Construction Details: knitted in flat pieces (back and front), seamed at sides and shoulders, with sleeve edges and neckband picked up after seaming to finish. Allover texture pattern consists of vertical panels of stockinette stitch framed by columns openwork lace. Knit 2, purl 2 ribbing at hem, garter stitch sleeve edges, neck edge, and toes. Gauge 27 stitches and 29 rows = 4".
Condition: Excellent.
Recollections:
My mother, Paige Negus, made this yellow summer sweater for me in 1978. I never wore it much -- the color was not very flattering, and the yarn was not comfortable to wear next to the skin -- but I've kept it year after year because it is so beautifully made, and because I recall my mother re-knitted it several times to make it come out just right.
Recently we found the orginal pattern for this sweater among the craft magazines my mother has saved. Published in the Spring/Summer 1978 Issue of American Home Crafts Magazine (shown), it is identified as "Cap Sleeve Blouse", pp. 83 and 100. The pattern recommended using Plymouth Indiecita Alpaca yarn, but I am sure my mother substituted Mohair because it was less expensive. The Magazine offers an interesting glimpse into 1970s crafting -- with knitted, crocheted, and sewn garments, quilts and shirred rugs made from recycled and scrap fabrics, sand painting in bottles, stenciled floors, embroidered peasant blouses, and much more.
Now my mother spends her crafting time on needlepoint and cross stitch, but then she made a lot of our clothing to save money. She loved to knit and she was absolutely passionate about sewing. This sweater reminds me of her love of making, the beautiful things she created for all of us -- me, my sister, my father, and herself -- and the many hours we spent during those years sewing, knitting and crafting together.
]]>Description: Hand knitted Yellow Mohair Sweater, 1978, with V-neck, ties, cap sleeves.
Construction Details: knitted in flat pieces (back and front), seamed at sides and shoulders, with sleeve edges and neckband picked up after seaming to finish. Allover texture pattern consists of vertical panels of stockinette stitch framed by columns openwork lace. Knit 2, purl 2 ribbing at hem, garter stitch sleeve edges, neck edge, and toes. Gauge 27 stitches and 29 rows = 4".
Condition: Excellent.
Recollections:
My mother, Paige Negus, made this yellow summer sweater for me in 1978. I never wore it much -- the color was not very flattering, and the yarn was not comfortable to wear next to the skin -- but I've kept it year after year because it is so beautifully made, and because I recall my mother re-knitted it several times to make it come out just right.
Recently we found the orginal pattern for this sweater among the craft magazines my mother has saved. Published in the Spring/Summer 1978 Issue of American Home Crafts Magazine (shown), it is identified as "Cap Sleeve Blouse", pp. 83 and 100. The pattern recommended using Plymouth Indiecita Alpaca yarn, but I am sure my mother substituted Mohair because it was less expensive. The Magazine offers an interesting glimpse into 1970s crafting -- with knitted, crocheted, and sewn garments, quilts and shirred rugs made from recycled and scrap fabrics, sand painting in bottles, stenciled floors, embroidered peasant blouses, and much more.
Now my mother spends her crafting time on needlepoint and cross stitch, but then she made a lot of our clothing to save money. She loved to knit and she was absolutely passionate about sewing. This sweater reminds me of her love of making, the beautiful things she created for all of us -- me, my sister, my father, and herself -- and the many hours we spent during those years sewing, knitting and crafting together.
This version is Biggie 2.0, knit in bulky superwash wool (Cascade 128) and in a smaller needle size (US 8/5mm) to help make him sturdier. He's stuffed with polyfil and has a knit heart inside. Future Biggies may be needed, so the heart can be transferred if necessary into his new regenerated form.
]]>This bear was knit as a replacement for the original "Biggie Bear," a knit bear created using Bobbi Intveld's Baby Bobbi Bear pattern. Rebecca made it for her niece, and he became its owner's favorite stuffed bear. Unfortunately, the cotton yarn and loose knit construction of the original made him less able to withstand the elements. He is still very well loved, but is now more of a bear blanket, as his child pulled all of his stuffing out.
