Knit lace pattern shawl
<p>This shawl was knit by Nicole H. Scalessa using size US7 needles and Lion Brand Shawl in a Ball Metallic Prism. The stitch is a feather and fan variation with lace stitch insert.</p>
Scalessa, Nicole
2018
5’x14”
2019.011
1970s Yellow Mohair Sweater
<p>Description: Hand knitted Yellow Mohair Sweater, 1978, with V-neck, ties, cap sleeves. </p>
<p>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". </p>
<p>Condition: Excellent. </p>
<p>Recollections: </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
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Negus, Paige
1978
Jennifer Lindsay
Length: 23" Bust 33"
2019.012
Hand knit Scandinavian Folk Dolls
<p>"Sven & Helga" are hand knitted dolls created by Judith Lasch of Middletown, New Jersey, in the year 2000. Judith created the dolls for her daughter, Callie, following a trip they had shared together to the Scandinavian countries. Folkloric dolls were a staple in their home growing up and, as Callie and her sisters honed their own making skills, making their own dolls was further encouraged. Plans for the next doll to be shared as a surprise gift were made many months in advance. Sven & Helga were named in honor of Callie's father and grandmother.</p>
Judith Lasch
2000
12" x 6" each
2019.013
Ballerina Bunny, hand knit doll
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
Beth Lasch
2003
10" x 5"
2019.014
Knitted mohair lace 3/4 length cropped sleeve cowl neck
<p>This lovely creation was made for me by my beloved grandmother and cherished friend, Helen Rudewicz Pawlak Horan. It is an absolute honor to have received this tremendous gift from such a beautiful person in my life. When I'm wearing it, wrapped in all its feathery weightlessness and gentle warmth, I feel as though I am embaced in her comforting spirit.</p>
<p>I remember her working on it for a long time, taking great care and attention, being challenged by the fine and fuzzy mohair yarn, and loving the accomplishment of seeing her work take shape. We would sit together and talk while she knit. I also feel like so many of the stories and wisdoms she shared are captured in her stitches. </p>
<p>My grandmother - "Chuchee" as we all called her - was also a fan of watching the game show <em>Wheel of Fortune</em>. She liked to solve the puzzles and adored the glamour and grace of Vanna White. Some years after my grandmother had passed, I was wearing this piece at a knitting trade show when Vanna White approached me to admire it. She was delightful and her comments were so very complimentary. As we talked, I mentioned how much of a fan of hers that my grandmother had been and how parts of this garment were probably knit while watching Vanna as well. Without missing a beat, Vanna said, "Well then, this for your grandma..." and she pulled me up on stage and proceeded to do the famous Vanna presentation move - gracefully guiding her arm up and down to accentuate my grandmother's knitting. What a surprising and fun tribute.</p>
<p>Somehow the magic of knitted treasures is that they just keep on giving ... thank you Chuchee (and Vanna).</p>
Helen Rudewicz Pawlak Horan, 1912 - 1994
1990
48" in length x 24" in width
2019.015
Darning Eggs
<p><strong>Description: </strong></p>
<p><span>2 turned wood darning eggs, measuring 6" high and 11" high. Date and maker unknown. Condition: Fair to Good </span></p>
<p><span>I inherited these darning eggs from my paternal grandmother more than twenty years ago. She lived in Western Massachusetts most of her life, and was accomplished at all forms of needlework. She had a degree in Home Economics from Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts, and worked as a social worker during the Depression. I do not know whether she also inherited these tools, as I did, or bought them new in the 1920s or 1930s. </span><span>Darning eggs were used as supports for the tedious work of repairing holes in socks and sweaters. </span></p>
<p><span>Neither darning egg is marked with a maker’s name or date. The smaller one measures approximately 6” long; its quaint, turned handle is permanently affixed to the egg. The larger one is a multi-purpose, “Swiss Army”-styled, modular darning-tool-and-carry-case all in one. Fully assembled, it measures 11”, but the egg-shaped top can be removed and used alone, or attached to either the top or bottom section of the carry case to make two shorter darning tools measuring 5” and 7”. Originally, the pieces probably fitted and held together neatly and securely, but the wood has expanded and all the joins have loosened over time. </span></p>
<p><span>Inside the carry case was an assortment of 8.5” unmarked steel sock needles ranging from Size 0000 to Size 00 – very small by today’s standards – and a crochet hook marked “Milward 13”. I do not know whether the needles and hook came with the darning egg, or were added later by my grandmother.</span></p>
