Vintage yarn and pattern books

Mrs. T has been exploring her attic. She didn't only trace back her grandmothers (vintage) yarn but also a lot of vintage knitting pattern books.

This one (above) is great. It's a mail order leaflet for 3 suisess from 1959. (As grandmother lived on an island, she mostly ordered yarn by mail). The funny thing is, Mrs'T has got some of the yarns which are mentioned in this book!

Like these ball's of Cosy yarn. Not really a left over, cause there are 12 balls of it! "I think my grandmother must have been shocked by the bright yellow color. That must be the reason she never used it." say Mrs. T.

This packet was never even opened!

This page features the baby yarn mrs. T has dyed yesterday. No more baby yellow.

Not only sweet little babies show of in this leaflet, but elderly people too! It's mr. Sipkes from Eindhoven and his wife. Not the kind of 'young looking happy rich senior' that you see in modern advertisments. Mr. Sipkes has been a waiter for 45 years, and it shows. But fortunately his wife knits his socks with Suizanyl yarn - wool with a bit of nylon and therefor indistructable.

In one of the pictures we see mrs. Sipkes reading a magazine in front of the radio. The text tell's us she has lots of extra spare time now she doesn't have to darn mr. Sipkes socks anymore!

That's must have encouraged mrs. T's grandmother to buy a bunch of Suisanyl balls. Indeed, it still looks indistructable...even after 50 years on the attic!

Fifty years ago it was common to knit ones own underwear. This bont-jaeger was especially meant for it.

Classic sweaters were supposed to be knit from this fine Prestige yarn. Maybe mr. Sipkes would have liked it too...

"I love this Solaria yarn. My grandmother left me a few of these yellow balls. There are also some red ones, which look the same but have no wraps anymore. I don't know what to knit of it. The two colours don't combine very well." says mrs. T.

Knitters in the fifties and sixties must have loved Solaria too, because 3Suisses had this yarn for a long time. The wraps and the colours have changes a bit through the years:

Some more vintage knitting books and magazines:

Some very old knitting books and one crochet book (up).

"I love looking into these books. They must be from the thirties of forties. It's lovely to look at the clothes people wore in those days, but also at their hairdo, toys and furniture." says mrs. T about the books below.

"This magazine is a lot more modern. I guess it's from the sixties. Some patterns in it I like very much. One sweater for sure is on my To Do List. Some other are really hilarious!" says mrs. T.

This magazine (up) for sure is from the seventies. But like most others there is no exact year printed on it.

"Maandblad voor handwerken" and "Ariadne"

Very exciting too are these very old handicraft magazines. There are lots and lots of them in the attic. The oldest ones date from the fourties, the oldest are from the ninties. The magazine still excists in the Netherlands, but changed its name several times. From 'maandblad voor handwerken' to 'Ariadne' (195something) to "At Home" in the nineties. Unfortunatly it's not a real handicraft magazine anymore, but mostly about interior decorating.

How steam dyeing is done

Steam dyeing is not as easy as microwave dyeing. But it isn’t hard either. It is fun to do and you can influence the colours while steaming, by sprinkling more dye at the spot where you want it. Another good thing is that you’ll need only very little dye. It doesn’t get flushed away with the water. You put the dye directly on the yarn/wool which never touches the water. The colours just steams into it. After dyeing there is hardly any dirty water left, so it’s a clean way too.

How the dyeing is done:

You'll need:
- Yarn (or unspun wool)
- Dye (powder) like Colortex
- Enamel rice cooking pot or…
- large enamel pot and a cake tray that fits in it plus 4 small twist-off jars
- Spray bottle
- Vinegar
- Liquid wool wash
- Disposable plastic ice spoons (one for each colour)

Pour approx. 2 cm water into the pot. Add a cup of vinegar and a cup of liquid wash;
Fill jars with water. Put them in pot and place tray upon them, so the tray doesn’t reach the water. (Or hang inner pot in rice pot)
Spread about 100 gr. wool/yarn out on tray /bottom;
Sprinkle a half or whole spoon of dye over yarn of each colour you want.
Spray yarn and dye with the spray bottle and divide colour over and trough the yarn;
Put pot on stove. Let it steam;
Spray the yarn again every 10 minutes;
Turn yarn/wool after about 20 min. to see if dye has reached all the yarn. If not, add a bit of dye.
After 30 min. you can add a second layer of yarn/wool. Add as much dye as for first layer;
Let it steam for 30, 40 more minutes, spraying every 10 minutes. (Turn second layer once too).
Take care you spray enough water so the pot doesn’t run dry.
Put yarn on rack to cool;
After it’s totally cold, rinse it in water three times. Add vinegar in last rinse
Leave yarn to dry.

Dyeing yarns too

There was more yarn in the attic, begging to be dyed. Especially this baby yarn had been yellow for long enough!

It had probably been yellow for over fourty years. Mrs. T. guesses her grandmother bought it in the sixties, because in that decade all her grandchildren were born.

