Another book by Sherralyn St. Clair

Easy to 

Loom Knit Small Animals

by Sherralyn St. Clair

Following on from her wonderful book -

Learn to Loom Knit for Your Dolls,

Sherralyn has given us another great, sweet book

on how to loom knit the cutest small toy animals.

These would look so sweet on babies mobiles,

young girls bags, as brooches, atop pincushions, etc.

Be sure to check this one out!

Available from Amazon


See also - www.sherralynsdolls.com

Have fun!

*******

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)

********

Fun With Wool

It is quite a common question
- "What do you do with Spool-
Knitted Cord?"

It does appear to be a rather fruitless
occupation. "You have a very fine
knitted cord - not much can be done
with it" ...you say!

There appears to be very little written
about the subject with very little offering
in the way of patterns.

I am always looking for books that
have anything to do with spool knitting.

There are some books that have been
published in France and Germany.
It appears that this craft is more popular
in these countries - and has been the case
for many more years - than anywhere
else in the world.

I have, in the past mentioned some
books on my blog.

Here is another one to add to the list -

Fun With Wool
by
Marie-Françoise Héron
1974
It is published in French
and English language.


It is a paperback size with 96 pages -
over half of the book deals with
projects for french knitting.
It is still available to purchase on
the internet.

You can also check the links on my
blog for other sites that offer patterns
and of course, don't forget
Noreen Crone-Findlay has
published books on spool knitting -
these links are there also.
Plus, if you are a member
of Ravelry,
Noreen has a group there called
"Cool Spool: Spool Knitting Beyond
the Cord".
My Spool Knitter group on Flickr
welcomes new members - the photos
by other members can provide
inspiration also. (Link to
Flickr is in the side column).



|_|_|_|_|_|_|_|

Knitting Without Needles

I am always looking for any books

involving spool knitting and recently
found the book below -
Macrame and Other Projects
for Knitting Without Needles
by Peggy Boehm
illustrated by Shizu Matsuda
published in 1963.
It is another book directed
at children with many ways
of using wool to make various
items.
Among the contents are -
For the House
Toys to Make
Dress Up and Play
Tassels and Fringe
Tapestry
Weaving
...etc....

The topic of spool knitting is
found in the "Very Simple" section
of the book. It is just six pages
with instructions and suggestions
for projects.

Front Cover

Below is one of the illustrations
and one that I find very misleading.
If you have spool knitted, then this
illustration is entirely wrong plus
I feel that there should be another
nail added to show that they
should be evenly spaced.

Below is a rather large package
for a Giant Knitting Spool by -
Tucket Toy Corp., Woonsocket,
R. I., U.S.A. (no date)
This is the only one I have seen
of these and it is reminiscent
of the "Apple Pie", "Cherry Pie"
type of knitters that I showed you
in the previous post.

Below is the back of the package showing
the directions for use.
I would be interested to hear if
anyone has these too.

SPOOL KNITTING WORLD GROWS

Prices have soared
for many vintage spool knitters, particularly
in the countries where they are more
commonly found - Germany and France.

(Spool Knitters/Stricklieseln from Germany)

(Spool Knitters/Tricotins from France)

The vintage "Knitting Nancy" made
by Spear & Sons has become extremely
desirable, the demand and price has put
them out of the reach of some.
(Recently one sold for nearly AU$500!)


The world of spool knitter collecting has
grown.

The membership of my spool knitting group
on Flickr continues to grow.


There are now a series of books
by Editha Fischer (German text)..........and in the current issue of Australian magazine
Country Threads - Kids Special, there is an
article on vintage Knitting Nancies.

...And my collection grows!!

A LOOK AT A BOOK

As many spool knitter collectors are
aware, there is very little written information
about spool knitters.
I have found a book called "Encyclopedia
of Children's Sewing Collectibles" written
by - Darlene J. Gengelbach
(Collector Books - available on
their website)
The section titled - Children's Knitting,
Crochet, and Weaving Sets is of great
interest.
Naturally, I cannot disclose much of
it here, but here is a sneak peak.

It is really worth purchasing!

For Lively Youngsters!

