Monday, December 31, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!



HAPPY NEW YEAR!!


This gorgeous lacy look Art Deco Style
spoolknitter was made by Dave Stanbrough
of Grizzly Mountain Arts, Colorado.
(see links)




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Friday, December 21, 2012

SEASONS GREETINGS!




These fabulous spoolknitters - Santa and Mrs Claus -
 were painted by Janet Sorel of A Fool for Spool
on Etsy!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 









Sunday, November 25, 2012

How Cute!



Christmas will soon be here and at this time of year we
find new spool knitters available much to the
delight of collectors.
I found these little cuties available from the
Pumpkin Patch -  children's clothing and accessories
retailers.
... And of course, they looked so much fun
that I had to purchase two!


Front view



Back view





Happy Collecting!


**********





Tuesday, September 18, 2012

FOR COLLECTORS!




L'Histoire des Tricotins
et des
Outils Tricoteurs

by Christine Painsonneau-Marillaud



Front Cover


Back Cover


(All images shown with kind permission from
the author - Christine Painsonneau-Marillaud)
Google Translation - 
The History of French Knitting
and Knitting Tools

I am thrilled to announce this new book about
the history of  spool knitters. It is a great boon for collectors
in finding and recognizing knitters and when they were made. The amount of and the
variations of spool knitters is mind boggling and so many discoveries
are being made of other vintage spool knitters.
Christine covers the history from the earliest times, with the included benefit
of many diagrams and photos.
This 158 page book is a comprehensive volume.


Above is a group of composite French knitters
depicting Dutch girls and boys.
You can also find other characters such as -
Pierrot, Charlie Chaplin, Japanese Ladies, Becassine, and
so on. Photos of these and others are of course found in the book.
(Circa 1920's - 30's and around 10 cms)


Above, we have a group of lovely ladies from the 1950's -
a little taller than the average 9 cms at 12 - 13 cms.


Collectors will appreciate the hard work and time that
Christine has put into her book so that we can enjoy its benefits -
so a very big ~ THANKYOU CHRISTINE! 
It is truly a fabulous book!

You can find it available on Ebay - Worldwide (Buy It Now)
or from - The Book Edition   

Christine's blog is ... HERE  ...
(Les Tricotins de Jardinette)
********









Friday, July 20, 2012

PRETTY BOXES

Pretty Boxes



Here are some of my favourite little spool knitter boxes I thought that I would share with you. I love the graphics on these vintage spool knitting sets (as well as the contents, naturally) and I am so grateful and happy that all who owned these boxes originally/previously, looked after them. It is not unusual for items to get separated, lost, destroyed and tossed out, and to have these sets now is very much appreciated.
From a collector's point of view, the box is just as valuable as the contents, however not all boxes hold the necessary details of its age, maker and where it was made, which is a shame, or even to the details of the actual artist that was involved in the painting/graphics of the box.
Spool knitting sets of today are mainly packed in plastic, and here I usually try to obtain two of an item, one to keep, and one to "play". You can also photograph them, date them, add details of price, where purchased, etc. on a large tag and attach to the spool knitter.
If you are a very keen collector, then you might purchase your own small boxes, and place a photo of the item on the box, and include all the details inside.
Usually, as with most cheaper childrens' toys, they really were not looked upon as a potential collectible. Who would have thought that the simple spool knitter would be considered that way?

Now if you look carefully at the above photo, you may notice something that seems "out of place".
The Rahmen-Stricken set (or Frame Knit) by Klee, is actually a small square frame with 16 pins secured into the open wooden frame and measures 7cms X 7 cms. It works just the same as a spool knitter, you knit around the frame and end up with a wider knitted tube. It is a very sweet set and I had to include this in my collection. 


There is no date on this box, but I would guess possibly 1920's. Brand name Klee, and it is made in Germany.


++++++++





Friday, June 29, 2012

An artist of a different kind!

Lizzie Powell (UK)

On one of my recent searches on the internet, I came across a blog -
Pea Pod Designs. One post was of particular interest to me as a
collector and to find any referral to spool knitters in any form is always
very special.
I suppose the fact that they are becoming more recognisable and popular
is important to me.
I was amazed at the wonderful talent of Lizzie Powell and that she had
an exhibition of her work at the Southmead Hospital in Bristol back in
February.
In this post, was a painting of a collection of French Knitters very cleverly 
painted and so real looking.
I contacted Lizzie and asked if she would sell me her painting or
perhaps a print.
I am now very pleased to say that I own a print
of her French Knitters!
I asked her about her collection and she told me a
little story about how she came by these three in particular ......


........ read on ......
 "I found them at the bottom of a box at a local auction but to buy them it would have meant that I would of had to get a pile of rubbish too, so when the winning bidder was looking through the box I asked if I could buy them off him. He didn't have any interest in them and very kindly gave them to me for free...I acted very cool and got out of there quickly before he could change his mind!!"
.... Isn't that wonderful?!! .... I wonder how many of my followers/readers have fabulous stories like this!! 