<p><span>I</span>n 2015, I used these darning eggs as originally intended to mend a pair of socks. <span> </span>In one of the images that accompanies this post, you can see that once I put the darning egg inside the sock, the support it provided made it easier to see and overstitch the threadbare areas. You can read more about my observations on the current interest in repairing and mending garments, and how to use a darning egg on the CKC Blog: <a href="https://centerforknitandcrochet.org/the-art-of-mending/">“The Art of Mending” published on June 26, 2015</a>. I am now very grateful to have these simple, specialized tools on hand.</p>
Unknown
ca. 1900-1930
6" High and 11" High
2019.016
Mismatched Shetland Mitts
<p><span>Two right-handed, mismatched, fingerless mitts, ca. 1997 or later. Shetland wool, hand knitted in Shetland, UK. Maker or makers unknown at this time, pending further research. Possibly by the same maker, or not. </span></p>
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<p><span>Traditional colorwork based on “XO” patterns. Tan mitt is knitted in a palette of natural colors. Blue mitt is knitted in a palette of blues and purples. Condition: Good, with tan mitt requiring repair to the bound off edge of the third finger. Thumb style is traditional.</span></p>
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<p><span>These mismatched mitts were once pairs of mitts </span>purchased by my mother-in-law, Betty H. Lindsay during her travels to Shetland, UK. Betty Lindsay was co-owner of Yarns International in Bethesda, Maryland, and a co-founder/co-creator of Yarns International’s <em>Shetland 2000</em> yarn – a joint venture with Jamieson & Smith Woolen Mills of Lerwick, Shetland.<a>[1]</a></p>
<p>During our first family visit to Shetland in 1997, when Betty was initially inspired to create <em>Shetland 2000</em>, we shopped at the Islesburgh Exhibition in Lerwick, a cultural center where we met many Shetland knitters, including Anna Bell Bray. My husband and I joined my mother-in-law and father-in-law, Betty and Joe Lindsay, a week into their stay in Shetland that summer, and Betty had already visited many shops in the area, including the Islesburgh Exhibition, making some purchases of the beautiful knitwear -- a tradition she continued in future years. These mitts may have been purchased in 1997, or later. She wore them with love and enthusiasm. Finding these mismatched mitts after her death, I had a strong and vivid memory of her ceremoniously drawing her Shetland mitts out – one from each pocket of her coat – and pulling them on as she left the store. </p>
<p>The mitts show two different expressions of the Shetland knitting tradition – the "XO" patterns here are interpreted in traditional natural colors, and in a more contemporary palette featuring tonal blues and purples. All yarns used are likely overdyed Shetland Jumper Weight yarns, as shown in the accompanying color card.</p>
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<p>Please stay tuned for my forthcoming blog post about Betty, these mitts, and her passionate efforts to save the Shetland sheep!<span></span></p>
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<p><a>[1]</a> https://jamiesonandsmith.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/yarn-series-shetland-supreme-jumper-weight/</p>
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Maker or Makers Currently Unidentified
Ca. 1997-2000
8" long x 3.5" W (both mitts)
2019.017
A mixed pale pinkish knitted cap
<p>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. </p>
Teruko Hattori
Circa 1990
25cm x 18cm where longest
2019.018
A pale blue cap and a stole
<p>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.</p>
Hiroko Kosaka
circa 2005
25cm x 18cm (cap) & 17cm x 60cm (stole)
2019.019
A multi-coloured snood
<p>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. </p>
Teruko Hattori
circa 1990s
18cm x 200cm
2019.020
Bicolor snood in red and beige
<p>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.</p>
Teruko Hattori
circa 1990s
25cm x 200cm
2019.021
Houndstooth snood
<p>My mother made this using three colors of thread. It’s small and matches with various colors of sweaters. </p>
Teruko Hattori
Circa 1990s
15cm x 150cm
2019.022
Baby pink untwisted snood
<p>My mother Teruko Takahashi made this pale pink snood of elongated basket weave patterns with silk containing thread for an early spring use.</p>
Teruko Hattori
circa 1990s
15cm x 70cm
2019.023
A purple stole with sequins
<p>My mother’s creation of a stole knitted with small sequins. It came with matching fingerless gloves but I have lost the gloves.</p>
Teruko Hattori
Circa 1990s
18cm x 180cm
2019.024
Reversible Crocheted Snood
<p>This was made for late autumnal wear. Has lots of holes for crocheting connecting diamond shapes. It’s reversible; mixed colors and solid red. </p>
Teruko Hattori
1990s
12cm x 102cm
2019.025
Dark blue shaded stole
<p>A friend of mine made this as a gift for me. The thread was mine from somewhere in Tokyo’s Okadaya hobby Shop. A gradation in the thread automatically made the random pattern in the final product. </p>
Hiroko Kosaka
Circa 2005
13cm x 100cm
2019.026
A Rainbow Snood
<p>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.</p>
Teruko Hattori
Circa 1990
14cm x 58cm
2019.027