This version is Biggie 2.0, knit in bulky superwash wool (Cascade 128) and in a smaller needle size (US 8/5mm) to help make him sturdier. He's stuffed with polyfil and has a knit heart inside. Future Biggies may be needed, so the heart can be transferred if necessary into his new regenerated form.
It's a corsage featuring two lilies and two button shaped circles crocheted added with an old cotton lace ribbon and strings of various kinds. I use this on a simple summer basket tote bag.
My mother's knitted gift to me one winter when I was still without any knit caps. Too girlish to be worn to work but I liked the colour mixtures and the quality of yarns. She added a matching floral broach to add some decorative element to it.
Mother made this for me when I needed something colorful to put on over around the neck of a colorless midnight navy blue A-line top to wear with skinny pants of white or light grey using whatever threads she had including feather type long haired smokey blue thread. The technique used is a simple garter knitting.
This was made by my friend for me using the yarn I had bought in Australia on a trip. It's mohair, mixed water blue and smokey purple colours. The cap has ribs for a better fit, and the stole must be worn with a brooch as it is short.
My mother, Teruko Hattori, made this pouch for me as a winter vanity case of a sort.
My mother knitted this and gave as a wintertime key case.
My mother’s creation of a stole knitted with small sequins. It came with matching fingerless gloves but I have lost the gloves.
Knitted by my mother using a thin mohair thread of rainbow colors in a 7 color gradation. Knitted with a reverse in the middle of 14cm side.
Shown here are some of the characters, props, and sets that Jennifer crocheted for the book.
]]>The Big Acorn Race is a 72-page crochet story and pattern book by Jennifer Olivarez that was published in 2016. The story follows the amigurumi characters from the crochet blog, Squirrel Picnic, as they compete to see who can get an acorn out of a tree first. It sounds simple, but there’s a catch: they aren’t allowed to climb the tree. They each must use their wit and imagination to find an alternative solution. The Big Acorn Race also includes 15 crochet patterns and projects to make the items featured in the story.
Shown here are some of the characters, props, and sets that Jennifer crocheted for the book.
My mother Teruko Takahashi made this pale pink snood of elongated basket weave patterns with silk containing thread for an early spring use.
The project of the Ballerina Bunny was created from a pattern I had found (but no longer retain). It spoke to me because it encompassed a lot of my favorite things all at once: my love of ballet; my work as a ballet teacher; my love of animals, knitting, and dolls. I was especially smitten with the tutu and the faux-toe shoes. It was also a good project for learning different knitting techniques and to be able to see results quickly.
Most importantly, I knew it would make my mom happy. She had been my knitting teacher and I wanted to show her how much she had taught me. At the time, my mother was battling the final stages of her illness. I had caught a cold and for 3 weeks it was unsafe for me to visit with her, so I was seeking a way that we could still do something together that made us both feel useful and happy. Making a knitted doll, with so much personal resonance, seemed like a good solution. We talked over the phone regularly about how to approach different parts and fix issues and share pictures of our progress.
When I was finallly able to present it to Mom, her excitement was beyond what I had imagined. She loved it, for so many reasons, and certainly for more than just the accomplishment of knitting. That's what makes it a treasure - because it's an everlasting, irreplaceable, shared experience of the heart captured in each and every stitch.
]]>This Ballerina Bunny was created in celebration of many important apects of my life. I was raised in a household where giving and receiving handmade dolls was a very big part of our family culture. The joy of making them has never gone away and only increased with time.
The project of the Ballerina Bunny was created from a pattern I had found (but no longer retain). It spoke to me because it encompassed a lot of my favorite things all at once: my love of ballet; my work as a ballet teacher; my love of animals, knitting, and dolls. I was especially smitten with the tutu and the faux-toe shoes. It was also a good project for learning different knitting techniques and to be able to see results quickly.
Most importantly, I knew it would make my mom happy. She had been my knitting teacher and I wanted to show her how much she had taught me. At the time, my mother was battling the final stages of her illness. I had caught a cold and for 3 weeks it was unsafe for me to visit with her, so I was seeking a way that we could still do something together that made us both feel useful and happy. Making a knitted doll, with so much personal resonance, seemed like a good solution. We talked over the phone regularly about how to approach different parts and fix issues and share pictures of our progress.
