Flint Knits

First of all, thanks for all the great comments on the last few posts. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks, work and life-wise, so I wasn’t able to respond to everybody. But thanks!

My sister had a giant 9-pound baby on June 22 — I’m an Auntie! Baby Claire is already wearing the 3-month-old sizes, so it’s apparently a good thing I was so negligent with the gift-knitting. She may even have outgrown the Baby Surprise by the time Fall weather arrives.

Ooh, and check out the first of two Monkeys for my Sockapalooza pal.

My pal requested both “crazy colors” and “lacy patterns.” Thanks to everyone who weighed in with pattern suggestions for this lovely yarn — when Cookie herself suggested Monkey, who was I to disagree?

That bit of pooling on the sole was the only thing that made this yarn anything less than heavenly to work with. Do you think my pal will mind it? Would you?

(And, speaking of socks, have you seen Domesticat’s Drunken Bee socks? I love them. So much.)

But Monkey is about the only knitting I’ve gotten done with all the business and craziness and travel and whatnot. Usually, Wilma the Cat, Queen of Placidity, keeps us sane and calm.

UPDATE: I put a heap ton of pictures up on Flickr from these books. Check out my new photosets!
1940s-50s
1980s
“Hand Knits for Young Moderns“

I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t have much of a yarn stash — at least not compared with most of the folks I’ve seen on Ravelry. And I don’t buy a whole lot of pattern books, especially when I’m in Minneapolis, where the public libraries have a huge and up-to-date collection of them.

I do have a stash, though. A shameful, ridiculous, enormous stash of about 100 vintage knitting and crochet patterns, books, and pamphlets. If I see one at a yard sale, flea market or thrift shop, I can’t not buy it.

Some of them are beautiful. Some of them are funny. Some are just plain weird. And, if you read between the lines of the patterns and images, some even tell stories about rationing during WWII, about how white middle class families were represented during the Cold War, or about how leftist countercultures of the late 60s shaped handknitting fashion.

And each of them cost less than $1.

[click photo for details]

I recently proposed a swap with Ms. Stitchywitch — to trade the pattern she used for her lovely 80s sweater for one in my stash. Trouble is, I had to find a way to let her browse my giant vintage pattern library. So, Stitchywitch, here are a few of my favorites. Let me know which ones you’d like to see more of!

THANK YOU for all the sweet birthday wishes, and for the kind (and hilarious) comments about my camera loss.

I had a spectacular birthday. And some kind soul found my camera right where I left it amid the quilting fabric at Jo Ann, and turned it in. Amazing. My faith in humanity? Not restored, exactly, but maybe a bit more robust than it was a week ago. My faith in crafters? Unshakable.

As much as I would love to share all of the Santa photos (which, by the way, are fully clothed and fully ridiculous), you’ll have to settle for a couple of the tamer ones here on my Flickr account. Trust me, it’s better this way. And there’s a knitters’ treat: Check out what I’m holding in that first photo! And if you look very closely at the second one (you know, in the middle distance, just past where I’m sitting on Santa’s face), you can see a Baby Surprise Jacket-in-progress poking out of my purse.

I’m in Chicago for a week, staying with friends in their Lincoln Park condo, which has an entire wall-o-windows and an amaaaaazing view of both downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan. I’m hoping to steal a few moments to photograph the finished Baby Surprise in all that gorgeous natural light.

And I started a new pair of Monkeys for my Sockapalooza pal, with the gorgeous One Sheep Hill yarn from Yarnzilla.

Sadly, they’re knitting up too small for her, so they’ll be frogged soon.

Happily, I’ve also cast on for Minty’s Zokni socks. How do folks feel about Knit Picks Gloss yarn? I’m using it for the Zoknis, since it’s been languishing in the stash for ages.

There will be more posts from Chicago, I’m sure. And when I get back home, look what’s waiting for me!

I’m home! Until January! I pulled into my Flint, Michigan driveway at 2:00 this morning, and spent all day writing to deadline (and unpacking during breaks). I then took a long bath with some of the lovely stuff I got from Megan in a recent swap, and I’m just now sitting down with a mug of tea, the lover and the kitty, catching up on comments and Bloglines and Flickr.

AND, I finally got to open all the great packages that were waiting for me when I got home.

Thank you Sarah!

The pattern is from wolhalla, and I love it. But I used Lorna’s Laces and One Sheep Hill (both lighter fingering weight) on 2.25mm needles, and it came out way too snug for my high instep. I can’t even get it on my foot. (When will I learn?) I’ll have to try again with some big fat Colinette Jitterbug on US 2s.

First of all, you people are awesome — after my shameless begging, I got no less than THREE invitations to Ravelry, which now threatens to replace Flickr as my #1 online time-waster. Thanks!

And second…

Recycled eye candy today: the lovely One Sheep Hill sock yarn, from my favorite MN LYS.

So my Sockapalooza4 pal likes both “crazy colors” AND “lacy patterns.” Ummmm…

What lacy pattern could work with this super-variegated yarn? Maybe Thelonious? More Monkeys? Help! I am totally out of my depth here.