The green set is made in a newborn to 6-month size and the pink set is larger, perhaps 9-month to 1 year.  Both are knitted in baby or sport weight yarn in a feather and fan pattern.  They were made for Marilyn Huset by her maternal grandmother, Lulu Billig Royston.

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<p>The pattern is in the book "Featuring 14 New Pineapple Designs" from Clark's O.N.T. J. &amp; P. Coats, book no. 230 issued in 1946.&nbsp; Note the price printed on the book - 10 cents!&nbsp; The pattern is doily no. 7768-A and is on page 6 of the pattern book.&nbsp; The book is bent back to this page, for easy access while making the doilies.</p>]]> These two doilies made in a pinwheel design were likely made by my great-grandmother, Alvina Billig, and I'm guessing they date from the 1930s - 1940s.  The smaller one is mainly tan with a white border and measures 6.5 inchess across.  The larger doily is white, made with a thicker crochet thread, and measures 8.25" across.

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I designed this sweet crocheted picot heart in the 1980s, envisioning it as an applique motif to embellish handmade or purchased items.

I ran across it several times over the next 30-some years, but didn't crochet it again until 2017. Our daughters' piano teacher and our good friend remarried, and she and her new husband didn't need anything at all. I tucked a crocheted picot heart in a card for the couple, writing that I hoped they would think of the heart as a symbol of all the good things to come. "It was perfect!" my friend said.

In 2020, I needed to write a bunch of extra-special thank you notes. Crocheted hearts might be just what I needed to help me not just say, but show my gratitude.

One recipient was a life-long fan of The University of Texas at Austin, so he received a burnt orange picot heart. He also enjoyed iced tea, and I thought he might use his crocheted heart as a coaster. The yarn was Brown Sheep Company's Cotton Fleece, crocheted with a U. S. size H-8 (5mm) hook.

Friends who raised buffalo gave me a big box of buffalo fur and hair plucked from bushes, trees, and barbed wire fences. Their picot heart was crocheted with buffalo fur which I spun and plied with a hand spindle. The yarn was bulky and was crocheted with a U. S. size K-10.5 (6.5mm) hook.

What will people do with the crocheted hearts? Maybe they will add a piece of thread to hang the heart as an ornament, glue the heart into a scrapbook, or give it to their Valentine. Maybe they will just leave it lying around where they can see it from time to time, and let it remind them that their efforts were appreciated.

The red hearts are crocheted with No. 10 crochet cotton and a Susan Bates aluminum hook, U. S. steel size 4 (2mm). They are about 1.75 x 1.75 inches.

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My mother, Teruko Hattori, made this pouch for me as a winter vanity case of a sort. 

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My mother knitted this and gave as a wintertime key case. 

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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.

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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. 

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An antimacassar for the back of a chair, made in filet crochet by Alice Eichelberger Cleland (1864-1938). She produced an extraordinary amount of fine crochet during her married life. She was born and lived in Middletown, Dauphin County, PA, USA. This piece was probably made somewhere between 1890 - 1900.

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A cotton cloth doily with an elaborate needle lace (?) border. Made by Alice Eichelberger Cleland (1864-1938) in Middletown, Dauphin County, PA, USA sometime between 1890 - 1900. Cleland was an excellent and prolific needlewoman, who must have been working constantly on crocheting.

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Dresser scarf embroidered and edged in filet crochet by Alice Eichelberger Cleland (1864-1938) in Middletown, Dauphin County, PA, USA. Probably made between 1890-1910.

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Christy Lockard crocheted edges for dozens of hankies for her family and friends. For this handkerchief she used a variegated blue thread. Lockard (1894-1982) lived in Middletown, Dauphin County, PA, USA. Most of her crochet work was done between 1950 - 1970

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The crocheted edging and insert on this handkerchief was made by my great aunt Christy (Christina Weirich Lockard 1894-1982) as a Christmas gift for family and friends. She produced dozens of them during the 1950-1970s.

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Pink crocheted baby blanket made by Alice Eichelberger Cleland (1864-1938) of Middletown, Dauphin County, PA, USA, possibly for her youngest daughters Lottie Cleland (1892-1905) and Louella Cleland Weirich (1895-1983). Louella probably also used the blanket for her own daughters, Gloria Weirich Milspaw (1922- ) and Mitzi Weirich Caldwell (1927-2018).

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This wool lace was made by Alice E Cleland (1864-1938) in Middletown, Dauphin Co., PA, USA in the 1890s and was used as an edging on a petticoat (a long skirt) worn by her daughters Lottie E Cleland (1892-1905) and Louella Cleland Weirich (1895-1983). There are still traces of the thread (a buff color) which attached the lace to the petticoat.

