The Knitting Bee!

Sometime ago, I found an interesting

little "magazine/newspaper" titled
- Harper's Young People - An Illustrated
Weekly - Vol. II No. 80 -
dated Tuesday, May 10, 1881 -
published by Harper & Brothers,
New York -
Price Four Cents.

I consider it of great interest in
particular to
the spool knitter world.
Among its illustrations and stories
is an illustration/engraving of -
"The Knitting Bee"
....an engraving of the painting
by G. H. Story
(engraved by J. Tinkey)

The two young girls are intent
on their knitting while the
young boy is very busy working
on his spool knitting.

I have zoomed in on the
spool knitter which appears to
be a specially made wooden
spool knitter (not a cotton
spool as I think they were
not yet available) which
has four wooden posts and
not nails.
(Click on picture
to enlarge)

Below is my interpretation of how
this spool knitter looks bearing
in mind that the boy's
finger is covering part of the
base.

George H. Story (1835 - 1922)
was an American artist
perhaps better known for his 1916
painting of Abraham Lincoln, a picture
of which can be found HERE at the
AMICA Library.



☼☼☼☼☼☼☼

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).



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

Little Knitter

Here is a rather plain little

spool knitter called "Little Knitter"

by Spear's Games - England

It is *my opinion that it is possible
these sets were sold during the WWII years.


The illustration leaflet above is printed in black
and white.


The directions are puzzling in that
the diagram here is a totally different
looking spool knitter.

The painted Knitting Nancy on
the right is the "after WWII" model
and is exactly the same shape
as the plain model.

Above shows the wording on the
box top.

* If you have an opinion,
or agree with me, or know anything
about this "Little Knitter" please do
let me know. We are all here to
learn what we can about spool knitters.

--->>><<<---

Three boxes by Spear's Germany

Original Strickliesel

These boxes and stricklieseln were
produced by Spears Germany.

The left dates pre 1967
The centre dates from 1967 - 1979
The right dates after 1979
(this one is actually dated
1981 (MCMLXXXI))

(Thanks goes to strick_else - a good
friend in Germany and also a member
of my Flickr Spool Knitter group -
for the dating these boxes)

They are all No. 53002.

Above - the front of the leaflet
found in the "left" box.

Above - the front of the leaflet
found in boxes centre and right.
Both of these also have the
same knitting doll.

I am endeavouring to find
out more information
about the German
branch of Spear & Sons.
I am sure that it will come
to light in the near future.

--::{O}::--

"Fairy" Knitting Dolls

The Fairy Knitting Dolls
were recently released
in Australia.


Here are the set of
pink, red, purple, green
and blue knitting dolls.

They are
indeed a delightful set!



^^^"^^^

(You would have noticed that the posts
have been somewhat irregular which
is due to current renovations on
the "new" house - please
do keep checking in often - I will do
my utmost to "keep you
posted".... : ) !

Leapin' Lizards!

Little Orphan Annie

--::OO::--

Harold Lincoln Gray (January 20, 1894 - May 9, 1968)
was an American newspaper artist and cartoonist.
He first had the idea for a cartoon strip in 1924 for
Little Orphant Otto. The title was quickly
altered by the Chicago Tribune editor to
Little Orphan Annie which first appeared
in the Tribune on August 6, 1924.
In the 1930's it also had become a popular
children's radio program sponsored by Ovaltine.

You can listen to the opening jingle
and some of the Episodes here.

Shirley Bell, who was 10 years old when she won
the role, played Radio Orphan Annie on the
show from 1931 - 1940.

Jack Pressman & Co. was one of the
pioneers in the toy industry in licensing
comic strip and film properties, and
in the 1930's sold licensed toys based
on Little Orphan Annie, Dick Tracy,
and also Walt Disney's Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs.

Here is the Little Orphan Annie
Knitting Outfit made by J. Pressman
& Co. N.Y. - U.S.A. (No. 6830)

Above - showing the inside.

This is the leaflet found inside
this set - instructions for
Tricky Knit.

Obviously, it is a J. Pressman & Co issued
leaflet.

Above - showing the other side of the leaflet.

Sandy says "Aarf!!"
Little Orphan Annie's four-legged
friend.

The spool knitter itself is a very
simple wood spool shape with
the paper picture of the cartoon
Annie pasted on.

oooOOooo

Little Orphan Annie
became simply "Annie" due to the release
of the movie of that name on December 9,
1982, with Aileen Quinn as Annie.
The cast members include - Albert
Finney, Carol Burnett, Anne Reinking, Tim
Curry, Bernadette Peters, and others.

Aileen Quinn has grown-up.

There are many songs for you to
enjoy to be found on U tube.
Such as Tomorrow, It's a Hard
Knock Life, and Aileen Quinn's
favourite song - Maybe.

Further reading -
About Annie the musical
Pressman History
The Nostalgia League
Radio Hall of Fame


-::[[]]::-

Blogging in France

I would like to introduce you to
Christine,
a spool knitter collector in France
and who has a blog -

Les Tricotins de Jardinette

You will find many images of the
collection, plus many from around
the internet.
You can click on the images to
look at that particular Album.

Of special interest are those that
are found in France - such as
the papier mache tricotins of the
1930's with such characters as the
Dutch boy and girl, Charlie Chaplin
and the Japanese Lady, etc.

Do leave a comment to let her
know that you appreciate all of
her great collection.

>>><<<

Who loves 'Annie'?


There will be a post coming up
soon!

oooOOOooo