70's Poncho Patterns

This is one of my favourite pattern books.

I just love the styling of this shoot - lazing about and crafting in the adobe hacienda with your long hair free and flowing. Although they do look a bit like they are imprisoned and waiting for the magnificent seven to rescue them*. A poncho sweatshop?

Looking at the patterns I realise that the old poncho is a very decadent item of clothing. Some of them have 7 balls of wool - just in the fringing!!!
Was wool really that much cheaper in the past?

Oh and I love that the poncho can also be a skirt. Ah the seventies. All long hair, boots and swathes of wool fringing.

*I would happily be rescued by the magnificent seven myself - especially Yul Brynner in that black shirt. Come and Save me Yul! Who-hoo!

Op shop Finds....

With the kids back at school this week the op shops have been singing their siren call. "Come to me Julianne! Come to me!" And I have.

In one shop I found: The Woman's Day Complete Book of Handicrafts. And goodness it is complete. Will share some of it in the coming weeks. The book is from 1974.

An Australiana tray which I just adore. I love kangaroos....

And some super thick wool which I've started knitting....

 

And there's even more but I won't want to make you explode with thrift envy so I will show you more....another day.

fake fair isle

I was wishing I had a little jumper with  a fair isle yoke. I can't make one quick enough...in fact I'm not sure I can make one full stop.  So I embellished this second hand number into fake fair isle....

'cos, yeah...I'm gonna fake it 'til I make it.......which might be years...or never!

Belated Australia Day in Knits...Noice

This knitting book in the Victor Harbour op shop in South Australia.
It is full of 80's design gems celebrating Australian-ness.

Like these Jenny Kee geometric "Oz" maps for father and daughters...that's right,"Oz".

The poor girl can't even bear to look!

But wait! There's more!

For all those who love Vegemite so much they want to snuggle up with it all night....

 And yep! That's a knitted"Norm" from the "Life Be In It" campaign...
 And here's the not so Jolly Swagman....

Just what every kid wants on his jumper- a creepy old man! And then there is more maps on your accessories...

And I don't even have words to describe this one... 

 

And what Australiana collection would be complete without a reference to Ned Kelly?
Unfortunately some of the book is missing but the contents page eludes to the missing marvelous "wildflower dress" and "fosters cardigan"!!! Yes! A hand knitted beer logo cardigan!What bloke wouldn't that?

Happy to scan any of these pattern is anyone wants to indulge their nostalgic knitting nationalism. 

More like Blogtoberfast than Blogtoberfest!

This time last year I was participating in Blogtoberfest and was posting every day for the month of October. (It's harder than it sounds). This year is more like a Blogtoberfast. I've kind of lost the blogging zing and have only posted twice for the month. BUT! That doesn't mean I haven't been making. So I'd thought I'd do a few catch up posts to show you all what I've been making.

I think it's now official. I'm addicted to crochet. There were a few days last month where I didn't have a project on the go and I felt like my neural pathways were going to shrivel up and a general malaise came over me. Withdrawal. Hmmm. This perhaps seems like a harmless addiction - except that the family will eventually be decked out in head to toe crochet garments. But no one has ever died from a crochet craft crime, have they? Fashion victims?

So everyone who is reading this - if you ever see me posting that I think it's a wonderful idea to crochet some pants or a tie or (god forbid) an all in one jumpsuit (I have the patterns!) - then please comment and tell me to stop. Immediately. Because I have noticed that with the building flow of a crochet addiction ebbs away all taste and style!!

So here are the first installment of what I've been making: 

These short sleeve crochet jumpers were in a vintage 1980's pattern book. What I love about them is that they combine a crochet base garment with knitted bands, cuffs and collars. I was lucky enough to have a willing collaborator - my quick-knitting-ever-smiling-forever-helpful-Mother-in-law, Clare. She finished these off - even sewing them up and sewing in the ends. She's the best!

They green one is in Patons Bluebell and the magenta one is in Heirloom super wash 5 ply. 

Finished Tarn Top

T-shirt yarn/tarn top I started last week. 
Easy peasy knitting on large needles.

Cast on 40 stitches
I did a four row rib band - Knit 2, Purl 2

Then stocking stitch (1 row knit, 1 row purl)knitted to the arm hole,
I then cast off 10 central stitches for a neck and continued (with extra needle) to knit up the remaining 15 stitches on each sided for the shoulders. 
The back was the same but without the neck - simply a square.
The yarn was cut from a 2 metres of cotton stretch remnant. I didn't cut it very well and if I did it again I would seek out more tutorials!

I wove beads into the neck line.

Thanks to Micmac (my daughter) for taking pictures of me. She says that my selfies suck. 

Oh and the"tatt" on my arm is a kids "temporary" tattoo which turns out to be not so temporary after all - which is funny because we each put one on! Now we're the tattoo family!

what the tarn-ation?

