Knitting Spool Outfit No 2

The Knitting Spool Outfit No2

is made by the American Toy
Works - Fifth Avenue, NY
USA
I could find very little about
the toy company (ATW) other than
the address is the same for many
other toy companies.
Nothing came up on the
internet and my two reliable
sources -
Encyclopedia of Children's
Sewing Collectibles by
Darlene J. Gengelbach
and
Toys A to Z by
Mark Rich
offered no historical
information at all.
However, there are also
two other sets made
Embroidery and Needlework Set No1
and Sewing Set No3.
All three sets have the same
graphics and according to
Darlene J. Gengelbach,
they are circa 1920's.


My Knitting Spool Outfit box came to
me, literally in pieces -
and I am glad that someone kept them
together so that I was able to
reassemble the entire box back to
it's semi-former glory.


In the box we find an instructional
sheet for different stitches using the
spool knitter - but it is by
Parker Bros. so it is not
the original leaflet.



The red spool knitter is a well
formed woodturned shape with
four staples and spring coil
to hold the yarn, and the red loop
tool also has a woodturned
handle.
Some time in the future when
I am better organised at home,
I want to do a comparison of the
spools of this type and the loop
tools found with them. (Those
that still have their loop tool.)
I hope that information
may come to light in future
regarding the "American
Toy Works" toy company.

The above book is really a fantastic look
at Children's sewing collectibles and a
worthwhile purchase if you love vintage
sewing (.... as I do!).



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Simple Christmas Decoration

Here is a simple spool
knit Christmas decoration
that I made using found materials.
I didn't have any glitter, sequins,
shimmering silvery yarn, beads,
or whatever. Even my silver
and gold paint are still packed
away.
However, the decoration
was simple and when I do
make more, I will then
have the necessary
bits and pieces to
make them sparkle
and shine!
It is based on a
photo of one I
saw in a French
pattern book.
Hope you like it!


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A Project for Christmas!

A Project for Christmas
(or anytime!)

Spoolknitted cords are the
perfect addition to any
type of knitted project.
Hats, scarves, jackets,
toys, etc. can include a
spool knitted cord in some way.

Adding a cord to a plain
afghan can be especially
appealing, keeping it simple
and elegant.

Follow a *plain stocking stitch
knit instruction for a plain
afghan in a burgandy or deep red
colour adding approximately
25 cms of cream colour border.
Spool knit a length of green coloured
cord and sew it in place all
around the outside edge
of the afghan.
Next spool knit 8 lengths of
green coloured cord and arrange
in a scroll pattern on the
cream border. Pin and sew
in place.
(Size will have to be determined
by you and the size of the finished
afghan).


Variations of this could be
- Use the 8 lengths of cord as stems and
add wool felt leaves and flowers that
are then blanket stitched around
the edges.

- Use a continuous length of green cord
in a zigzag pattern over the cream
border.

- Add a celtic patterned spool knitted
cord over the cream border.

*The afghan could be crocheted in a
plain double crochet instead of knitted.

What other ways can you think
of to add a decorative
spool knitted trim to your
afghan?


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Competition!

Several things had taken
me away from the Spool Knitter
blog the past month
but I hope this announcement
will make up for it.
I am currently looking
after the Yahoo Spoolknitter
Group - Noreen Crone-Findlay
is the founding "Mom" of the
group - and due to lots of other
time-consuming
projects, has asked me if I would
take over for a while.
I am very honoured that she
would consider me for the job,
Noreen is Queen of Spoolknitting.
As she has given me
practically free rein, I thought a
competition could be fun!
Why not pop over and
take a peek at Yahoo
Spoolknitter Group
and check out the details.



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