Time Check...

I was unpacking boxes from my move and I found something interesting. Well I found a lot of interesting things but something not only grabbed my attention but it also made me laugh. It was a USA Today newspaper from Monday November 28, 1983 that was wrapping some of my grandma's glasses. That is over 30 years ago, I wasn’t born, I wasn’t even a thought, my parents may have been engaged but definitely not married yet and other then yellowing and the date didn’t look much different from today's. See that is the thing I love about the past we think we are so far removed from things going on but we really aren’t.

Yea technologies change, (the Internet didn’t really exit in 1983), and locations of war change, (we were at the end of the Cold War and the War on Terror was not even beginning), Clothing styles are always changing but moments in life those don’t change We get mad, we get sick and things happen. We fight the daily tasks, work to keep a roof over our head, put food on our table, heat our homes and keep water flowing. Some of these things are easy, some not so and some have changed a lot through history. I think that is sort of why I laughed as I looked at the paper. One look and I wasn’t quite sure what year it was written.

Why? Well let me tell you what the three topics on that day’s page on 4D. “Teens have mixed views toward homosexuality”, “Corn my hold clue to wheat allergy cure”, and “Winter: Season of discontent for diabetes”. In recent months these topics have just as page 4D topics as they were. The first one opened that people felt homosexuality was a choice, and then went on to statistics on how people felt about it. Glad to say those statistics. The second was a South Carolina scientist who was looking at if the fact there wasn’t as many carbohydrates as corn did and if that was why wheat caused a bad reaction. Glad to say or sad to say this was confirmed true. The final one was looking at how 70 percent of all new cases of insulin-dependent diabetes strike the young between November and March and warned that the symptoms of diabetes could be confused with the flu or gastroenteritis and so hospital should be careful to make sure to check for diabetes because untreated a “victim” could go into a diabetic coma and perhaps die. One I have never thought my diabetic family members as victims and two untreated anything can kill you.

The page in question. 

So there you have it time moves forward but not always topics in the newspapers. 

Read the labels...

So you have taken up knitting and now you are very confused trying to read the label try to figure out what yarn is best for your project. Let us start with the weight.

Sometime on the label it will say the weight and sometimes it will be a number. From 1-6 it goes from fine to supper bulky each with its own uses. 1 is fine or finger weight, good for sock, mittens, lace, baby things and if you are crazy very fine sweaters. Knitting using size 000-3 needles or higher if you are making lace. 2 is sport good for thicker socks, mittens, baby things, hats and if you want it sweaters. You tend to use needles size 2-5 when working with this. 3 is light worsted excellent for think socks, sweaters, scarfs, hats and just about anything else. This yarn tends to be 4-8 in needle sizes depending on what you are working on. 4 is worsted perfect for Aran (cabling work), afghans, thick warm hats, mittens and house socks. Needles that work best are 5-10 but you can go down to 4 if needed or up to 12. This is what most people knit with on a daily basis. 5 is bulky good when making thick things, sweaters, blankets, rag rugs and work best with size 8 to 15 needles. Finally there is 6 or super bulky. Thick yarn with large needles equals quick knitting and warm and fluffy things.

Then there will be a small section sometimes that will tell you the gage. A small square, with a number of rows, stiches equaling how big of a square that will make, with little needle or crochet hook inside will tell you the gage. Of course you can change the needle and I recommend it. You can test the gage beforehand if you like too as well, but if you like to live dangerously I say have fun and don’t. Go till you feel it is right, turns out it isn’t take it apart and try again. Experimentation is fun.

Of course there is also direction care. This doesn’t differ from the images on your clothing.

Have fun knitting.

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Knitting without needles?

So in the ever expanding adventure of being a knitter I have struck out and created the most epic of all of my knitting projects. Well the start of an epic project. A few years ago I bought a kit to make a Tudor era (1485-1603) knitted waist coat (basically a sweater by todays standards) at Plimoth Plantation. I came up with the idea more recently to knit it the way they would have this means no pin needles (1800s) and no circulars (1940s).

The first problem I have come across with this idea, is that the average needle you purchase today is well 7 inches, you can find longer but they were either 10 inches (still too short for a sweater) or I couldn’t find how many inches it was supposed to be. I found some on amazon but the description was not enough to make me consider risking a purchase so what to do I need needles around 15 inches. Time for the Old Yankee in me to make an appearance, Need something you can’t buy, make it.  

Pick a sharp knife

I started with dowels from Jo-Ann's (you can get them at any arts and craft store or hard ware store.) Remember to bring your needle gage reader so you have the right size that you need. I needed size 8. I tried a few dowels in my needle gage till I found the right size. Now needles when working with double pointed always seem to be worked in 5s. Four needles hold the project and one rotates. Although needless (sewing or knitting) haven’t survived as far as I know all painting and logic show that if you knit you would at least buy a set of 5. This meant I needed to buy 3 dowels. Three dowels cut in half would give me 5 needles and one extra in case I messed up.

Mark and cut...

