Historic Fibers

Remembrance

On Memorial Day, typically we remember veterans who fought to protect our country. But we can also remember the great women who supported these men in their endeavors. Schaeffer Yarns has a yarn called "Color Concepts for Memorable Women," and several of my favorite women are memorialized in this way. Eleanor Roosevelt has a beautiful blue/green colorway named in her honor, and I can't think of a more fitting tribute. Of course, if you want to remember great women in a tangible way, you could order some of the Memorable Women yarn. But at $32.50 per 300 yard skein, remembrance doesn't come cheaply.

A less expensive option is to learn more about great women who were also great knitters. There is a nice article at Bella Online called "Knitters Who have Made a Difference," and of course Eleanor is discussed, along with her contributions to the war effort by heading the knitting drives. Several other memorable knitters are presented as well, making this perfect Memorial Day reading for knitters. Spend a great Memorial Day knitting . . . and remembering those who came before.

Coming Soon to Needles Near You

I've been debating about my next project, and I've decided on two (for now). I'm starting the Maidenhair Shawl from the Alice Starmore Aran Knitting book. Since I just finished a huge intricate flat project, a slightly smaller intricate flat project seems like a counterintuitive choice, but I'm actually looking forward to it. I'll be using some dark teal Sheepjeswol wool, and the swatches look promising.

Lacy, Rhonda and I are planning to meet for lunch and visit Rumplestiltskin's today, where I will hopefully purchase a long size 10 needle to begin - can you believe it? - another afghan! Okay, okay, I know all of you who have patiently listened to me complain about the last one are thinking I've gone round the bend. But here's the justification: it will be on much larger needles, and I will be using two strands of much thicker yarn held together, and it's a Christmas present. Plus, I really like the pattern - the Men's Throw from the Tricoter book Sweaters for Men. Frankly, I don't like any of the sweaters in the book (and Dan won't wear them anyway), but the throw pattern is a winner.

My trip to Montana is rapidly approaching, and for that, I think I'll take an assortment of sock yarns. I'll also be looking for the Lucy Neatby Cool Socks, Warm Feet book today since some of the socks I have seen from the book use a heel option that I've been meaning to try. So those will be my portable projects. Hang in there, Cyn, your socks are in the works.

Unfortunately, all of these projects will have to wait a couple of days, since I've got the everlasting term papers to grade. Maybe I'll finally learn the art of grading while knitting. It's worth a try!

The (Almost) Empty Workbasket

Cinder is so happy that the Aran Afghan is done that she can hardly contain herself:

Cheddar, however, saw an opportunity. The knitting bag that has been housing the afghan for lo these many months was empty, so he decided to inhabit it:

Honestly, the picture was not posed. The cat decided on his own that the workbasket looked like a comfy spot, and I just happened to have the camera handy. As soon as I can evict him, I'll start on a new project!

The Finished Product

The Aran Afghan is now officially done! Dan is enjoying it already:

He's worn out from all the stress of worrying about passing the bar. Finally getting the good news caused serious exhaustion, and a release of all that tension. It's amazing that he can keep his eyes open at all - I think I would sleep for a week!

The afghan was started so long ago most people have probably forgotten the particulars, so I'll recap. It is an adaptation of the Na Craga sweater design from Alice Starmore's Aran Knitting. I used Plymouth Galway on US size 6 needles and did intarsia color blocks. I started it with a provisional cast on, which I later ripped out so I could add baby cable ribs to both ends. It's very dense, heavy, and warm. We'll no doubt be putting it away for several months until it is cool enough to use. Or maybe I'll just drape it artfully over a chair so we can admire it! I finally settled on doing a regular old bind-off in pattern on a wrong side row, and it looked ever so much better than the right side row bind off I had tried initially. Some day I'll figure out how to do the tubular bind off, but it bedeviled me this time. Still, I'm happy with the results and am ready to move on to something new. Incidentally, I wove in the ends using duplicate stitch, a technique I learned about from the Master Knitters, and I must say the weave-ins are virtually invisible - much nicer than any other method I've tried. And I'll use my new awareness of cast ons to begin my next project. Onward!

More Colonial Hats

Melissa has kindly sent links for two more patterns to approximate the caps worn on Colonial House. The first link is for another version of the Monmouth Cap, this one from Sarah Bradberry's fabulous site (which also offers a wealth of other historical knitting patterns). The second link is for the flat-topped "cow pat" cap worn by Jonathan in the show. Unfortunately, this site doesn't offer a picture.

I think I'll start a new sidebar with these links for specific patterns by time period. I would be much obliged if folks could send along favorite links to particular garments for specific time periods (such as Colonial US, Victorian, Early 20th Century, etc.). Since I am a U.S. historian, I am particularly interested in patterns specific to the U.S., but I would also be happy to include patterns from other locales. Since the U.S. is a country of immigrants, it isn't too hard to believe that patterns from elsewhere might have been made here at one time or another. It may take me a while to build the new section, but together we could build a really helpful resource for historical knitters.

