Something Jolly

I'm having an awesome time in Peru! Really excited to check out the textiles at the Cuzco markets, and in the meantime I've got this to show you:

I really needed something colorful to knit on after my grandfather died. Starting a scarf out of Donegal tweed at the end of May didn't make much sense, but just looking at it cheered me up. And now that I'm moving to Vermont I'm glad to have it, because everyone keeps telling me how cold it gets up there in the winter.

I used leftovers from other projects, so it matches my Gretel beret. Kilcarra Tweed is so awesome—it may be a bit scratchy, but the colors are delicious and the yarn softens with washing anyway.


Pattern: V-Striped Scarf by Lise-Lotte Lystrup, from Vintage Knitwear for Modern Knitters.
Yarn: Kilcarra Aran Tweed in pea green (1), teal (1.25 balls), and purple (1.5 balls), and Donegal Studio Tweed (same as Kilcarra) in fuschia (1).
Needles: #7s.
Raveled: here.

And here are basic pompom instructions.

Welcome to Babyville, part 3

Think of all the people we'll love who haven't been born yet: Kate said that, and I appropriated it. Now one of them has—on March 9th, Ailbhe and Christian had a healthy baby boy! (He's big, too: 8 pounds, 3 ounces.) When I packed this up I addressed it to the baby, which tickled me to no end:

I have to make another one of these dinosaurs for my nephew. So cute, and a lot easier than I thought it would be—I'm much more confident with a crochet hook after finishing this. Ailbhe was particularly excited about it one because Christian had a plush dinosaur as a child and really wanted to find something similar. (Pattern here, raveled here.)

Edwardian Crochet

Here are those scans of the crochet books my uncle gave me. I'd love to see this yoke on a sun dress:


Isn't it lovely? I really have to learn how to crochet properly. And sew, for that matter.

Knitting Patterns from 1939

Neat, huh? I found this pattern book (dated 1939) at Vintage Knits, which offers an incredibly wide range of knitting, crochet, and other needlework patterns as well as great customer service and really reasonable prices. I bought this one based on the cover alone, and I definitely think I'll eventually make a couple things out of it. Many of the patterns are dresses or suits, but among the suits there are several tops that would make adorable short-sleeved cardigans or blouses on their own. Here's a scan of one of the more eye-catching outfits in the collection:

I think the cardi is really cute, but I don't know about the trim—it's a bit...furry.

And alas—hat pattern not included.