Laura Ingalls Wilder

Recently I was listening to a podcast called Still Growing.  It's about gardening, a hobby I enjoy.   The episode (585) that prompted this post is about Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The podcast interviews a writer who suggests that Mrs Wilder should be thought of as an environmental writer in addition to a children's author. 

This has me thinking about her textiles in her books.  I do not begin to suggest that the Ingalls wove all their cloth to make their clothes (we'll peek in at the Wilders in due course).   But there are considerable mentions of sewing,  quilting, embroidery,  knitting and, I believe,  even  crochet. 

Here's a list of the titles in order of publication. 

  *  Little House in the Big Woods 

  *  Little House on the Prairie 

  *  Farmer Boy

  *  On the Banks of Plum Creek

  *  By the Shore of Silver Lake 

  *  The Long Winter

  *  Little Town on the Prairie 

  *  These Happy Golden Years 

  

And as an unfinished book that was later published as found,  The First Four Years 

Ma sewed all the clothes for the family by hand, no sewing machine here until near the end of the series.   She did use factory made yard goods.  The fabrics were gotten from nearby towns.  Some of this explains why clothes were treated better than we do today and why they lasted longer as well, in some ways.   I think some has to do with our electric dryers also.   

Ma also knits their stockings and socks by hand.  These are carefully mended as needed,  again by hand.  I have to imagine that some of these are knit of thicker yarn than we currently use (sport weight Vs.  Fingering or lace weight), especially the work socks. They learned to knit and share the work as witnessed by the mittens they knit for Carrie in By the Shores of Silver Lake at Christmas time.  

Mary and Laura learn to hand sew,  carefully picking out wonky seams and tiny stitches until perfection is achieved.  From the early books we see that quilt blocks were the early seam practice.  Smooth straight seams are important for the comfort of clothes and bed linens as well as the way the clothes look and fit. 

As the books progress,  things become a trifle easier.   A sewing machine is acquired.   This is not today's electric whiz machine.  The sewing machine of Laura's day was a treadle machine. It required foot power to make the needle go up and down. Even so,  there was a lot of hand finishing to do. 

Towards the end of the series we see Laura preparing for marriage by teaching 3 terms of school and working as a seamstress and assistant milliner.  The teaching may have been easy but she didn't care for the sewing required.  She learned how to do it quickly and neatly to get it over with but not have to redo it. 

We also see Mary contribute to the household by being able to knit and sew even though blinded by illness, as well as keep baby Grace occupied and out of trouble while others did heavier work that required vision.  Mary braids fabric strips to be sewn into rugs. 

Now let's look in on the Wilders of the book,  Farmer Boy.  Mother and Father Wilder are prosperous farmers.  They can afford fine fabrics purchased from the store for Sunday best.   School clothes and work clothes were woven from wool from their sheep, dyed with natural dyes from things found on the farm.  Father may have raised the sheep and sheared the sheep.   Mother carded the wool,  spun the wool, wove and knit the yarn, dyed the resulting fabrics,  cut and sewed the clothes. She did all this for four children and Mother and Father in the book without benefit of a sewing machine.  In reality there were more children.  

If you would like to read these books for yourself,  check out your local library.

Anti boredom month

Have you eve heard of this month?  I'm willing to bet you have.  It's more commonly known as July.

Why the name change?  Here in the U.S.,  most schools use a 9 month on 3month off clock.  By this I mean school is in session for 9 months and then nothing for 3 months.  How many of us have heard about 4 weeks into summer "I'm bored. There's nothing to do."

As a way to combat this, I suggest each week,  the kids learn something new.  A crafty way to release some of their creative juices.  Sculpting with clay, painting, knitting, crocheting,  jewelry making, metal working,  woodworking and these are just the tip of the iceberg.   We all have the waxy sticks of wonder known as crayons.  We all have colored pencils and markers.  There are only so many hours a kid will sit still and color either in coloring books (are these still a thing?) or use sticker books.  There are only so many hours a day we can park the kids in front of the tv to watch or play games on whatever system is currently popular or in front of a computer screen.  These are pretty much one in the same to me.

For younger children,  there are usually kits for most of these.   As the kids get older, try thinking outside the box.   These can also be an opening for them to become involved in volunteer work.  Your religious organization can be a great place to start.  A local charity can also be a good start. There are usually jobs to be done that are not skilled work which are very good for those not really acquainted with the systems used by that organization.  Recently my church had a paint day for woodwork.   

