Everybody's knitting!

Here's the finished version of the little cardy I showed you a couple of days ago. I received a couple of suggestions, one to leave it as was, with just the shell stitch edging and another to add a rosebud on one sleeve. I myself had thought it would be good to omit the flowers and work a whipping stitch in the four contrast colours through the sleeve welts.  In the end the sweater turned out to be a combination of all three, considering the alternatives was really helpful in the decision-making.  

 Flower, crocheted shell edging and embroidered whipstitch at sleeve welts

Close-up of shell stitch edging

Close-up of whipstitch on welts

Close-up of flower, shell stitch edging and whipstitch 

Button

I think I like it!

All done!

I used Rowan Kid Silk Haze for the edgings and flower and Sublime Cashmerino Silk DK for the body of the sweater. It was a quick little knit that any competent knitter could dash off easily in a week. Don't ask why then did it take me six weeks...

Was browsing through some old knitting books a couple of days ago and came across this image.  It could only be the 70s I thought and... it was.  The book was Everybody's Knitting by Kirsten Hofstatter, published in 1977 and you can still get it on Amazon. It's packed with interesting Nordic knits and the images are a laugh a minute, in the nicest possible way  - 70s style at its most outrageous! Just read the whacky text below!

Finally there was an interesting feature in The Guardian today about knitting.  Here's an excerpt, you can read the whole article here.

A most surprising piece of information was given at the British Nylon Fair at the Royal Albert Hall this week:  'A recent survey has shown that two-thirds of teenagers are knitters, but only one-third of over-sixties ever knit'.  Normally I am distrustful of market surveys, especially when their extent is not stated: but just for once we will take their findings on trust.  Such splendid news about teenagers is most reassuring; although we must take into account that the increase of non-knitting over-sixties will cause a rise in the numbers of problem grandmothers.

The urge to knit is surely the most moral force in the world.  Knitting is industrious, economical, virtuous, therapeutic, mildly creative (I have to interject here... mildly, how dare the writer, we knitters are HUGELY creative) and above all tranquillising.  Research would show that knitting wives never become nervous wrecks, and that it is never knitting girls who break up happy homes.  Conversely it would be found that the Other Woman never knits.