So first I measured, this is where the old phrase measure twice cut once come into play. I measured more than twice and my cuttings were still a little screwy. I cut each dowel in half or sort of in half give or take a 1/8th of an inch. Hey I take after my grandmothers not my grandfathers, I knit I don’t build. However, they were enough to make me happy. Then I took out my jackknife, (Alright I took out my jackknives and checked the blades to find the sharpest one) and started wildling the tips down. If you are going to do this yourself make sure the knife is sharp, a dull knife is far more dangerous then a sharp one. Another hint for this mark where you want the decrees in needle to start and work from the tip back. I had to keep reminding myself to go slow and I had a few mishaps but I was happy with the outcomes.

Widdle slowly

End result five long double each a little bit of a different size than the others but other than some wood dust on my floor and a few miscalculations I am happy. Hey any time where I work with a knife and I don’t draw blood is a victory in my book. Now to start on my Grass (Green) Tudor Knitted Waist coat…. after Christmas.

Finished product... with a machine Made one.

Cable me up

Probably one of the most iconic types of knitting is Aran knitting. Beautiful, less complicated than it looks and memorable. The term Aran itself denotes the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, Inishmore (once known as Aranmor), Inishmaan and Inisheer but also the beautiful knitted cable worked sweaters that have become so iconic to time. However as far as knitting techniques go it is rather new. Developed with in the last 100 years it has become a very iconic knitting idea very quickly.

Sweater I made last year with Celtic knot cables on the wrist and front.

By simple twisting of the stitches beautiful cables can be formed. Using a small double pointed and often curved needle you move the stiches behind or in front of the knitted stiches. By doing this you create an amazing cabled stitch and what we today call Aran knitting. Each design could be combined with others to create amazing art that you can wear.

Socks J made last year with simple cables on the top.

It is because of these beautiful combinations a piece can be like no other piece. Hand knitting is always defined because each piece is different, beyond the needles and the yarn, just by moving the needles every piece made is different from the last one, even by using doing it exactly the same from project to project. How knitting works is as you work you make something unique to you with mistakes, messed up tensions, ladders. Some of those things will fix themselves over time but even if they don’t that is ok. Knitting is for life, and Aran I think proves that. Created to make one of a kind pieces that unfortunately may sometimes have been used to identify fisherman lost at sea. Some had flaws but what are flaws when you are venturing out to some new.

Y cable ear warmers audible for sale or my etsy page: GrandmasTools.

I was afraid to try cabling the first few times I did it. It was an adventure but by learning it I would eventually be able to create beautiful pieces that are one of a kind to me. Still working on trying to create one that is just by me but I will get there.

Celtic knot Cable hat going up for sale on my etsy page November 1st. GrandmasTools

High Cotton

We have all seen the commercials, and we all know the jingle. “The touch, the feel of cotton, the fabric of our lives.” A pretty common material today thanks to the invention of the Cotton Gin in the 1793 by Eli Whitney, it wasn’t always cheap or available. Been cultivated for at least the last 7,000 years it has helped shape cultures, save and ruin lives and cloth the backs of men.

In 3,000 B.C it was being cultivated in Pakistan and being spun and woven into cloth. By 800 A.D. it was brought into Europe by Arab Merchants.  By the time of Columbus’s adventure to the new World in 1492 where he found it on islands in the Bahama’s it was well known through most of the world. The Industrial Revolution, the Cotton Gin and sadly the building of the slave trade made the south the King of Cotton by the 1800s. It became more available to the masses, and came in a variety of colors and eventually would be dyed with little flowers on them. Something that was extremely expensive in the 1700s soon would become extremely cheap and the most common cloth in a just a few years. Within 10 years it grew from a $150,000 industry to $8 million.

This fluffy little seed is what everyone wanted, once cleaned of the actual seeds the fluff, could be spun and woven. Between the fact it is hard to clean it of the seed by hand, has a very short staple length which makes it very hard to spin by hand and easy to break, which is probably why it took so long to become the common cloth of the world. The cotton gin made it easier to clean but back fired from making the slaves lives easier to harder as the cotton industry to grew. That and the demand for cheap cloth, and the mechanized world of the cloth industry made the south the King of Cotton.

Eli Whitney's cotton gin

So the touch and the feel of cotton has come with its price. Whether it is the expense of coin or the expense of man, history has made it a lasting and renewable cloth. The world of natural fiber, older than anything we can ever imagine.

What is the point?

I am often asked why, what is the point? I am always asked these questions when I am sewing, knitting, and spinning. I have been asked why I do “old people” hobbies? (A question I find insulting and to you I say phewy). Yes I know I can buy clothing at Walmart (I refuse to even step in that store if I can help it). Yes I know it would be easier if I just bought the clothing but I like creating something for myself. Also I find it away to spend my time wisely I have stated before I keep knitting in my bag so I can work on things when I am in other places, my space in my living room is surrounded by the tools of my trades and it is wonderful seeing the art take shape and become something no one else can make.