When I was finallly able to present it to Mom, her excitement was beyond what I had imagined. She loved it, for so many reasons, and certainly for more than just the accomplishment of knitting. That's what makes it a treasure - because it's an everlasting, irreplaceable, shared experience of the heart captured in each and every stitch.
It's a smokey blue suede and shoulder length bag with my mother's knitted basketweave patterned front and back sides a little bigger than a half moon bag. Meant for use in winter with a magnet button in the inner middle with polyester lining with two pockets on both sides. She asked her friend sewing shop owner to use her knitted parts and the smokey blue suede leather to make into this bag. I still use it as I like the colour patterns and it's warm look in the winter. The color of smokey blue suede is also what I like about it.
My mother made this so that I can wear with my colorless midnight navy blue woolen top that looks quite formal with skinny wool pants of white or beige. Adding this around the neck was to make it possible to wear it more casually. The technique is simple and primitive. My mother is a rough, not minute person. She doesn’t care for details being flawed. Thus this is not a good example for careful knitters.
The project consists of a five small creatures made from single ply wool yarn from the creator's stash and a log also made from stash yarn. Both components were fulled (felted) in the washing machine and by hand, then stuffed with polyfil.
]]>This is a set of Woodins, knit from the Woodins pattern by Anna Hrachovec that appeared in the Fall 2007 issue of Knitty. The creator knit it for her niece's second birthday and added felt birthday hats for each creature.
The project consists of a five small creatures made from single ply wool yarn from the creator's stash and a log also made from stash yarn. Both components were fulled (felted) in the washing machine and by hand, then stuffed with polyfil.
This white crochet doily has bright yellow Black Eyed Susan flower motifs around the outside edge and at the center. Each brown center is padded and raised. The centers have been sewn into the center of each flower. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Arch Lamb, Accession number TTU-H1977-096-032
I live in a small community 30 miles east of Madison, Wisconsin. I wanted to do something to show my support for the Black Lives Matter movement. There hasn't been any protests here, but that doesn't mean people don't care. So I made this. It's not much, but it's what I can do with my voice.
]]>This knitted yarn bomb hangs inside my front porch window. I designed and made it in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in July of 2020. I used size 13 needles and employed intarsia technique.
I live in a small community 30 miles east of Madison, Wisconsin. I wanted to do something to show my support for the Black Lives Matter movement. There hasn't been any protests here, but that doesn't mean people don't care. So I made this. It's not much, but it's what I can do with my voice.
"November 16, 2015
Augusta Adelia Lehner Newman knitted this sweater for her son, Charles Wynn Newman, Jr., when he was a boy. So it was knitted sometime in the late 1920s to early 1930s.
After he outgrew the sweater, his younger sister, Margaret Thais Newman McGinnis, began wearing it in the late 1940s.
In the 1960s, Margaret’s son, Paul Lee McGinnis, began wearing it.
In the 1970s, Margaret’s daughter, Mary Ruth McGinnis, took over wearing the sweater.
Sometime in the 1980s, Margaret darned a hole in the lower back of the sweater and the right sleeve cuff.
The sweater was retired from use about 2000."
CKC Notes:
David M. Newman contributed this sweater to the Center for Knit and Crochet in December 2021. It was originally knitted for his father, Charles Wynn Newman, Jr., when the family lived in Detroit, MI. David M. Newman commented, "I have no use for the sweater and although I have no wish to display it I recognize that it may serve as a well-executed example of a traditional craft performed in the service of the craftperson’s family."
The sweater appears to be knitted of navy blue wool accented with traditional Scandinavian-style decorative motifs in red, yellow, green, and white. The motifs are made using two techniques -- stranded knitting (patterns are knitted in) and duplicate stitch (patterns are applied as surface decoration after knitting). The sweater shows signs of wear and has been repaired, which only attests to the family's appreciation and care of the maker's work. It has otherwise survived in excellent condition. It is notable that the sweater was worn and enjoyed by several generations of the family.