I'd like to see more kids knitting or crocheting.  Check out my website for ideas that will keep kids busy and productive with their time.  For the 4 - 7 year olds, I have finger knitting and finger crochet.  For the 5 + ages I have straw weaving, basic knitting, basic crochet, weaving on cardboard, arm knitting and dying with the food dyes.  These classes are free with the exception of having to purchase yarn and tools you don't have.  See your local big box craft store or thrift shop.

Ideas for the kids to use to create something from their handwork can be found here and in other posts of a similar name.

Don't forget to get out and exercise.  An hour a day can help the waistline and the mood of the family.  Play kickball with the kids, or maybe Frisbee.  Running games like little league or pickup games in the neighborhood are also great. 

Whatever you do, don't forget to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen.

Im mortality

That is the name of a writing prompt I saw recently.  It is supposedly a rough translation from Latin to mean 999 lives.  In reality it is a bad way write the Roman numerals for 999 and the Latin for death. So it is 999 deaths.   Death implies there is life to go with it.   I like that rough translation despite the liberties taken.

It begged me to wonder.  What could I accomplish with that many lives to knit and crochet? What else could I do with that time?  How long will each life last? How would I keep track of time?   Where in my life timeline would I start the next life? Would I retain the knowledge and abilities gained in previous lives?  When in time would each life be lived?  This being a creative writing prompt.  I can pretty much do anything.

I choose that I keep abilities, knowledge, and memories of the previous lives.  I choose that each new life starts at age 20.  This way I'm beyond the formative years.  Each life,  unless I make stupid choices, will last until I am between 80 and 100.  I have no clue how I will keep track of each life.

My first two lives I choose to knit and crochet everything in my queue on ravelry plus the offline list of things that are not on ravelry. 

I think after this every other lifetime will be donated to making things for the charities near and dear to me.   I'll make breasts for breast cancer survivors,  items for the homeless (scarves,  gloves,  hats,  blankets),  items for babies.  With a lot of luck some of the trouble will be eradicated or at least lessened.

I don't know what I want to do with the other half of the lives.   Maybe conquering fears?   Learn how to do more extensive needlework techniques?   I'll leave those choices for another day.

Hope you enjoyed this bit of fiction.   Share your thoughts and ideas below.

Swatch! Swatch! Swatch! There's so many Swatches!

Moving right along with what to do with them all, we come to what to do with more than a dozen at a time.  The obvious idea that we can all see is...........AFGHANS!!!!  These can use from 2 dozen up to 9 or 10 dozen.  You decide how many based on how big you want it to be and how big the blocks/squares are made.

OK.  Now that that has been said.  Let's come up with more ideas.

1. Bathmat:  Take a dozen in a 3 x 4 pattern of swatches/blocks that are 6 - 12 inches each in cotton.  
2. Welcome Mat:  Take another dozen in a 3 x 4 pattern of swatches done in jute, clothesline, rope or twine.  These fibers will stand up to some abuse.  The swatches/blocks should be at least 9 inches.
3. Heating Pad Cover:  Take 24 blocks/swatches in a 4 x 6 pattern.  Fold in half.  Seam along 2 sides.  Put buttons on half of the third open side and crochet along the other half of the open side and add some chain loops to fit over the buttons to act as button holes.  Insert the heating pad and button.  
4. Slippers:  With a dozen swatches/blocks you can make 2 slippers 6 swatches each that resemble booties.
5. Jacket or Coat:  With another 4 - 6 dozen blocks/swatches, you can make a coat or jacket of any size.  With tiny 2 inch granny squares you can make a baby cardi.  See this post for the basic layout.  To make this a longer coat, add more rows to the body.
6. Poncho:  With three and a half dozen (that's 42) swatches/blocks, you can make a poncho.  You can line them up in a diamond pattern or a very long rectangle to make the poncho.  It's up to you.
7. Rocking Chair Back:  With another two dozen in a 4 x 6 pattern and a couple of ties, you can make a wooden rocker back more cozy and comfy or cover a worn back.  Be sure to measure your rocking chair so you know your back will fit.
8. Contoured Bath Rug:  With a dozen more swatches/blocks that are 9 inches each arrange in this configuration.   Make it from absorbent cotton so it's easy care and can be warm to your feet in the middle of winter.
9. A variable number of squares or rounded grannies to fit your window, make a chevron shaped valance to add interest to a window that doesn’t need to be fully covered.
10. With 19 squares and some lining fabric, you can make a rectangular tote bag, 6 on each side and the rest are the gusset (sides and bottom to make it more usable).  Line for stability.  Add purchased handles or strap.
11. With 30 tiny thread squares sewn together into a long ring, you have a fancy lanyard for a convention name badge or scissors.