Here is the link for the particular post on Lizzie's blog -
 http://peapoddesigns.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/art-exhibition-update.html
- and you will see more of her lovely paintings!!
 
(The image above is shown with permission from Lizzie Powell - Thanks so much Lizzie!) 
 
(NOTE: The print "photo" was taken at an angle to avoid
glare, therefore it is a little distorted and the
colour white background shows as a little
grey. The image has
also been cropped and surrounding margins added.) 



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ~~~~~~~~~


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, May 31, 2012

FOUND!

Kentoys
Magic Knitting Machine

The searching has paid off, I now have a
complete set of 8 of the Kentoys
Magic Knitting Machines!!
For more information, see Kentoys - Labels
right hand column.
Below are the final four that
I needed.
Chicken, Bird/Seagull, Girl and Boy.


*******







Friday, May 11, 2012

MARIA MURDACA



I have discovered another spool knitter artist (painter of spool knitters) 
and this time she is home grown!
I would like to introduce you to Maria Murdaca, a gifted
artist and fellow Aussie, who lives
in Queensland, Australia. Maria has a gallery
of her beautiful paintings on canvas and wood..
When it comes to spool knitters, 
Maria's style is delightful and I love the faces she paints on
her spool knitters.


I asked Maria if she would tell me a little about herself and
 she very kindly wrote back ......
"I started painting with a Folk Art teacher in the late
1980's, I loved it and continued to challenge myself
always to improve my work by trying to paint something
more difficult.
In the year 2000 together with my daughter and niece, 
we opened a craft shop, having all I needed around
me including lots of inspiration.
I had lots of visiting teachers doing workshops whose class I would
also attend, so my knowledge of the art world grew
and I started to express myself a lot easier.
In 2009 I started a class with a professional Art Teacher
- Michael Zaiter - who pushed me further into creating my own
paintings without the need to trace as you do in most
Folk Art.
I have loved every minute of the work I have painted in the past
with every medium including mixed media and collages,
some of my work is showing on my website at -
in the Image Gallery."

You can also find out a little more about Maria if you click on the
"About Me" link on her website.

Below are some more of her wonderful spool knitters -



The Red Riding Hood is currently my favourite!


Mammy and Granny are great characters!

Thankyou Maria, it is wonderful to know you!


*******

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Magic Knitting Machines




KENTOYS

This is an update of a post I did about
3 years ago on Kentoys


These wonderfully cute knitting machines
 are still hard to find, however, I have had
a little luck in increasing my collection from 4 to 6. 
(Two Grandmas, two Ladies, one Owl and one Duck)
I have still to find the boy, girl, bird and chicken.
I have discovered that they are also known
as Kiddie Dora in Europe and that these
Kiddie Dora came with a 
draw string pouch.
Added - May: I have decided that the bird is
a seagull, I have now seen a larger picture
and see that this bird has goggles as in a diving
seagull and is holding a fish.
So therefore we have an owl, chicken,
duck, and seagull, of the feathered
variety and four humans - girl, boy,
Lady, and Grandma in the set.


Above - this is the label found with the Owl 
knitting machine.

The directions in German - found with the
Owl knitting machine.



The packaging can also vary between those labeled
Magic Knitting Doll or Magic Knitting
Machine.


Some carry their brand under the left foot -
KENTOYS 1998 and MADE IN CHINA in a circle
under the right foot.  Some carry their brand on their 
inside rim - PATENT PENDING KENTOYS c1998,
and some have PATENT NO. :6276986B1.


My Nitta Crittas collection (by Moose) has also increased
from one to three - 1 cow, 1 frog and 1 duck.


As you can tell, I hate removing any of these from
their original packaging (when they are found in
their packaging) so I try keeping them this way.
The last one I have to find is the pink pig in this set.
The search continues!! .......



~~~~~~~~~~~







Thursday, February 23, 2012

Ancien Chat Tricotin


ANCIEN CHAT TRICOTIN

OR

Vintage Cat Spoolknitter


I wonder how many catlovers there are who are
also collectors of knitting spools?
I wonder if any of you have one of these in your
collection?
I would love to know more about them, so if anyone
has some information about these charming knitters,
I would love to hear from you!


What I do know is, I believe they are quite rare.
In my 10 years of collecting, I have only seen another
four cats and they originate from France.
There is also a bird and a duck version. They (cats)
are usually found missing their ears, at least
those that I have seen. I have added these
little felt ears to the inset above his eyes.
I think he looks wonderful!


^^  ^^  ^^  ^^  ^^








Sunday, January 22, 2012

Another Artist

Helmi Coenders

It is always a treat to discover other artists who paint their own spool knitters.
I was contacted by Helmi Coenders of The Nederlands where
spool knitters are called punniken.

Helmi has painted her spool knitters with a great novel
flair .... taking a basic/common shaped spool knitter
and working it in an entirely new way!

You can find her blog here ... click 
and here is her wonderful work on spool knitters/punniken.


Aren't they great fun!?

Thankyou Helmi, I am still hopeful that one day I might
be able to call one my own!


******