Archives for August 2016

Well this month has really zipped by quickly!

Here’s my new colorwork project again. It has a nice Art Deco-y panel in the center back.

And the rest of it is a smaller all-over motif.

When I took those photos yesterday, I had just started working with color # 16, so I’ve worked across the whole spectrum of colors I have one time. A milestone

Because it is a bit much to be schlepping to work, I started something else to work on when I have time during lunch:

Not much yet! Anyone know what this is? It should be pretty easy to figure out. But the yarn is very special . . .

Loki knows!

The winner of my copy of Vintage Hollywood Knits: Knit 20 Glamorous Sweaters as Worn by the Stars by Bill Gibb is Diann, who has been emailed. Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway!

Here is what I have been working on for the past week:

This is my own creation, knit from 16 shades of Wollmeise Blend. What it will become is a jacket. The colors in the photo are a bit off, but close.

I am knitting in the round (on approximately 1 billion stitches), so I have incorporated a steek, to be cut open to make the front opening.

And I knit a plain facing around the bottom hem. Here is the bottom edge with the facing folded under.

More will be revealed as this thing grows!

Loki promises to keep an eye on my progress!

Another pretty book for review!

This is Vintage Hollywood Knits: Knit 20 Glamorous Sweaters as Worn by the Stars by Bill Gibb, published by Sterling Press. Publication date is September 6, 2016, but it is available on Amazon.com now at the link above.

This is a hardcover book containing 20 patterns. The patterns are all re-creations of iconic sweaters worn by Hollywood stars during the golden age of movies. This is a reprint of a book originally published in 1987: Hollywood Knits.

What makes this edition different is that it has been updated to use contemporary, currently available yarns, making it a whole lot easier for knitters today to re-create these classic designs. It has been fully revised and updated design-wise and completely rechecked editorially to reflect changes in yarns since the first edition. The introduction has also been revised, since the author/designer died in 1988.

There is some nice historical information about knitting in the movies and stars who knit, including a list of movies that contain good knitting footage!

I did notice that there is one classic movie that was left out: The Lemon Drop Kid, a 1951 comedy that starred Bob Hope. Hope played a gangster who at one point dressed up as an elderly woman (an “old doll,” as he said) and hid out in a retirement home (a home for old dolls, as he said) to escape his enemies. He grabbed some knitting and feigned working on it, quickly turning it into a tangled mess. One of the elderly women asked him “What are you working on, dear?” Hope responded “A mop, to go with my argyle pail.”

To prove I did not hallucinate this whole thing, I found a still from that scene:

They don’t make ’em like that anymore. But back to the book.

The sweater designs are classic and are lovely. Be warned, however, that the sizing is limited. The women’s sweaters only go up to a 40″ bust at the most, and the men’s designs go up to 44″.

The photos in the book are lovely: they are of the original Hollywood stars wearing the original sweaters. I would have loved to see photos of the modern renditions as well.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

Gary Cooper’s sweater is knit from DK weight wool. I love the traditional Norwegian motif used for the colorwork — it’s timeless.

And Dorothy Lamour’s sweater:

This boatneck pullover is knit from a DK weight cotton blend, and it is beaded! I think that gives it a very contemporary look.

Who’d like my review copy?

To be entered in the drawing to win my copy of Vintage Hollywood Knits: Knit 20 Glamorous Sweaters as Worn by the Stars by Bill Gibb, please leave a comment on this post by 11:00am Eastern time on Sunday, August 28, 2016. A winner will be chosen at random.

I’m going to wait to show you my current work in progress until I have a bit more done.

Loki says:

“Does this water bottle make my butt look large?”

I’ve started something new. It involves a lot of colors, so I have my yarn wound and sorted.

This is something I’ve been planning for a couple of months.

And it’s a whole lot of stitches on the needles!

Loki will reserve judgment until he sees some more of it.

Love to eat them mousies
Mousies what I love to eat.
Bite they little heads off,
Nibble on they tiny feet.
-B. Kliban

Remember Kliban cats?

For some reason, those lyrics keep running through my head as I work on my current knitting project.

I am making a pile o’ catnip mice for a charity project.*

I have mentioned in the past that Loki has absolutely ZERO interest in catnip, so he is not bothered as I stuff mouse bodies. He is showing a mild interest in the bag of mice, but I think that is more because they are cat-toy-sized than because they contain catnip.

Just in case, I am knitting a new mouse for him so he won’t feel left out.

*I am using my nose-up catnip mouse pattern to knit these critters. The pattern is available for sale in my Ravelry store for the low low price of $1.25. All payment I receive for this pattern is donated to animal charities.

Regular knitting will resume shortly!