Oh! Susan Crawford is a fascinating woman and a real treasure. While you're exploring all these vintage knit rabbit holes, you should check out her Vintage Shetland Project. She has gone in to Shetland museums to study the fiber history and construction of hundreds of knit specimens. She researched the personal stories behind many garments, included photos of the original wearer in many cases. She has also done a beautiful job of reverse engineering many of the sweaters into patterns to make them accessible to modern knitters. She is quite endearing--well worth a side trip in your vintage pattern journey!
I have to tell you... listening to your videos is a breath of fresh air. With all the upheaval politically , another interest of mine, to hear about the history of knitting is just delightful. Thank you.
As always, you make history interesting... I always come away from Casual Friday feeling as if I have had my own private class😊. You are a born teacher... a wonderful storyteller...a true gift...and blest with the need to “know” stuff...stuff that you so generously share..💜
I've been away from my favorite podcasts for a few months while we finished remodeling our house, and it is such a pleasure to return to your podcast and the continuous learning opportunities you provide. Your August sock KAL sounds like a great way to *really* learn how to knit a sock that will fit my foot.
Just catching up and the subject of vintage patterns is fantastic. I have been looking for old crochet patterns as well as knitted. The way the patterns were written can be a challenge but such an awesome find. Thank you so very much for sharing. Respectfully, Donna K.
I am a child of the early sixties and I am using a darning egg from the 1920s that I inherited from my grandmother. It is made of wood and it is not shaped like an egg but like a mushroom. The head of this mushroom can be removed from the stem, and they can be used separately for darning and grafting bigger and smaller things. The stem of the mushroom for example is ideal to use within the fingers of gloves.
I actually used the finchley graft on the socks I am currently knitting. I like it soo much better than kitchner. It does not end up with the wierd ears on the ends. Thank you soo much for sharing it.
Hi Rox. When you were talking about the sock KAL, I was thinking that you should write a book about how to take a sock formula and make it a custom sock. And for anyone who might be interested, I got my Centenary Stitches book through Ravelry as a digital book (of course), and it’s possible to link projects to the patterns in the book.
I have two! I use to darn for my grandmother. They were half rounds. One was actually made by my grandfather and the other looks like a chessboard. Very well made! 😊❤️
It's always a joy to watch your videos and very interesting. I have a question, you knit a lot and I was wondering what do you do when you start to get cramps or pain in your wrist, arms or shoulders. I've had to put my knitting and crochet on hold because my arms and shoulders hurt.
This was so interesting. I had no idea any but the poorest of the poor would have wrapped their feet in fabric. I would like to have some specifics of how you worked out the shawl collar. Are those details on your project page? Disappointed that the sock will be cuff down. I only do two at a time toe up. But I think your information about formulas will be very useful, no matter what my knitting style is.
Is which book still available? There are links in the video description to the various books I discussed. Some to Amazon, some to the publisher's site.
Oh! Susan Crawford is a fascinating woman and a real treasure. While you're exploring all these vintage knit rabbit holes, you should check out her Vintage Shetland Project. She has gone in to Shetland museums to study the fiber history and construction of hundreds of knit specimens. She researched the personal stories behind many garments, included photos of the original wearer in many cases. She has also done a beautiful job of reverse engineering many of the sweaters into patterns to make them accessible to modern knitters. She is quite endearing--well worth a side trip in your vintage pattern journey!
I have to tell you... listening to your videos is a breath of fresh air. With all the upheaval politically , another interest of mine, to hear about the history of knitting is just delightful. Thank you.
Looking forward to the sock knit along.
As always, you make history interesting... I always come away from Casual Friday feeling as if I have had my own private class😊. You are a born teacher... a wonderful storyteller...a true gift...and blest with the need to “know” stuff...stuff that you so generously share..💜
I've been away from my favorite podcasts for a few months while we finished remodeling our house, and it is such a pleasure to return to your podcast and the continuous learning opportunities you provide. Your August sock KAL sounds like a great way to *really* learn how to knit a sock that will fit my foot.
Just catching up and the subject of vintage patterns is fantastic. I have been looking for old crochet patterns as well as knitted. The way the patterns were written can be a challenge but such an awesome find. Thank you so very much for sharing. Respectfully, Donna K.
Your Serviceable Sweater is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing all the great information and history. Looking forward to the sock KAL.
Your sweater is beautiful, love the knitting and color you chose!
I am a child of the early sixties and I am using a darning egg from the 1920s that I inherited from my grandmother. It is made of wood and it is not shaped like an egg but like a mushroom. The head of this mushroom can be removed from the stem, and they can be used separately for darning and grafting bigger and smaller things. The stem of the mushroom for example is ideal to use within the fingers of gloves.
I actually used the finchley graft on the socks I am currently knitting. I like it soo much better than kitchner. It does not end up with the wierd ears on the ends. Thank you soo much for sharing it.
Love the Serviceable Sweater!
Hi Rox. When you were talking about the sock KAL, I was thinking that you should write a book about how to take a sock formula and make it a custom sock. And for anyone who might be interested, I got my Centenary Stitches book through Ravelry as a digital book (of course), and it’s possible to link projects to the patterns in the book.
I have two! I use to darn for my grandmother. They were half rounds. One was actually made by my grandfather and the other looks like a chessboard. Very well made! 😊❤️
As a child of the 60s, we had no darning egg, but used an old style electric bulb. We always had a light bulb in the sewing basket!
Yes! I forgot the name of the book "Centenary Stitches" and it's been driving me crazy for weeks!
I have the Centenary Stitches book. It is excellent.
When I was a girl, my mom was always using an old light bulb for darning :)
It's always a joy to watch your videos and very interesting. I have a question, you knit a lot and I was wondering what do you do when you start to get cramps or pain in your wrist, arms or shoulders. I've had to put my knitting and crochet on hold because my arms and shoulders hurt.
This was so interesting. I had no idea any but the poorest of the poor would have wrapped their feet in fabric. I would like to have some specifics of how you worked out the shawl collar. Are those details on your project page? Disappointed that the sock will be cuff down. I only do two at a time toe up. But I think your information about formulas will be very useful, no matter what my knitting style is.
I just broke down and got a vintage darning egg on eBay for practically nothing. It's awesome!
Is there a pattern for a ribbed sock with no heel? Have done the spiral but would like to do the regular ribbed.
There's a link in the video description to the book with the pattern in it. The Second "Hows" of Knitting.
Is the book still available?
Is which book still available? There are links in the video description to the various books I discussed. Some to Amazon, some to the publisher's site.
Thanks !
Can I know where to get these books and how much each one cost? Thank you.
There are links to the books down in the video description.
Please, 😊
Add me for the socks kal!
I have to admit that I use a plastic Easter egg for my darning.