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Filet crocheted camisole made by Alice E Cleland (1864-1938) Middletown, Dauphin Co, PA, USA for her own use. The filet crochet contains a Greek Key design, bordered by mesh lace and scallops. The camisole itself is of soft cotton. The edges are held together with drawstring ties, and there are drawstrings around the armholes for a "better" fit. Honestly, I never thought I would inherit my great grandmother's underwear.

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Large dresser scarf made of linen, embroidered with flower basket and butterflies and edged with elaborate filet crochet. Made by Alice E Cleland (1864-1938) in Middletown, Dauphin Co. PA, USA about 1890. I inherited this family piece, made by my great grandmother.

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Doily with crocheted pineapple edging made by Alice E Cleland, (1864-1938) in Middletown, Dauphin Co, PA, USA, probably for her own use, and probably in the 1880s.

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Some of these pussyhats were made for women across the country to wear at the Women's March in Washington D.C. 

Others were made for local women to wear to local marches. My daughters and I participated in a march in Morris Minnesota.

The marches took place around the world on January 21, 2017.

They were made with Lion Brand Hometown bulky yarn and knit in the round on size 13 needles. I could make a hat in about 30 minutes, and made 20+ hats inspired by the pussyhat project.  https://www.pussyhatproject.com/

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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. 

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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

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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.

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Materials: Shetland-style, American-made 100% wool yarn, fingering weight, brand currently unknown. The pink tweed may have been an early Rowan yarn.  Silver Mercury dime buttons with shank, ¾”. 

Story:  In 1991, I knitted this vest for my boyfriend, now husband of 28 years.  It was a challenging project, with more colors and more finishing details than I had previously undertaken.  Starting in late summer, I knitted along diligently, but was sick during the holidays and couldn’t complete the vest before we exchanged holiday gifts.  Nevertheless, like so many of us have done and still do, I boxed and wrapped the unfinished pieces carefully, eagerly anticipating his response.  On opening his vest-to-be, my boyfriend made a number of nice, thoughtful comments, but he was much less enthusiastic than I had hoped. 

I handed it to him a few weeks later, finished, and his face lit up: “It’s done?  I can have it?”  When I mentioned my concern that he didn't like it, he said, “Well, I’ve gotten a few knitted things in pieces over the years, and usually, after I open them, I never see them again, so I find it’s best not to get too excited about unfinished projects!” 

Design History:  UK designer Sasha Kagan, (https://www.sashakagan.co.uk), created the vest pattern and published it in an early booklet of Rowan sweater designs that I cannot now locate.  Sasha Kagan described this same design, called “Leaves,” as “based on a Fair Isle pattern” on pp. 81-82 of The Sasha Kagan Sweater Book: 48 Beautiful Handknits by a Top Fashion Designer, published in 1984 by Ballantine Books, New York, ISBN #0-345-31871-4. 

The instructions specified using the intarsia technique for the colorwork, with the back and two fronts knitted separately and later seamed at the sides.  The horizontal stripes were straightforward enough to knit this way, but I knit the hundreds of little leaves with separate strands for each, tying each one off at both the beginning and the end, a process that would have been made easier by using the stranded colorwork techniques typical of traditional Shetland and Fair Isle knitting.  

In the 1990s, colorful sweater designs were very popular, however, most designers and pattern publishers recommended using intarsia even when stranded knitting would be faster and more convenient because most kntters were not familiar with "knitting in the round" and "steeking the openings," two essential elements of traditional stranded knitting.  Today, knitters are much more familiar with the history and techniques of stranded knitting.  This shift occurred later in the 1990s as designers like Alice Starmore, Ron Schweitzer, and still later, Kate Davies, among others, as well as yarn designers and manufacturers like Jamieson & Smith of Shetland, and Betty Lindsay and Bonnie Hassler of Yarns International in Bethesda, Maryland helped to popularize these traditional materials and techniques.   

Notes:  This project reminds me how love inspires so many of our most creative and adventurous feats in handwork and in life! 

 

 

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Two matching handknit vests made from an original 1940s pattern. The yarn used was Purl Soho Linen Quill held double. Yarn content is a blend of wool, alpaca, and linen, and the colorway is Juniper Green. Pattern was retrieved from a hardcopy vintage magazine copyrighted 1942. 

These vests were made for two of my very dearest friends who live in Sweden. I met them both via instagram in 2012, and we met in person for the first time in 2018. We knew in an instant that the three of us were soul mates, fated to know each other and be life long friends. The two friends are a couple, now married, and love to wear vintage clothing. Even more so, they love to match. I wanted to make something for them that evoked their personal styles, and allow them to perfectly match with vintage items (something that is very difficult to do). These took almost two years to finish, but it was worth it. 

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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.

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