Yarnsellers really should put dates on their wraps!

Of course this time Mrs. T. checked the quality of the yarn first. (She had to wind it on skeins anyway) No yarn breaks this time.

This time Mrs. T. only used blue and yellow dye, in order to get a blue-green-yellowish result.

Dyeing yarns

About 10 years ago mrs. T. dyed her first and her last skeins of yarn. This week she cleared up a cupboard and discovered three little pots of Colortex dye. In a now-or-never mood she decided to start dying yarn right that minute. All it took was one skein of very old white yarn (her grandmothers, so 50, 60 or more years old). An enamel rice cooker. (Also her grandmothers so also very old). Wool wash liquid, vinegar and water.

With The Eagles playing Witchy Woman on the radio Mrs. T. really felt like making magic!

This white yarn is dyed with only three colors Colortex: a bit red, a bit blue and 2 bits of yellow.

Great autumn colors! What a pity this yarn is so old that it's broken into a lot of quit small pieces of string... The only thing it's good for now is knitting a project and felting it later.

This is what it looks like knitted. Below: single string yarn on size 2,5 mm; middle: 1 string combined with fine red yarn knitted on 3 mm needles; above: two strings, knitted on 3,5 mm needles.

Second shot

The yarn may be bad, but the colors are great and dyeing is fun to do. So mrs. T. took another shot at it. This time she used a skein of not too old yarn, some beige tweed of about 150 g. It has a nice natural look, but it's also a bit boring.

After dying (using only red and yellow dye) it's got a warm, passionate orange color! Pure witchcraft!

Baby Dead Fish Hat

The arrival of a fresh new baby is always a good excuse to start knitting. Traditionally Mrs. T knits every baby one of her special Guatemalan baby hats (pattern and pictures coming up one day). But little Bram, born in august, still didn't get his. Mrs. T. knitted a baby Dead Fish Hat instead. She just had put Zephyrama's modification of the large version to the test.
Mrs. T. didn't exactly follow Zeph's pattern. She didn't knit the tailpart in the round, because this way the fish would end up with two separate dorsal fins. But anyway it's great to have a mini fish hat pattern now too. Mrs. T. knows a lot of babies and toddlers she would like to see crawling about with a fish on their head!

Variation on Etanapipa

Variation on Etanapipa
Mrs. T doesn't read Finnish very well (meaning: not al all), but she just had to knit this lovely and funny Etanapipa designed by Maaru. Luckily the pictures on her blog are very clear, so it was not so hard to figure the pattern out by herself. She didn't knit the hat just like Maaru's. She feared the lady she knitted the hat for, wouldn't like a very large point on top, so she made it smaller. And instead of the seed stitch brim she made a folded hem.

This is the way Mrs. T made this hat:
Cast on 58 sts on dpkn’s size 5,5 mm/US9, divide over needles, join in the round; (place sts marker between first and last sts if you need).
Knit 8 rows
Purl 1 row
Fold hem inside over purl row. Pick up 1st from cast on row and knit together with 1 st from working needle, to connect hem. Work like this till end of row. (Or use provisionary cast on from the start)

Row 1: purl 5, knit till end/marker
Row 2: knit 5, purl 5 purl, knit;
Row 3: knit till (including) last purl stitch, purl 5, knit;
Repeat row 3
This way the purl sts circle their way up on the hat.
After 12 rows from hem, purl 4 sts instead of 5.
After 14 more rows. From here purl 3 sts instead of 4.
Work till 13 cm/5 inch from hem

Decrease rows
Place markers: k14, PM, k15, PM, k14, PM, K15
Decrease row: knit till marker, SSK, k1, K2tog; (50 sts)
Work 3 rows
Decrease row (42 sts)
Work 3 rows
Decrease row (34 sts)
Work 3 rows
Decrease row (26 sts)
Work 2 rows
Decrease row (18 sts)
Work 2 rows
Decrease row (12 sts)
Work 1 row
Decrease row (6 sts)
Bind off , break yarn, weave in ends

Crochet a row of chain stitches upon the purled stitches (see pictures in original patternEtanapipa by Maaru)

Waffle look-a-like

The 4needles had to watch TV a lot these days. Mrs. T wanted to check out the looks of Waffle. He’s one of the cats in the comic series CatScratch. Waffle is a cute guy with very big eyes and enormously long ears. This inspired Mrs. T into turning Waffle’s head into a hat!

Shape
“Waffle has a large upper lip. That’s why I designed a hat with a brim. On top I knitted two ‘liripipes’ for ears. For his eyes the bumps on the Katamari (Damacy) Hat would do great.” says Mrs. T.