Now that's another 20 dozen or more swatches or granny square blocks used.  Leave comments with other ideas.  I'd love to hear them.

Games Knitters Play

This post could go a couple of directions.   This will not be ways to lie to yourself and others about how much you or they spend,  how big the stash is or anything else. Deception is not something I advocate especially between spouses. 

I am games mistress for retreats in my knitting guild.   I will give you a peek between the skeins at some of the games we have played and might play in the future.  Sometimes the prizes are knit cash to be used for an auction.  Monopoly money could be substituted.  Sometimes the prizes are actual knit related items.  You can also google knitting games and there are a lot more there.

Trivia  ::  before a retreat, I will Google knitting trivia.  I print questions with the answers and a bit of history if available.  I use this as a way to keep the retreat goers on their toes and earn knit cash.  I just blurt out a question with an amount that I think it's worth.  All correct answers will collect that amount.  Obviously easy questions are worth less.

Stories   ::   someone reads a story that has a lot of repetition of a few words or phrases.  All retreat goers sit in a circle.   There is a ball of yarn that gets tossed around according to the predetermined terms.  Ie. If a is said the person tosses it across the circle while holding the part they caught, or a quarter of the way around either left or right. The final goal is to have a web of knitter's.

Magic ball  ::  this is similar to the stories above.   All sit in a circle.   A story is read and at predetermined terms the yarn ball is passed left or right by 1, 2, or 3 people unwinding as it goes.  The magic is that there are small trinkets wound in the ball, fancy stitch markers,  small tape measures,  blunt yarn needles, buttons, charms.  The person who gets the prize is the one is sitting at the slip knot holding the trinket to the ball.

Ugly sweater card game  ::  by changing the rules this can accommodate a large group with only a deck or two.  Dole out the cards.  Play as directed mostly.  The oldest or youngest starts.  Pull a card from person to right or left. Make a pair if you can and display it.  Next person does same.   If you pull and can make a pair that leaves You without cards, you are out.  You can have 2 winners if you use the ugly sweater cards only.  You can have 3 winners if you use the 2 ugly sweater cards and the person with the most pairs.  You can have 4 winners if you use the same as 3 and include the first person to be out of cards.  This can take a while until all the pairs are made.

Knitting relay races  ::  these can be fun.  Timer is needed for these.

1.  Have the people pair up.  More fun if they are not great friends.  Have a set of straights for each pair with a long tail cast on already on the needles.  20 sts seems right.  Each pair has to knit with one person holding a needle.   Use a timer and the pair with the most sts or rows each win.

2.  Each person knits onto the left needle  as opposed to the way you normally knit onto the right.  Again most sts or rows wins.

3.  Line up in teams of 4 or 5.  Each person knits a row and passes to the next person.  Keep going until time is up.  Team with most rows wins.

4.  Using set number of stitches already cast on, each person has to knit behind their backs.  Winner will be the person with the most sts or rows. 

5.  Again with already cast on needles, each players runs in place while knitting.  Winner will be the person with the most sts or rows.

6.  Another relay type of game inspired by Elizabeth Zimmerman.  I am thinking of the picture of EZ knitting on a shawl with someone else that is in one of her books.  Cast on in the round and knit 30 rds using 4-7 balls and 4-7 circular needles.   Have several of these set up to accommodate all players.  Usually this works best with 2 to 4 people per circle.  Divide retreatants into groups and  each person gets an end to 2 separate circs as well as their own ball of yarn.  winning team has the most rounds with fewest dropped stitches.

This last can be set to music and played like a variant of musical chairs.  2 people knit until the music stops, they trade places and continue knitting until the next break in the music.  Winning team has the most rounds with fewest dropped stitches.

Jeopardy  ::  play just like the t.v. show.   Make up the board large enough for all to see.  Have each player use a different ringtone on their cell phone for their buzzer.  Topics are all yarn, fiber and knitting related.  Utilize your knit cash.  All cash won is kept for an auction or other game.

Auction  ::  run just like any auction you have attended.  Utilize your knit cash here.

