Kaity handed me a box yesterday when we picked her up. “It’s a present from Granny.” This is the box:
- Kleinert’s sturdi-flex 15″ GIRDLE
- of natural rubber
- For Figure Flattery
- Tailored to Fit
- Cool and Comfortable
First thought: Why is Granny giving me a GIRDLE?!? Once I checked the side of the box and saw the $3.95 price tag, my second thought was, Good god, how old is this box?! I think it must be at least 40 years old. I was half-afraid to open it. Inside was, fortunately, not a girdle.
It was knitting notions. She had passed her knitting heirlooms on to me. It’s mostly plastic or metal needles, many of which are too corroded to be safely used with yarn. But there were some that were salvageable, which I can put in my new silk needle case that I got for my birthday, along with some stitch markers, yarn bobbins, and what I think must be a tool to measure gauge.
There were also two handwritten knitting patterns, which I’m including here for anyone feeling adventurous. They are for stoles, which for the knitting uninitiated, resemble fat scarves (or possibly shawls) worn over the shoulders. DISCLAIMER: I have not attempted to knit these patterns, and so have no idea how accurate the instructions are. KNIT AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Green Stole
- Cast on 54 stitches
- Seed stitch Row 1: K1 P1
- Row 2: P1 K1
- Repeat rows 1 & 2 until you have 20″. Place marker at end of 20″.
- Increase 1 stitches at marker end every 4th row for 8 inches.
- Work 2 inches even.
- Decrease at same place every 4th row to 54 stitches.
- Place marker. Work to end.
Feather & Fan Stole
- Cast on 120 stitches
- Row 1: Knit
- Row 2: K2 tog 4 times *(yo P1) 8 times (K2 tog ) 4 times, repeat from *, end (K2 tog) 4 times
- Row 3: Knit
- Row 4: Purl
- Row 5: Knit
- Repeat rows 2-5 for 1.5 skeins
- Cast off on row 3
[...] Sounds like some terminal disease, doesn’t it? The doctor says I have Intarsia. For the non-knitters, it’s a way of knitting with multiple blocks of color where they aren’t stranded across the back of the work. All of the multi-color blocks I have knit so far have been done using stranding, which I discovered today is also Fair Isle. I’ve been Fair Isle knitting for months and had no idea. Unlike Fair Isle, Intarsia involves lots of yarn bobbins, which thankfully Granny sent me this summer. [...]