Vintage pattern haul

Excitement! A friend dropped off a huge bag of knitting patterns the other day, which she'd seen at a church sale and scooped up at speed for me. Of course, many are the vague 1980s patterns that no one really wants - but some are ACE! I need, need, need to see my toddler in one of these!

I particularly love the one with birds on in the top photo, so I think I'll buy the yarn for that, then drop some heavy hints to mum about knitting it... But the 60s style cardigans with those lovely colours are also lovely. What a good haul!

 

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Nothing like blogging about someone else's knitting

One of the many struggles of motherhood is avoiding all the pink, ruffly, cutesy girls' clothes. I have nothing against a bit of pink, but there are some really ghastly clothes for girls out there. I have been trying to find some little knickers to go under dresses but they are all pink and covered over the back with ruffles ... Then I looked in an old knitting book (Knitting for Children by Louise Daniels) I was given by my aunt, and - hey presto! Lovely knitted baby knickers. My mum is knitting them up, and here they are, so far!

 

 

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Knitting a Shawl, continued ...

Well, I have done about fifteen rows of the shawl! I dread to think how long this has already taken me; the first two rows of the pattern took me an hour and a half. Still, it is looking as though the pattern is working and I love the colour, so I am cautiously optimistic about it.

I have a feeling it'll be the first item I actually block, as it will probably need it. The wool is a glorious colour and a nice texture to work with, but it does scrunch up a bit.
I have also be rootling through this superb stash of old patterns, bought for me as a job lot from a church sale by a friend.

Anyone else recognise the 'bazaar' toys on the left? I have been reminiscing about my lovely Grandma's excellent knitting; she made us lots of these things and we loved them. I've also turned up this knitting classic:

So, back to the shawl. It seems a good summery knit - what do other people knit in the summer?

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Hooray For Vintage Knitting Patterns - Yes, I *Am* Seriously Considering Knitting These...

Cue the Loose Knits captions....

 

 

I'm always so envious of other people's casually picked up charity shop finds - so I am rather pleased with these two patterns that, with a bit of 21st century tweaking, I could actually use. This cardigan pattern is from 1983 and is knitted in Patons Brushed Chunky. Apparently, even the pattern is printed in the UK. Not sure that they do that now!  OK, so the green cardigan looks a touch severe, but I think the yellow one could be a nice beach-walking jacket - if it was in a heathery, tweedy chunky yarn ..... Clearly, I need more wool! I'm sure Princess Diana had one of each...

 

 

Ah - whatever happened to Patons Kismet? In fact, whatever was it?! It sounds a bizarre name for a wool which, somehow, has not stood the test of time - ironically, as Google tells me kismet is Turkish for Destiny or Fate....However, this tank top might be just the thing. I need to find out, though, what weight the Kismet was. According to the pattern (from 1975! I had only just been born!) it "gives a soft feminine look" (I could really do with that :)) and the range "includes random shades" - how did that happen?!

 

All this vintage knitting-based excitement for 30p!