People Knitting

People have been sending vintage photos of knitting to me on FB, so I was curious where they all came from all of a sudden, and I found this book.  Of course I bought it!  One does not even need to ask.

The author, Barbara Levine, has been collecting Vintage knitting photos for over 25 years, even though she herself is not a knitter, and many of the photos come from her personal collection. She calls herself a knitting watcher, and her mother was a knitter, though she does not have a single photo of her mother knitting.

The photos range from the past 100+ years once photography was more popular. They show both genders, and all ages.

This book would make a great little gift or stocking stuffer for any knitter.  It will be kept out in the Living Room for perusing at my house.

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I found this photo to be especially funny, as I have a hair appointment tomorrow, and I am known for always knitting while sitting in the chair!

It was really enjoyable looking through this book, but it also made me sad.  I have been knitting since I was 7.  I do not know of a single photo of me knitting.  Too late to get that back.  Have someone take pictures of you while you do your craft.

 

 

Knit Your Bit

Recently I was looking through my needles to loan pair of #3 40″ circulars to a friend.  In the process, I went through a stash of knitting needles that I purchased from a friend a couple of years ago.  And, I found these:

This spiked my curiosity, of course I knew about knitting for the war, and socks being a favorite.  I had read the book Knitting America, by my friend Susan Strawn, and in that book she talks extensively about the War knitting efforts.

 

Researching online, I could not find any examples of these intact needles for sale.  I did, however, find fun graphics, and of course the pattern for the socks that were to be knit with these needles.

There was also a book published in 2012 with WWI and WWII knitting patterns.  I was interested until I saw the resell price of $432!!!

If you are interested in knitting some of the Vintage patterns, this site has some free examples.

And… I also found these cool Vintage needles in my search:  Clover, Susan Bates and Boye.  All will be on display and loved for the history.  The small Clover ones are from Japan, and only 8 1/2″ long, I do not know how you would knit with them, or what they are used for.