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)

********

BUYER BEWARE!

I have been a collector of 

spool knitters for a number of years

now. While I would still consider

myself an amateur/novice collector, there are

still some things you

should notice that would make a lot

of sense when it comes to buying

vintage spool knitters.

I have seen over the past months,

so called vintage spool knitters being

sold on the internet. Yes, they have

that old look about them, but did

they start out originally as spool knitters?

I have in the past spoken of recycling

items like salt & pepper shakers, skittles, or perhaps

turning skipping rope handles into spool

knitters. This is all well and good and I

accept this alternative ... I have done

this myself and have stated

exactly what they had been in

as "past life", purely for my
own collection,

.... but I do not accept

those being sold under false pretences

as unique, rare and very old spool

knitters.

There is one seller in particular who makes

this claim on certain

listings, and I question this seller as to how

often he/she seems to continually find these 

supposedly rare and very old

spool knitters.

I notice things like the centre core of

the spool knitter as being newly drilled.

The diameter of the core is unusually

larger than normal. While the nails

have been stated as being oxidized, this

is easy to do yourself and nail them

into the top. If the piece is so old then,

wouldn't there be more wear at certain

areas of the so called spool knitter?

The area around the base of

the nails for instance, and also

around the spool knitter where it is held.

Some of the 'so called' spool knitters have

unusual extras or protuberances

like noses, ears, etc.,

so these should be showing signs of wear.

One of these were the chef salt shakers

(Salty and Peppy)

that are very easily recognized.... there are

so many of these that have been made.

The hat had been painted a different colour

which is also so easily done yourself.
The base of the "spool knitter" has
the recognizable concave which is
commonly found in salt & pepper
shakers.
These are individual pieces also and
do not have a box.

I just want to say to be very aware

when it comes to buying - if they sell

at a low price, then that is fine and as it

should be with its

"past life" noted, but if the buyers do not

know and the piece sells for an

astronomical price, then that is absolutely

absurd. 

Serious collectors, please be aware of this,

 ask the seller lots of questions.

Read the descriptions carefully and check

out all of the photos, ask the seller for lots

more photos.

You do not want to pay ridiculous prices

for a salt shaker!

Please do make comments to me about

this - as I do want to know your thoughts too!

..........

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