Women's Cardigan with Embroidered Flowers and Gathered Waist
<p>I made this cardigan in the late 1960s or early 1970s and cannot find the pattern source. The yarn is likely Red Heart or something similar from the period in a worsted weight. Small pink and green flowers are embroidered along the top of the gathered waist, the top of the three-inch ribbing on the puffed long sleeve, along the button band, and over the top of the ribbing going over the shoulders. </p>
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Huset, Marilyn
Ca. 1970
2019.028
My First Knitted Sweater
<p>I knitted my first sweater, a pullover, at age 17. The pattern appeared in <em>Ladies Circle Needlework</em> magazine's Fall-Winter 1968 issue. It was likely made in Red Heart or a similar yarn of a worsted weight. I still have the sweater and the magazine. I'd been knitting for almost 10 years by then and doing a sweater was certainly a learning experience. I've made many sweaters since, but this one has a fond spot in my knitter's heart.</p>
Huset, Marilyn
1968
2019.029
Knitted vest made by Anna Bell Bray, Shetland, UK
<p><span>This is a man's vest made by Anna Bell Bray of Shetland, UK for my husband, Wade Lindsay, in late 1997 or early 1998. The vest is made of Jamieson and Smith Jumper Weight wool yarn in a combination of 11 dyed natural colors, solid colors, and tweeds in the traditional manner -- knitted from the bottom up, in the round, using no more than 2 colors per round. The V-neck and armholes are steeked and cut, with the edgings picked up and knitted after cutting. Anna Bell Bray typically knitted her garments using a traditional knitting belt and 5 long steel needles. </span></p>
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<p><span>During a visit to Shetland in July 1997 with my mother-in-law, Betty Lindsay and father-in-law Joe Lindsay, we met Anna Bell Bray at the Islesburgh Exhibition, where she and a group of accomplished knitters and designers from the area exhibited and sold their work. As I've written elsewhere, Anna Bell Bray’s work is distinguished by couturier details that are difficult to achieve in knitwear made using traditional Shetland knitting techniques. She agreed to knit a vest for my husband -- to be sent to us whenever it was completed -- sizing him on the spot just by looking at him. We knew whatever she created would be amazing, and so it is.</span></p>
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<p><span>The photos show many views of the vest, and capture Anna Bell Bray's masterful use of light and dark values and large Norwegian-style star motifs to achieve an almost kaleidoscopic visual effect. An unusual ribbing with checkerboard detail adds distinction. As shown in the inside-out photo, the neck ribbing reveals a patterned facing, while the hem and armholes have plain facings. These facings give the garment a more finished look by enclosing the raw edges, and allow it to better hold its shape. The facings also reduce the chance of excessive wear at these common stress points. </span></p>
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<p><span>The subtle gradations in the colors, and their placement, serve to keep the eye moving over the design so that it always looks fresh and interesting. For example, one brown used in the ribbing is not used in the main body of the sweater, while the tweed yarns are used sparingly to point up the centers of the motifs. </span></p>
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Anna Bell Bray
1997 or 1998
Length (shoulder to hem) = 27", Chest (circumference) 43" Gauge appears to be 11 stitches x 11 rows to 1"
2019.030
Amigurumi squirrels and crochet woodland set
<p><em>The Big Acorn Race</em> 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. <em>The Big Acorn Race</em> also includes 15 crochet patterns and projects to make the items featured in the story.</p>
<p>Shown here are some of the characters, props, and sets that Jennifer crocheted for the book. </p>
Olivarez, Jennifer
2016
2019.031
Crocheted Donkey from 1980s
Sometime during the 1980s, my husband Alan and I were visiting friends in San Antonio, Texas. We went to a grocery store, and there among the vegetables were ceramic donkeys pulling carts. They were planters. They were very cute and not too expensive, so I bought one. After that, I would see other donkey figurines and some were so artistic! I would buy donkeys that were different or prettier than what I already had. Knowing my fondness for donkey figurines, my daughter Suzann crocheted this little donkey for me, probably for my birthday or Mother's Day, sometime in the 1980s. She used gray boucle yarn for the body and a smooth black yarn for the hooves, mane, tail, and features. The bows on the tail and neck are mohair-blend yarn. She still has the pattern. It is "Little Gray Donkey," by Bev Dillon, in Crocheted Critters, Leisure Arts Leaflet 109, dated 1977. I appreciated the little crocheted donkey and it is still around after all those years. I put it in the guest room where my grandson sleeps when my eldest son's family comes to visit.
