Halloween Greetings!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blossom Rock, also known as Blossom MacDonald and Marie Blake (1895-1978), pictured here as Grandmama in The Addams Family (1964-1966.)

More Semi-Historical Seasonal Knitting

This charming little Acorn Purse, designed by Sally Pointer of Wicked Woolens*, in the style of a medieval purse, was a delight to make, not only because of the clear instructions in the pattern but because I knit it with one of my most favourite yarns, Unger Britania, 100% wool and in some of its best colours, namely Schiff, Borke and Kamelmeliert. I have knitted so many garments in this wool from Scribble items (one with 19 colours) to plain but elegant round-necked, Shetland-style pullovers. Gloves, hats, scarves – everything! Now sadly discontinued, I have a fair amount of scraps and some small collections of skeins with the same dye lot number in my stash but they have almost all achieved the status of Pet Yarn. I was very glad, therefore, to use some of it for the Acorn Purse.

The purse measures 6 ½” across and 5 ¾” long. Its cords are braided/plaited in strands of all three colours and the loop is an I-cord. The button is made of horn and I do like its shape.

*http://www.ravelry.com/designers/sally-pointer--wicked-woollens

Semi-Historical Autumnal Knitting

 

Autumn is my favourite time of the year. I love the colours and changing shades of green, yellow, orange, red, gold and brown, and just wish that this was the longest season instead of the shortest.

This scarf, however, helps to remind me of autumn throughout the year. The yarn, Araucania Atacama, 100% Alpaca, is gloriously soft. It is complimented by one of my favourite lace patterns, number 29, from Knitting Lace: A Workshop with Patterns and Projects, the book about the 19^th century knitted sampler in the Brooklyn Museum.

I have used patterns from this sampler over and over again for all sorts of projects. This scarf has a four row garter stitch top and bottom edge, and a four stitch garter stitch border on both sides framing the lace repeats. It was knit on 4.5mm/US 7 needles.

Tassel Vandyked

Another item added to the list of the completed projects – this charming little Tassel Vandyked in Two Colours from Wedon’s Practical Knitter, Number 109, Twenty-Seventh Series, (1895). It is also published in Weldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume 10, Interweave Press, 2004.

The object is two-layered, with the fairly substantial tassel sewn under the outer “cover” knit in “a series of vandykes,” a slanted and openwork stitch. I followed the final instructions of adding a “gold chain of gold thread…at the top to hang it by” (a kntted i-cord) but omitted the addition of “tiny silk pompoms” to the chain since I don’t really like pompoms.

 

The suggested colours are red and white but “any preferred tint” may also be used in an unspecified weight of cotton thread. I choose DMC Mouliné Spécial 25 embroidery floss in 902 (burgundy) and 3820 (gold) on 2.25mm/US 1 double pointed needles.

The needle size is also unspecified beyond “four steel needles” which, in this era, would be fine ones although larger tassels could be knit with coarser (larger), as they used to say, needles for ones for home decoration.  The pattern ends with the comments that this tassel could  “be made up into an excellent penwiper for a bazaar if the cover is made in coloured silks and the strands of coarse black twist.” Since I have made several penwipers in this style, I opted, instead, for a tassel that might be used for a small curtain cord. 

The finished tassel measures 3” long and 2” wide, the cover is 4” long and 1” wide, flat, and the i-cord chain is 3” long around.