Tuesday, November 3, 2020

 Hi I regret to inform you all that Marian passed away from Endometrial cancer on the 30th of October 2020 She will be sadly missed by all.

Please see your your doctor/physician for any unusual pains or bleeding. If they wont do anything persist or get a 2nd opinion.

Chris Clark


This is the link to the Tobin Bros website for Marian Clark

in turn they can light a candle and also leave a message in memory of Marian.

https://tobinbrothers.com.au/tribute/details/18148/Marian-Clark/obituary.html?fbclid=IwAR0Stw5EeuY5nGKJEb2XGdqAIYz7Sc6x9c7NbTTrUswbGpLFi1ziI0a8j6g#tribute-start

Friday, September 9, 2011

Little Maids


The Little Maids Knitting Outfit and 
Knitting Set are Made in England.
I first found the Little Maid's Knitting
Set about five years ago.
In this set was a "Dolly Bobbin" spool knitter
(french knitter, knitting Nancy) which I
had thought was original to the set.
Now I am not so sure.
My recent find was the Little Maids
Knitting Outfit. (note - there
is no apostrophe in "Maids"). In this box were
a pair of wooden knitting needles and
six small balls of variegated wool.
Both boxes measure 25 cms x 6 1/2 cms.
There is no other brand name on either box.



I would guess that the "Knitting Outfit" is earlier than
the "Knitting Set" going by the wording of "outfit" being an
older term.
I would love to hear from anyone who may have had one
of these when they were younger and if you have any more
information you could possibly give.... thanks!



>>>0<<<




Sunday, August 28, 2011

Fuzzy Wuzzy!


Who remembers Fuzzy Wuzzy Wool
made by Patons from the early years
of 1900's up 'til around 1960's?
Fuzzy Wuzzy is Angora wool.
On a recent trip to Tasmania, I found a
vintage Patons Angora
Fuzzy Wuzzy wool box (unfortunately empty)
and had to add this wonderful box to my
knitting collection.


I remember this wool was so fluffy and soft. A popular
wool for making the cute bolero style jacket for young
girls. Below is a vintage Greenock doll clothes pattern where
the Angora wool is used in the bonnet and the trim on the
dress.


I also remember my Mum getting a similar effect
with a "teazle brush" - a small wire brush to fluff up
ordinary wool. She would knit a small flat rabbit or
cat shape, sew this onto a corner of a plain bunny rug,
and then proceed to fluff up the animal shape gently using
the teazle brush, then Mum would add the little details - facial
features or a little pom pon tail if the "animal" had its back
to us, and then a little bow. It was sooo cute!

******




Friday, December 3, 2010

Viyella Wool Box


Viyella Wool Box

I have now discovered that there are more
of these wonderful little Wool boxes to be found
and following on (many months later!) from the
previous post, here is a delightful wool box
from Viyella.


The graphics on this box also matches
the graphics on the Viyella knitting gauges which
are of a barrel shape.


Above and below are other views
of the box.


And the next picture shows the end of the box
where the yarn would feed through for knitting.


Now when looking up the history of Viyella,
I found some information on Wikipedia of 
which the link is HERE.

What I also discovered was that there is another
interesting knitting information
page via Wikipedia on knitting
row counters - click  HERE.


(not my image)







~~~~~~~~~~





Friday, July 2, 2010

A Little Look at Bairns-Wear Ltd.


Bairns-wear Limited of
Haydn Road,
Nottinghamshire, UK has very
little history as far as I can find.
From the internet -
there is mention of a factory opening
in 1953 but that is in Raymoth Lane and
making hosiery and children's wear.
And another mention of Bairns-wear
(plus others)
being taken over by Courtaulds in 1963
and was producing synthetic yarns.
In the 1980's it became Meridian
Knitwear which closed in 2000.
So going by that little information,
we have about 10 years - '53 to '63
of Bairns-wear! I am a little surprised
here, in that I would have thought
the company would at least
date from the 1920's but until
any other information comes to
light, this is all we have.
I had also looked it up in
"The History of Handknitting"
by Richard Rutt but found no
mention at all of Bairns-wear.

I have managed to find some
old advertisements and I have
some patterns.
But, the main reason for trying
to find information is that I
have recently acquired the sweetest
little wool holder to add to my collection
of wool holders!


This little house wool holder
is made of cardboard. This picture shows
one end and below is the other
end of the house with the hole
for the yarn to feed through whilst
you are knitting.


I have not seen anything like this
before and would you believe that
I have not just one, but three
of these houses. They were
purchased in one lot.
They are also in varying degrees
of condition, hence I would say
they would have to be a rare find.


I just love the graphics on these houses along
with the very mischeivous gnomes pictured
on them.


Above are some vintage
Bairns-wear dolls' clothes patterns.


Above are two vintage ads for
Bairns-wear, one for rug wool and
the other for knitting wool.


..::::::::::..





Thursday, May 6, 2010

Counting Sheep!


Sheep Knitting Accessories

Because of the rise in the 
popularity of
knitting, as well as companies
producing novel accessories,
we also have modern
artists creating wonderful
knitting accessories for us
to enjoy while we are knitting.
A look on the internet will
provide us with a fantastic
look at what is on offer.

 I have added a few
more gauges to my collection
of knitting gauges
as you will see below ...


Brass sheep gauge at top from Goose Pond 
and the knitting magazine Simply
Knitting's giveaway.


A wonderful bamboo Knitter's Rule
from Karatstix above.

Below, we have a sheepie
"wpi" (wraps per inch) by
Girl on the Rocks.


.... And when you have 
finished counting all the
sheep! ...... there is even
something for the night owls.



Whoooooooo goes there!



ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz