Victorious!

This morning, as soon as I opened my eyes, I looked at my spools of singles. Sorry, Mr. SockPixie, but a spinner has her priorities. I am after all involved in a serious competition, the Tour de Fleece!

I may have been a little too openly passionate about my spinning, though. When Mr. SockPixie came to our room to give me a goob-bye kiss, he found sitting on his pillow, next to me, the spools of handspun... He took it with a smile, but I am sure he will be teasing me about this for quite a while!

Back to the Tour de Fleece. A racer cannot let their personal life interfere! As soon as Mr. SockPixie was gone, I started plying. I decided on an early start to try and take advantage of the relative coolness of the early morning. I "pedaled" hard, and got a great early morning workout.

The yarn is plied. I have 2 glorious skeins to show for it. Soft, squishy, sport weight sock yarn... My own personal "maillot jaune".

Mr. SockPixie may have yet another reason to tease me tomorrow!

Tour de Fleece

I joined the Tour de Fleece a few days late, but since I have been spinning every day lately, I thought I could just hop on my "wheels" and get going.

Growing up in France, I followed the progress of the Tour de France everyday on TV. Raymond Poulidor was my favorite racer. I can still hear myself screaming at the top of my lungs "Allez Poupou!!!" I loved him, even though he never won.

I worked really hard yesterday to spin the midnight blue yarn to be plied with my 4th of July single ply. I finished the midnight blue strand last night.

Let me tell you it was no small feat. It was swelteringly hot here in Boston, and I was pushing on these "pedals" as hard as I could. Who knew spinnning could be so physical! With each push, I mentally cheered, "Allez, Caro, Allez Caro, Allez!" (Caro was the nickname given to me by my childhood buddies.)

Tomorrow's "étape" plying in the heat! You know I just realized a funny thing while writing this post, the colors of the rovings I picked match the Tour de Fleece logo really well. The socks I knit up from the yarn will be my Tour de Fleece socks!

Never Too Hot to Finish a Quilt

Last week I finished tying the quilt I had started a year ago. Today,inspite of the heat, I finished the binding. For the first time since the day I picked the fabrics, I got to see the quilt sitting on my bed. It looks excatly like I imagined it would.

The fabric that got me started was the central balck and red floral. I chose everything else with it in mind. I even placed it in the center of the quilt. All the fabrics in the quilt have either black, or red, with of course white. To avoid monotony, I picked some with yellow, but only in the small prints.  I looked everywhere for the perfect fabrics. Most of them come from Winmill Fabrics (111 Chauncy Street Boston, MA 02111-1796 ), some from the Cambridge Quilt Shop. One of the fabrics used to be a tablecloth originally. I love the contrast in the size of the prints, I am so happy with the simple geometric construction.

I am really fond of the little yarn ties, they seem to add a touch of surprise with their whimsical, almost rustic spirit. Such a contrast with the almost austere, measured feel of the quilt top.

I am not the only one loving  the new quilt. My old friend here seems quite comfortable, his eyes begging to be allowed to take his daily naps on the quilt. Who could resist those eyes!

Vintage Hat

Yesterday, we took a trip to Newburyport. We love taking the commuter rail to this charming coastal town, with its old buildings, its restaurants, its great yarn store (A Loom with a View) and its fantastic Vintage store called Oldies.

Yesterday, the girls and I were on a mission. You already know that I have a passion for vintage sewing machines, well I also have something for vintage hats. There is one vendor in Oldies that has vintage hats. And look at what we found! A perfectly cute 50's summer bright red hat, with a flocked voilette, and the cutest little bunches of cream flowers.

Don't you love the delicate feminity, the slight touch of whimsy... a perfect hat for an afternoon garden tea party. I can imagine a little polka dot dress with it, a fitted little cardigan with just a touch of knitted lace and of course darling red shoes...

Handspun Sunday

It is Sunday again, and that means it is spinning day. Today I picked a bold gold and black roving with just a touch of green I had dyed years ago as part of the Vermeer Collection.

Today, on this 4th of July, it just made me think of fireworks exploding in the dark sky in bold golds. I really enjoyed seeing the golds pop against the blacks as I sat spinning this afternoon talking and laughing with Miss SockPixie.

This lovely Merino roving, which I spun as fine singles, will be plied with another fine singles this time in black. I am planning on knitting socks from it. Spinning sock yarn takes a little more concentration for me. The singles really need to be fine enough for the sock yarn not to be too thick. Enough twist also needs to be put in the singles for them to hold together and not disintegrate as you spin or when you ply. I set my wheel on the medieum size whorl, and slowed the uptake a little. This should give me a sturdy single that will resist the plying, and will make a comfy yet sturdy sock.

That's it for tonight. We are off to see the fireworks over the Charles River. I wish you all a wonderful 4th of July!

Another Cerise Baby Sweater

 told you, knitting the Cerise Baby Sweater was a little addictive. Last night I needed a break from my work on another secret project. Another Cerise Baby Sweater was just the break I needed. Plus I have an excuse for knitting another one, one of my students in the French Class I teach is going to be a grandmother in the fall. I will give the sweater to her. This makes knitting another baby sweater completely necessary!

I had some left over yarn I dyed with natural dyes. Most were little odds and ends in golden tones, and I had a little more in a lovely steel blue grey.
I arranged the golden tones in a crescendo of intensity. The yellow would be perfect for the yoke, and the blue grey for the body.

I put on a movie, Madame de... by Max Ophüls... and I knit. The pattern is so easy I can almost knit with my eyes closed. Actually I just kept them open so I could watch the movie!

By the end of the movie, I was practically done. I finished the sweater this morning.

Now it is back to my secret project... That is until I need another break!

Vintage Knitting Patterns

I have over time been collecting vintage knitting pattern books. Whenever I find one at thrift store, or at a garage sale, or if I am really lucky in a box of discarded items on the street, I get it, no matter what the era, whether it is for children, men or women or even for the house.

Of course I would be lying if I said I did not have a favorite era. The 40s and 50s are my absolute favorites.

I have never knit quite a few projects these books. What I enjoy the most is looking through them. I study the pictures, and read the patterns often, admiring a line, a shoulder, a lace detail, or a stitch.
They are a constant source of inspiration for me.

It is a shame that I do not come across these books very often. They are becoming harder and harder to find.

But thanks to the internet, you can now get downloadable version of some of them over the internet.
If you are like me and like these vintage knitting patterns here is a list of links to sites that offer free downloadable vintage knitting patterns.

- Free Vintage Knitting offers maybe the largest selection of vintage patterns for the whole family and for the house. You can either print the retyped pattern from the screen or you can purchase a restored version for download.
- Vintage Purls offers a nice selection of free vintage knitting patterns for men women and children and a few items for the home.
- Glamrama has a small but nice selection of free vintage patterns. Check out the Bernat Cape from 1956!
- Yarn Lover's Room offers a selection of free retyped patterns you can print directly from the screen.
- V&A offers a small selection of free vintage patterns from the 1940's in England for download

Have fun browsing! And if you have a favorite site with free vintage patterns not on the list, let me know and I will add it to the list.