 T-shirt yarn is called "tarn"?

 I've been knitting a tarn top

using large needles and making it up as I go along.

 It's uneven and rough.....but I like it.

It's soft and stretchy and fast to make!

Now to make the back - and maybe add some coloured wooden beads to the neckline...

check out the creative space happenings here...

Linky post

A friend and I who email each other most days, recently realised our communication had deteriorated into a series of links. Interesting links. But still. Just links. I must write him a letter.

Sometimes you can be overwhelmed by all the interesting "stuff" out there. Twitter gives you a constant stream - no more of a fast flowing river with rapids - of information, causes and ideas. Then there are all you bloggers, mainstream (main river?) media, websites and tweets. This week I have read articles on everything from feminist parenting to the 10 most defining performances in genre television.
Am I interested in too many things? Yes. Probably.

So I'm going to share some links. Because bombarding you with more "stuff" will help me feel like I've offloaded some of the burden of the constant flow of information. And then I'm going to move away from the computer and not come back until tomorrow.

So. If you are feeling down about the future? 

read this: 21 kids super kids that will save the world.

This is 13-year old inventor Richard Turere - he used broken Led flashlights to create a lighting system that tricked lions into thinking humans are patrolling the area which keeps the lions away and protects his family and livestock.

Do you doodle? Why even the presidents of the United states doodle!

(but if your doodles say "missiles! missiles! missiles" as JFK's did during the Cuban crisis then you probably have a few problems.)

If you like reading books (that are made of paper), read this gorgeous letter from Harper Lee, author of "to Kill A Mockingbird". "
Some things should happen on soft pages, not cold metal".

If you want to get lost in the wonderful weird world of knitting and crochet creations that blow your mind go here to http://knithacker.com/  Pages and pages of crazy yarn work. I seem to get stuck on the knitted food. there is something so weird about woolen meat! You can submit your own creations too. I might submit my brain!

Over at Jill in a Box was this great blogtoberfest post on available -ism which gets you to thinking....

And if you  don't want to think so much any more and just look at some amazing beaded high fashion from Balmain's Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, then go here.
And what gets me about this stuff is that a group of exceptionally skilled crafts women behind the scenes have done all this work - but the designer gets the limelight.


ps. This is a great article about the plight of asylum seekers coming to Australia by Waleed Aly

okay. Move away from the computer....

felt jumper yarn tutorial

Here is how I make felt-jumper yarn from recycled jumpers that can be knitted or crocheted.

YOU WILL NEED:

2 jumpers

scissors

3 pillow slips

6 rubber bands

washing machine

detergent

1.
First cut the bands and seams from the jumper. You will need jumper that are pure wool and not too thick.

2.
Cut into even strips - I usually do 1.5 cm but I have also tried 1 cm for thinner yarn.

This makes lots of fluffy mess so do it somewhere you don't mind getting covered in fibres. You need all the strips to be about the same length. The shorter lengths from the sides of the fronts and backs and sleeves can be grouped together in another batch.

3. 
Place the strips neatly together with the ends together. Place neatly into the pillow slip, laying them flat into the slip.

You need to not over fill the slip - movement with in it during the wash is part of the process.I put one jumper to a slip.

4.
Put a rubber band around the ends - near the top because these pieces remain flat. Rubber bands work better than hair ties as they are stickier and are less likely to fall off.

I do three pillow slips full in each wash. Which is two jumpers -  and then a batch with the shorter pieces grouped together.

5.

Place them in a  hot wash with some detergent or washing powder.

wait.....and....

hey presto! 

The felt strips roll in on themselves to create the yarn. Sometimes they remain a little apart but you can roll them together more when they are wet by stretching them or giving them a roll between your hands - or just leave them like that. Dry the lengths of felt then stitch together. I just hand stitch the ends together and roll into balls. You can then knit the yarn on large needles or crochet it.

calling all knitters!

The little blue penguins off the coast of Tauranga New Zealand are suffering from the disastrous oil spill.

The Skeinz natural yarn store in New Zealand has been asked to help with the penguin relief by knitting small Penguin PJ’s to help protect the birds. The jumpers prevent them from preening their feather & ingesting the toxic oil. The jumpers must be pure wool, the pattern is on the skeinz website  - as is the address to send them to. So get knitting!



Knitted Dads

What sort of Dad is your Dad?

 

Hairy business Dad?

Nautical Dad?

    Matching Dad?

Green Dad?

Camp Dad?

Action man Dad?

Hipster Dad?

Strangely Beatle-esque Dad?

Seriously stuck in the 80's Dad?

They come in all shapes, sizes and styles and isn't it comforting to know that somewhere out there, there is a knitting pattern to suit each and every one? 

posted by Julianne sister outlaw