Not so happy
The hat turned out quite funny, but mrs. T isn’t totally happy with it. “I don’t really like the way the teeth turned out. I used a double thread of yarn but this makes them look bulky. A single thread would have been better. Or I might have cut the teeth out of felt,” she said. “I also should have made the brim smaller, so you can see the teeth better. But I'm not in the mood to knit another Waffle now. Maybe some other knitter will make an attempt to knit a better Waffle look-a-like”

So here's the pattern:

Cat Scratch Waffle Hat

Size
Large child/small adult

Materials

Grey yarn (about 70 gr);
Some blue yarn (striping on liripipe);
Some white yarn (eyes and teeth);
Bit of black yarn for embroidering eyepupils;
Teeth may also be cut out of white felt;

1 set US 7 /4,5 mm double-point needles
1 set US 6 /4 mm straight needles
1 set US 6/4 mm short sock needles
stitch markers
tapestry needle for embroidering eyepupils

Gauge

18 sts/23 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch,
using needlesize 4,5/US#7

Pattern:

Waffle's head (Hat with hemmed brim)

Cast on 80 sts with grey yarn, divide them over 3 dpkn and join for knitting in the round being careful not to twist.
Knit 2,5 cm (1 inch) in stocking stitch.
Next purl 1 row (this is where you fold the hem)
Knit 2,5 cm (1 inch) in stocking stitch again.
Fold the hem over the purl row with the wrong sides facing each other. Connect the pieces by picking up one stitch from the c.o. and knitting it together with the first stitch on the working needle. Continue like this for one round.
Work in stocking stitch until work measures 19 cm (7,5 inch).

Waffle's Ears (Liripipes)
Put 40 stitches on hold on an stitch holder.
Divide the other 40 stitches over 3 dpkn’s and join for knitting in the round. Work around, knitting an decrease row every 5 cm/2 inch.
Decrease row: decrease 1 sts in each needle ( = -3);
Work like this until 6 sts remain. Break off yarn, thread yarn through stitches, draw tight and weave in yarn end.

Knit the second liripipe in the same way, but make blue stripes and blue point. Change to blue yarn after 12,5 cm (5 inch) for first blue stripe.
- Knit with blue for 5 cm/2 inch.
- Knit with grey yarn for 5 cm/2 inch
- Knit with blue yarn for 5 cm/2 inch
- Knit with grey yarn for 5 cm/2 inch
- Knit with blue yarn till end

Waffle's Lips (brim)
Using grey yarn and straight needles, pick up 18 sts along the center front of the hat. Work back and forth from now.
Row 1: purl across.
Row 2: k2, m1r, place marker, k14, place marker, m1l, k2, pick up and knit 2 sts from the edge of the hat;
Row 3: p to end, pick up and knit 2 sts from hat edge;
Row 4: k to marker, m1r, (marker), knit 10 (marker), m1l, k to end, pick up and knit 2 sts from hat edge;
Repeat row 3 and 4 until there are 50 sts on the needle.
Next row: (WS facing) purl across;
Backside of brim:
Row1: BO 2 sts, purl to end;
Row 2: BO 2 sts, knit to 2 sts before marker, ssk, (slip marker) k14 (slip marker) knit to end.
Repeat these two rows until 18 sts remain. Fold brim (RS facing) and stitch open edge to bottom of brim.

Waffle's Teeth:
With straight needles and white yarn, pick up 37 needles at the edge of the hat and brim. Knit 1 row;

First tooth:
Row 1: knit 11, turn;
Row 2: SSK, knit 7, k2tog (9 sts)
Row 3: knit
Row 4: SSK, knit 5, K2tog (7 sts)
Row 5: knit
Row 6: SSK, knit 3, K2tog (5 sts)
Row 7: knit
Row 8: SSK, knit 1, K2tog (3 sts)
Row 9: cast of, break yarn

Second and third tooth:
Row 1: connect yarn, CO 2, knit 11, turn
Row 2: SSK, knit 7, k2tog (9 sts)
Row 3: knit
Row 4: SSK, knit 5, K2tog (7 sts)
Row 5: knit
Row 6: SSK, knit 3, K2tog (5 sts)
Row 7: knit
Row 8: SSK, knit 1, K2tog (3 sts)
Row 9: cast of, break yarn
Weave in ends.

Waffle's Eyes:
Waffle’s eyes are knit top down. In fact you knit very small hats, using the top down method. It’s best to use short sock needles.
CO 6 sts with waste yarn. Knit 2 rows.
Divide sts over 3 dpns and join. (Be careful not to twist). Work with white yarn from here. Leave a small yarn tail, to close up the top of the eye later.
Row 1: knit
Row 2: KF&B, 12 sts
Row 3: KF&B, K1, 18 sts
Row 4: KF&B, K2, 24 sts
Row 5: KF&B, K3, 30 sts
Row 6: knit
Row 7 KF&B, K4
Row 8, 9, 10 Knit
BO all sts. Leave a long yarn tail you can use to sew the eye on later;
Frog the waste yarn, close the top of the eye. Weave in the ends.
Knit the second eye.

Cut the stryrofoam ball in two halves. Cover each half in thin batting (Mrs. T used unspun wool) and place the ball in the knitted eye. Sew the eyes to the waffle hat. Embroider two oblong pupils on them.

Waffle is alive!