The sweater and accompanying documentation will be used for educational and promotional purposes by the CKC to encourage others to add their knit and crochet items and stories to CKC's Crowdsourced Collection.
History of Blue Hand-Knitted Ski Sweater Handwritten by Mary Ruth McGinnis (transcribed)
"November 16, 2015
Augusta Adelia Lehner Newman knitted this sweater for her son, Charles Wynn Newman, Jr., when he was a boy. So it was knitted sometime in the late 1920s to early 1930s.
After he outgrew the sweater, his younger sister, Margaret Thais Newman McGinnis, began wearing it in the late 1940s.
In the 1960s, Margaret’s son, Paul Lee McGinnis, began wearing it.
In the 1970s, Margaret’s daughter, Mary Ruth McGinnis, took over wearing the sweater.
Sometime in the 1980s, Margaret darned a hole in the lower back of the sweater and the right sleeve cuff.
The sweater was retired from use about 2000."
CKC Notes:
David M. Newman contributed this sweater to the Center for Knit and Crochet in December 2021. It was originally knitted for his father, Charles Wynn Newman, Jr., when the family lived in Detroit, MI. David M. Newman commented, "I have no use for the sweater and although I have no wish to display it I recognize that it may serve as a well-executed example of a traditional craft performed in the service of the craftperson’s family."
The sweater appears to be knitted of navy blue wool accented with traditional Scandinavian-style decorative motifs in red, yellow, green, and white. The motifs are made using two techniques -- stranded knitting (patterns are knitted in) and duplicate stitch (patterns are applied as surface decoration after knitting). The sweater shows signs of wear and has been repaired, which only attests to the family's appreciation and care of the maker's work. It has otherwise survived in excellent condition. It is notable that the sweater was worn and enjoyed by several generations of the family.
The sweater and accompanying documentation will be used for educational and promotional purposes by the CKC to encourage others to add their knit and crochet items and stories to CKC's Crowdsourced Collection.
This stocking is hand knitted of cream-colored wool. The wool is DK weight. The design features panels of heavily embossed bobbles in a swag pattern separated by columns of garter ribbing. The top of the stocking features a knitted loop for hanging the stocking, and a knitted casing, 1.5 inches wide, that holds a 1” wide, dark green grosgrain ribbon. Below the ribbon casing, there is a 3.25” deep decorative edging, heavily embossed with bobbles. The initials “JL” are embroidered in green wool on the heel of the stocking using duplicate stitch. I recall that my sister-in-law's stocking was finished about a year earlier, and that hers had a red ribbon and red initials.
Betty was the co-owner with Bonne Hassler of Yarns International in Bethesda, Maryland. Betty and Bonnie hired several knitters to knit samples for the store and to do commission knitting and repairs for customers, and it is likely that one of these knitters was hired to knit the stockings. The knitting and finishing details are all beautifully and skillfully done.
Betty’s Christmases were legendary celebrations, and I know she filled this stocking for me when she gave it to me. It is simply gargantuan, measuring 27.5” inches from top of stocking to tip of toe, and 9” wide (18” in circumference)!
I like to think the large size demonstrates my mother-in-law’s overwhelming love for me, but from notes shared by “theytoldmesew” – another knitter who posted her project on Ravelry, www.ravelry.com, the photo of the pattern in the magazine was deceptive. The instructions include more repeats around and more repeats in length than the magazine photo of the stocking shows, resulting in a much larger stocking than would be expected. The large size is especially obvious and humorous when I hang it next to the stocking Betty had knitted for my husband that same year.
Because of its size, I use this stocking as a fun holiday decoration, but not as a Chrsitmas stocking. My sister-in-law found a different use for her gargantuan stocking, along with some of the swatches in Betty’s large swatch collection. She had them cut up, felted, and sewn into multiple stockings – one for each family member. You can see an example of one such stocking, which has a cuff made from a portion of her original Victorian Stocking, now felted.
It is wonderful to see these items getting the love they deserve, whether in their original form, or in a new one.