Knitting Karma

We had some wonderful news on Friday evening - my husband Dan passed the California State Bar Exam! We're very excited, and of course we told everyone we knew. Lacy and her significant other, Chris, Rhonda and her husband Tony, and Dan and I went out to dinner on Saturday to celebrate and had a great meal. I dropped a note to my knitting guild to let them know and thank them for their good wishes and support over the past tense several months. Myra had an interesting take on the situation.

She dropped me a note to congratulate Dan, and said that she knew something good was going to happen because the Aran Afghan was almost finished! She feels that quite a lot goes into a knitted item, and I think she's right. While I certainly don't take credit for Dan's success, it is true that I started the afghan right around the time he started studying, and I knitted all my hopes and prayers into the fabric. I hope that it will always be special to him because of the love that went into it, and it's completion coinciding with a big goal in his journey toward becoming a lawyer is a wonderful marker in the events of our lives.

Now that I know knitting has this mystical power, what will I make next - and for whom?

Colonial Knitting

There is quite a discussion on the Yahoo Historic Knits group about the PBS series, Colonial House. Apparently, one historical knitted item that has made an appearance is the Monmouth Cap, so I did a little searching. For those of you interested in knitting historical reproductions, you can find pictures and a pattern for a Monmouth Cap of your very own here.

Stockings were also items frequently knitted in the 17th century. Plimoth Plantation, the living history museum that has provided quite a bit of support for the Colonial House series, is offering a class on 17th century sock knitting. Anyone who happens to live in the area might be interested in participating. If, like me, you are too far away to join in the sock knitting fun, there is excellent information on how to knit a 17th century stocking here. Grab those knitting needles and start a historical project to work on while you watch the show!

Amusing Oneself

The cats haven't made an appearance in quite a while, so I will make up for my neglect today. Our two cats, Cheddar the orange tabby and Cinder the gray tabby like each other very much and play together often. But they also enjoy their solitude, and choose to spend their time in very different ways. Cheddar likes to be outside, lazily sunning himself or chasing bugs. We have a hummingbird feeder that he supervises quite often, and he makes funny little chirping noises when there is a hummer visiting. Here he is, enjoying a warm spot:

Cinder, by contrast, prefers to stay indoors. She especially enjoys playing with a little pink rubber ball, and she is very funny to watch. She picks the ball up in her mouth and carries it around, taking it to the top of the stairs and dropping it to watch it bounce down the stairs. She bats the ball around and seems endlessly fascinated with how the ball jumps away and caroms off the furniture. Just as Cheddar talks to the birds, she talks to her little pink ball while she plays with it. She doesn't seem to want or need anyone else's intervention and is perfectly happy to amuse herself. I've never seen a cat play this way, and it is very entertaining. Here she is with her little pink ball:

When I'm not letting Cheddar in or out, or marveling at Cinder's uninhibited joy in a round piece of pink rubber, I amuse myself by knitting, as I'm sure does not surprise anyone by now! I enjoy knitting with friends or at guild meetings, but like the cats, I'm perfectly happy stitching away, all by myself. Amusing, isn't it?

Mad Hatters

Last month I attended a birthday party for a friend held at a local restaurant. As I was walking through the restaurant to get to the banquet room where the party was located, I passed a table where a group of women sat, all wearing the most marvelous red hats (and gigantic grins!). Some hats were beaded, some plumed, some fringed. They looked so festive that I couldn't imagine that the women were having anything but a wonderful time. It made me happy just to see a group of women so obviously enjoying themselves.

Myra just sent a link to our guild mailing list for the If The Hat Fits group. I've mentioned them before, but apparently their May exhibition is up for all to enjoy, and you can see it here. As a Northern California hockey fan (no, that's not an oxymoron) I especially enjoyed the Sharks Superfan hat, but there are a number of other fantastic creations to see.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I imagined these hat-making women getting together, perhaps for a high tea or an evening out, wearing their hats. And I thought, wouldn't that be a great idea for your knitting group or guild? Plan a Mad Hatters tea or dinner several months in advance, and have your knitting friends create the most astonishing hats they could dream up. And as you were all sitting at the table, enjoying each other's hats and company, I'll bet people passing by would smile just as I did last month, envying the good time and the wonderful women with the hats.

Conversations in Yarn

Once upon a time, I heard an academic scholar talking about how research is just a way of entering into a conversation with other scholars about a particular topic. The trick is deciding in which conversation you want to participate.

I think the same is true of knitting. There are so many options, and so many things to try. Lace knitting, Arans, Fair Isle, Scandinavian Twined Knitting, Bohus, Entrelac, felting, and the list goes on and on. There is so much to do and see and try that I can see why knitting is a lifelong passion for so many.

I've heard it said that one way that knitting is different today than it was years ago is that there is so much more information. Books, magazines, and the Internet all make these conversations - these techniques and approaches - accessible. We can find information, support, and new friends to share these experiences. Just as in academia, the problem may be in deciding which conversation you want to enter into. But the difference is that we are only constrained by our own interests and the amount of time we can devote to these pursuits. We are not limited to just one conversation, and can join several conversations simultaneously if we like.