Knitting bingo  ::  I made up 2 types.  1 knitting bingo game I combined 3 different bingo games from Untangled Knots  blog post found here.  Things you hear knitting in public, Christmas knitting and summer knitting.   I used these 75 terms plus some from the comments and made up cards that mixed these.  Knitting bingo 2 is a swatch bingo.  4x4 swatches that are tagged with not only the name but how to knit them.  Names are mixed on the cards.   I pull the swatches from a small suitcase and it doubles as a trunk show.  Many are not things everyone has seen.  For this I had a head start in that I used my certification swatches and the increase/decrease swatches are 2 calls.

I also have other ideas for using kids games and changing the directions to knitting terms.   Candyland cards, each color is something different like red is k4, orange is p6, yellow is a yo,  and so on.  When I get the game set up, I'll post about it.

Chutes and ladders and again each move is a knitting term.  I wonder what ideas could be done with clue, monopoly,  hearts, slap Jack, war.....

I also saw an interesting Christmas game recently.   Pick up sticks using candy canes held in the mouth.  It brought an idea to mind.  Pick up sticks using straight needles and crochet hooks or cable needles to pick up the straights, maybe not by mouth.  I don't think it's hygienic or tasty.

Premium Fibers and Yarns

What are premium fibers?  Are they worth the price?  Are they easy or hard to work With? 

Premium fibers are high end but not necessarily super expensive.  They can be synthetic,  animal and some plant origin.  They can be a fancy synthetic that adds glamour and glitz.  At the top of the spectrum is the yarn made from pearls in 2012 to celebrate an anniversary of Vogue Knitting, as well as yarn made from vicuna or musk oxen (quiviut).  These fibers range in price from a few hundred dollars an ounce to nearly a thousand for actual yarn.  This goes down a bit (not much) if you can get the fiber and spin it yourself or if you can get the yarn from a wholesale site or auction site.

Not many of us can easily afford these super premium fibers.  So let's step back a bit and look at this list below. Note that the higher end fibers will be mixed with wool or cotton to bring down the price charged to the public.

• angora bunny fiber
• angora goat fiber (mohair)
• cashmere goat fiber (cashmere)
• llama
• alpaca
• bison
• possum (New Zealand possums, not the sole marsupial of North America)
• hemp
• linen
• merino
• silk
• organic cotton
• Sea Island cotton

I'm not listing synthetics because there are so many brands.  There's the most affordable and readily available Red Heart and Caron Simply Soft, but these aren't really premium.  They are however the go to for many people for many reasons (affordability by the masses, wide range of colors to name a couple). 

Even wools and cottons can go from pedestrian to premium.  Dishcloth cotton (think sugar and crème and handicrafter and kitchen cotton) can range from inexpensive but durable to more expensive but not necessarily out of  pocket expensive (think takhi mercerized cotton yarn to name one) yarns that yield some perks that the readily available don't.  Wools can range from animals that are known as meat animals (very coarse wool that is more suitable for rugs and other non wearables) to the finest merinos which can be so very soft.  

Now all this goes completely out the window when we travel to other countries than the US.  Some of the most readily available yarns in the US are actually are very expensive and desired in other countries.  Location, location, location as my favorite realtor says really does mean a lot.  Fabulous silks are commonplace in other parts of the world.  Premium cottons like Egyptian are common elsewhere.  

So while this list is incomplete at best, it is a starting place for you to consider what might be a purchase of something out of your ordinary and a way to consider more premium fibers.  Most importantly, purchase the fibers and yarns you will actually enjoy working with and wearing as well as meet your needs.  Only you can answer these questions.  Own your knitting and crocheting.  Be proud of what you create.  

Knit/Crochet and Bullet Journal Lists

Bullet Journals.  This is a new way to say what I saw my mom doing every day when I was young.  Meals were planned. Grocery shopping done.  Dates and days of recycling pick up and other upcoming events that she didn't want to forget.  After a while it went to a calendar and the tablet.  One difference was that once the tablet was full or the day had a line through each chore, it got tossed.  Bullet journals today get kept, those lists didn't.  Another difference there was no drawing in it, no doodling either.  I'm a great list maker.  Sadly I'm really great at losing them too.  Cue a notebook rather than a slip of paper.

I have decided to offer a few of my lists as ideas for you:

• A list of fibers to try that are new to you
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• A list of techniques to try that are new to you.
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• A list of UFOs and the location of each and maybe the progress of each.
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• A list of patterns to try.  Bonus if you have at least a few kitted up.
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• A list of new dyers or spinners to try.
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• A list of fiber festivals to attend
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• A list of teachers to take classes from
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These are a few ideas to get you started.