]]>
This Christmas stocking is one of a pair of stockings that Betty Lindsay, my mother-in-law, had knitted for me and my sister-in-law when we joined the family. The pattern is the Victorian Stocking Pattern by Valerie Root, published in Better Homes and Gardens Holiday Celebrations Magazine, 1993. At the same time, Betty had coordinating stockings in a different design knitted for our husbands – her sons. I am still searching for the source of the patterns for those.
This stocking is hand knitted of cream-colored wool. The wool is DK weight. The design features panels of heavily embossed bobbles in a swag pattern separated by columns of garter ribbing. The top of the stocking features a knitted loop for hanging the stocking, and a knitted casing, 1.5 inches wide, that holds a 1” wide, dark green grosgrain ribbon. Below the ribbon casing, there is a 3.25” deep decorative edging, heavily embossed with bobbles. The initials “JL” are embroidered in green wool on the heel of the stocking using duplicate stitch. I recall that my sister-in-law's stocking was finished about a year earlier, and that hers had a red ribbon and red initials.
Betty was the co-owner with Bonne Hassler of Yarns International in Bethesda, Maryland. Betty and Bonnie hired several knitters to knit samples for the store and to do commission knitting and repairs for customers, and it is likely that one of these knitters was hired to knit the stockings. The knitting and finishing details are all beautifully and skillfully done.
Betty’s Christmases were legendary celebrations, and I know she filled this stocking for me when she gave it to me. It is simply gargantuan, measuring 27.5” inches from top of stocking to tip of toe, and 9” wide (18” in circumference)!
I like to think the large size demonstrates my mother-in-law’s overwhelming love for me, but from notes shared by “theytoldmesew” – another knitter who posted her project on Ravelry, www.ravelry.com, the photo of the pattern in the magazine was deceptive. The instructions include more repeats around and more repeats in length than the magazine photo of the stocking shows, resulting in a much larger stocking than would be expected. The large size is especially obvious and humorous when I hang it next to the stocking Betty had knitted for my husband that same year.
Because of its size, I use this stocking as a fun holiday decoration, but not as a Chrsitmas stocking. My sister-in-law found a different use for her gargantuan stocking, along with some of the swatches in Betty’s large swatch collection. She had them cut up, felted, and sewn into multiple stockings – one for each family member. You can see an example of one such stocking, which has a cuff made from a portion of her original Victorian Stocking, now felted.
It is wonderful to see these items getting the love they deserve, whether in their original form, or in a new one.
I purchased this coin purse in Cusco in 2017 at the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco. (https://www.textilescusco.org). The CTTC, established in 1996, preserves and sustains the artists of Peruvian Inca textiles and their diverse communities throughout the region by providing a venue for them to demonstrate, exhibit, and sell their work.
The purse is made of hand spun, hand dyed Alpaca yarn. I recall from my visit that the dyes used are all traditional dyes, including plant dyes. The knitted gauge is very fine -- approximately 10 stitches and 10 rows to 1".
Artist: Margarita Huaman Puma, b. 1986
I often purchase local textiles as a way to remember places I have visited. Studying textiles made for and collected by travelers to various regions of the globe throughout history is endlessly fascinating.
A hand knit coin purse with crochet or looped bobble decorations made in Accha Alta, Peru, a small Andean community located about 2 hours north of Cusco, Peru.
I purchased this coin purse in Cusco in 2017 at the Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco. (https://www.textilescusco.org). The CTTC, established in 1996, preserves and sustains the artists of Peruvian Inca textiles and their diverse communities throughout the region by providing a venue for them to demonstrate, exhibit, and sell their work.
The purse is made of hand spun, hand dyed Alpaca yarn. I recall from my visit that the dyes used are all traditional dyes, including plant dyes. The knitted gauge is very fine -- approximately 10 stitches and 10 rows to 1".
Artist: Margarita Huaman Puma, b. 1986
I often purchase local textiles as a way to remember places I have visited. Studying textiles made for and collected by travelers to various regions of the globe throughout history is endlessly fascinating.