Most recently I was spinning in public and a little boy and his mother stopped to watch and I explained how the tuff of wool I was holding was becoming a think yarn. He watched for a minute and then asked “What is the point?” I stopped my spinning wheel and looked at him, and after repeating his question, I smiled and said “You are wearing the point. Everything you are wearing was spun, by machine but before those machines all material was spun by hand on a spinning wheel or drop spindle. It was then taken and woven into cloth. That cloth can be made into your pants, your sweatshirt, or it was knitted like your t-shirt, your socks and the cuffs of your sweatshirt. Today it is all done by massive machines in factories but before the 1800s Industrial Revolution it all had to be done by hand.” I showed him spinning on the drop spindle, knitting a sock I was working on and showed him my sewing basket.

Women in Ireland carrying 30 kilos of peat on their back while knitting. Multi tasking at it's finest.

You see everyone is wearing the past, present and the future. I know it odd to think about but the magic that is making something from scratch can be fascinating. The number of people who just sit and watch whenever I am working, who ask me questions and who say it is like magic. That is our history, everyday life to someone hundreds of years ago. What comes out can be complete magic as a tuff of wool becomes yarn and that ball of yarn becomes a hat, socks or a sweater. Or it gets woven and becomes shirts, handkerchiefs, pants and so much more. So what is the point? I guess it depends on the Artisian you are asking.  Plus what else am I going to do at the doctor's office or while watching documentaries on vikings or the Big Bang Theory.

from http://blog.redheart.com/donnas-dozen-hats-off/

Tracking the untrackable

What a world we live in… all the information we could ever want at our finger tips. Every day more and more is uploaded onto the internet. Some of it is way more then we want to know, other bits are just not interesting and some of it well some of it we spend hours and hours looking at studying and following the mystical trail that seems to lead nowhere. Oh and the latter is usually us looking up something we meant to and we ended up watching cat and music videos only to realized we just spent 6 hours not researching what we meant to do.

Oh I spend plenty of time looking up what I want to but can I also say it is really hard when either the source I am looking for has not been uploaded yet, destroyed by time, destroyed by war, destroyed by vandals, in a language I can’t read, or my favorite it was never talked about in the first place. The thought that any history has been lost to time has always been sad, the idea that it was damaged by vandals, war or people who just don’t care is painful but the idea that they never wrote about it is frustrating.

Here is the thing, I want you to look at your own life, think about what you have written about, read about, and talked about in just the last year. Now I want you to think about if you could meet me what would you tell me about your life. Now it would probably the highlights, the craziest things you have ever done, the funniest thing that ever happened to you, the things that we have in common and whatever new is happening to you. Now think about what you won’t be telling me about, a trip to the grocery store, when you went to the bathroom, and so many other information that you and I both can assume I know and probably don’t want to talk about. It is the same thing with history. What we read, what we see and what comes to life are the strange and new things people have decided to share. It is why history is written by the Kings, Queens, and the winners.

Day in the life of a boy by Norman Rockwell

As historians we are getting better at piecing together information of the everyday lives of everyday people through out time. How do we piece together information that is not there? We do experimental archaeology. That means we try things out and we use logic. When it comes to everyday life we can start by looking at basic necessities, housing, food, clothing, drink, and health. Between archaeology and what paintings, books, documents and drawings we do have we can start to date things. That is where we can begin and then we just have to use a little common sense and hope more things come to light. I think just because there is no evidence of something that doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible if common sense pulls you in that direction. There is written evidence of places there are no physical evidences of until they are dug up. There is physical evidence of things that there is no written evidence of. When common sense says people will use whatever is available to survive so even if there is no evidence of a shelter we can assume there was some form. We know that people eat and although there may not always be evidence of food at a dig site, there is signs of cooking, and signs of what their diet may be by the teeth and chemicals from bodies found on sites. We know people were wearing clothing and although that is some of the first things to decompose we automatically know they dressed

themselves because there is evidence in other cultures. Now we just have to look at what may have been available to them to explain what they were wearing.

Day in the life of a girl by Norman Rockwell

So here is to frustrating history and searching out the truth.

Chalk it up

Alright one of the most useful tools in a seamstress’s arsenal, (and one of the least likely to work) is sewers chalk. There are a few varieties which you can by, all with their uses.

The first is paper, and wheel. Only been around at least since the 1950s (I have some of my grandma’s I can date to around then) it is used to transfer patterns on to cloth. It can help you mark where darts are or where sleeves are to be placed. This of course only works if you remember to make the marks before you remove you pattern. The paper only works though if you have a spiked wheel that you run over the pattern to transfer the chalk.

Then there is actual tailors chalk, commonly found and sometimes useless. I have had many that just would not mark well. Usually in a block/square form they tend to come in three colors, white, blue and yellow. This is the oldest version.

Next you have one I came across a few years ago and it is the one I use most often. It is a refillable pen made by clover, you fill it with the chalk color you need, (yellow, blue or white) and then little nibs that roll transfer whatever you are drawing on to the
cloth.

Of course there are also pencils.  Simple, cheap and look like this.

The other one I use a lot is friXion Point erasable Gel Pens. They erase easy, dispear with heat so if you forget to remove it before you iron it no worries. They also come in six colors so no matter what I am doing I am not worried that it might not work.

Useful tools for useful trade… The secret have as many as you can in different colors makes the work easier.