Thompson, Suzann
1980s
about 8 inches tall
2019.032
Mr. Elsner's Knitted Kitties
<p>Mr. Elsner was one of few men who arrived in my hometown of Schwarzenbach an der Saale, a town in Northern Bavaria, Germany, from the Russian Prisoner of War camps after World War II.</p>
<p>He couldn't go to his home in East Germany, which was newly occupied by the Russians. His wife managed to arrive in Schwarzenbach before he did. They were among many refugees in the town.</p>
<p>German soldiers were known to knit their own socks, and Mr. Elsner may have learned to knit during his military service or in the POW camp.</p>
<p>Soldiers received a cigarette allowance, but Mr. Elsner didn't smoke. Instead, he bartered his allotted cigarettes for knitting supplies and other goods.</p>
<p>In Schwarzenbach, he knitted little toys, like these garter stitch kitties. He gave them to children, and the white kitties were gifts to my two older children, Suzann and Eric.</p>
<p>My youngest son Van and I stopped by Mr. Elsner's apartment for the last time, when we visited Germany in 1974. I never knew his or his wife's first names. They were very nice people.</p>
<p>Mr. Elsner's work inspired Suzann, then around 8 years old, to try her hand at knitting a kitty herself. The blue kitty was the result.</p>
<p>The white kitties by Mr. Elsner are about 6 inches tall, with features embroidered in black and knitted black tails. One is stuffed with foam rubber, which is deteriorating and may soon be replaced with polyester fiberfill. The blue kitty is the same height, with a tail braided with yellow, coral, and blue yarns, probably from a variegated skein.</p>
Mr. Elsner
1960s
about 6 inches tall
2019.033
Rippling Rainbow Shawl
<p>This is the shawl made by designer Robert Powell for the book <em>A Gathering of Lace</em> (Meg Swansen & Elaine Rowley, XRX Books, 2000), pages 23-25.</p>
<p>It is a center-out shawl worked in Jamieson & Smith Jumperweight Shetland. The pattern is a relatively simple center-out design — easy to understand and memorize. The colorwork gives it visual appeal. To prevent an obvious jog at the color changes, Robert Powell used an ingenious trick. He back-spliced the color changes and did so at a yarn-over. This results in no ends to weave in and no obvious jog in the color pattern.</p>
<p>I was introduced to Robert Powell by our mutual friend, Marilyn Hastings. At the time, both lived in Asheville, North Carolina. I had mentioned to Marilyn that I used Robert's clever trick in my Level 1 Master Knitter submission. Robert was downsizing his home. He surprised me by giving me this shawl! Alas, I don't remember which year this was. I passed Level 1 of Master Knitter in Janunary 2010.</p>
<p>The rainbow has become an emblem for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ). The knitting community has sometimes been a safe space for gay men. Considering the maker and the time period, this shawl could be understood as an expression of gay pride. The Supreme Court made same sex marriage legal in the United States in 2015.</p>
Powell, Robert
circa 2000
64 inches point to point
2019.034
Spindles, Peru
<p>Spindles, Peru, 2017. </p>
<p>As an avid spinner, I was eager to bring home some spindles from our hiking trip to Peru in 2017. Our guide helped me find them during a visit to a weaving and textile cooperative called the Asociacion Civil Apu Salkantay, Warmicuna de Mollepata, in Mollepata, Anta Province, Peru. <br /><br />Spindles were not offered for sale in the weaving shop, but upon learning of my interest in spinning, one of the women went home and came back in a few minutes with a plastic grocery bag filled with loose shafts and whorls. We fitted a few together and I purchased 3 spindles, with some raw Alpaca fiber to spin. I understood that she made the spindles herself. </p>
<p>These spindles are "low whorl" spindles. The shafts are sticks that, according to Abby Franquemont (https://abbysyarns.com/2011/02/peruvian-spindles-my-spindles/) are peeled and whittled into shape. The whorls are turned on a lathe, with ornamental lines burned into the wood. The tag pictured is for a beautiful handwoven gray Alpaca shawl I purchased from the shop; I include it because it identifies the name and location of the Warmicuna de Mollepata weaving and textile cooperative.</p>
<p>During our travels I saw men and women using spindles like these to spin Alpaca and wool yarns. I enjoy having and spinning with these working momentos of our trip. <br /><br /><br /></p>
Unknown
2017
Shafts: 12.5" Whorls: Height 3/4", Diameter 2" tapering to 1.25"
2019.035