing through when I saw this advertisement.

The Knit Caddy sold for $5.95 plus shipping. Holds all your knitting needles and comes with it's very own sizing guage. The picture above shows the top of the tote with knitting needles. Made by United Specialties Co. in 1972!

I am a woman on a mission - I will discover the vintage secrets of knitting!! Stay tuned for more knitting history..........

WE HAVE A BABY!!

Last night, we heard peeping coming from the nest and this morning when Momma Robing flew off for her breakfast, I snuck a peak! A baby only a mother could love taking a morning nap. Don't be alarmed - Momma bird is back on the nest and my peak didn't seem to be noticed.


Monday, we found a Robins nest in the lilac tree near our barn. 2 Perfect blue eggs!

YARN HO + BOOK WORM = TOO MANY PROJECTS!!

My new favorite book to share with darling daughter! Sunday we sat in our PJs and made modular knitting bags with my stash of sari silk.


I have been a book worm for as long as I can remember. A new Nancy Drew Mystery was way better on a hot summer afternoon than anything I could have done outside. I have a lot of cookbooks, gardening books, reading books, and now a whole lot of knitting books! Yahoo!
But there is one problem - this afternoon I went upstairs to get a skein of baby ull for my latest Dale of Norway baby sweater and noticed "Folk Vests", which reminded me that I have 1200 yards of the most gorgeous blue Bartlett wool to make a vest for my hubby. Next thing I knew - 2 hours had passed and all of my knitting books had been pulled to the floor and every vest pattern had been marked for further review. Another hot summer afternoon, spent lolligaggling with a bunch of books - seems that I haven't changed much!
(By the way - not pictured are the large pile of knitting books I keep under the coffee table in the living room and the numerous ones stashed in my knitting bag)

WE'RE BACK!!

The Saco River


A view of Mount Washington and the Saco River.

The road trip to Boston was a success!! All kinds of tests and lots of new doctors and audiologists gave us their 2 cents on my condition. No vestibular (balance center of the brain) damage was found. They think that I am having silent migraines and started me on some new drugs. I woke this morning with less vertigo than I have had in months(YIPPEE!!) and actually took a walk across the street to takes some pictures I have been wanting to post.
A surprise - This is the mother fox who lives near our house. She hunts small rodents around our house and has been seen with four kits!