These pages are taken from an old 1945 children's
activity book called - Leisure Things for Lively Youngsters

The reason for showing these pages is the references in the text
calling this activity - french knitting, rat-tail knitting, or
"Dolly down the reel", which according to the writer,
is what this knitting is 'frequently' called - this is
the first time I have heard this and this book
is an Australian publication!

There will be newly painted spool knitters
in the next post.

SPEAR'S HISTORY BOOK

I received an interesting book today from Francis Spear.
Called "Games We Play", it tells of the history of J. W. Spear
& Sons - the Spear's Games Empire, and most importantly
to me, the makers of the fabulous Spear's Knitting Nancy.

Above, is the cover of the book and below, is part of the
marvellous artwork on the cover showing the Knitting Nancy.

I made a fabulous discovery too - what I have been referring to as
"Knitting Neville" (my nickname), is in fact a "Peter" or Strick-Peter
(Knitting Peter). I put to Francis Spear the query that perhaps the
"Peter" was designed to encourage boys to take up the craft, and
Francis agreed.

The Knitting Nancy is just a very small part of the story.

If you would like to know more, click here for the website and
you can also order a book for yourself. Don't delay as supplies
are limited.

SPOOLCRAFT

I recently found this fabulous children's book called Spoolcraft
by Arden Newsome.
Published in 1974, a hard cover book with 156 pages,
it is full of very interesting projects.

........Spool People......
...Dolls and Dolls Furniture...
.....Spool Toys.....
...Knitting and Printing with Spools...
.....Spool Games.....
.....Indian Novelties.....
...Gifts, Gadgets and Decorations...

Among these headings are of course - how to spool
knit, a spool knitter to make in the
simple form of a "giraffe", and a spool knitted Santa project.
As well as a rocking horse, spool handle jump rope,
clown puppet, bowling set, totem pole, jingle bell pin,
pincushion lady, Nativity, and many, many more projects.

In seeking out books with spool knitting, it is really worthwhile
taking a look at children's books.

******

In the course of looking at these projects, it came to mind
as to what other items could possibly be made into
spoolknitters apart from cotton reels/spools?

Skipping rope handles,
door handles,
skittles,
plastic tubes,
cardboard cylinders,
wooden ornaments,
table legs,
and large beads are
just some that I came up with.

Can you think of any others?

BOOKS AND PATTERNS

Looking for books (in english) that are totally about spool knitting is not easy, but I have found the two below on eBay.

The first book "Corking" was published in 1998 by Judy Ann Sadler.
This book has patterns for toys, puppets, dolls' clothes, clothing, hair accessories, etc.

Below is the book - "Knitting Knobby Hobby" a publication by C J Bates & Son in 1978.

This book has patterns for toys, belts, coasters, napkin holder, xmas tree ornaments, hats, jewelry (jewellery), slippers, pin cushions, etc.

If you are a doll lover/collector, below we have the book "Spool Knitting Treasures: Small Dolls & Pocket Pals" by Noreen Crone-Findlay c2002. This book is available directly from www.crone-findlay.com.

Above and below - these two pages are taken from a craft magazine, I have included them for more ideas - the cushions at the girls feet, and the toys.

You can follow specific patterns or you can get a lot of ideas from patterns, and take those further.
For knitters, these cords would make great trims for your caps, tops, bags, and cardigans, etc., and don't forget that you can use wools or cottons. A growing fashion at present is making your own jewellery with a spool knitter and you can include beads, sequins and other embellishments.
Have fun with your spooling!

LUX KNITTING BOOK 1938

This picture is from the vintage knitting book - Lux - dated 1938.

I believe the spool knitter she is holding is the same as the one from the Toykraft Knitting Spool set.

Shown here is a closeup of the knitter.
...and here is one of the spool knitters that I have from these sets. Do you agree it is the same?

August 4 - This photo has been added later to compare the two "soldiers" that I have. They are basically the same, only slight differences being the length of the bases, pants, bodies, heads, and hats, and the one on the right is a little chubbier!.
Made in USA 1936

1909 Spool Knitting Book

1909 Spool Knitting Book

Here is a book called Spool Knitting by Mary McCormack published in 1909. It has a lot of simple patterns using the spool knitter and you can copy it yourself - here is the link.