Happy Father's Day Sale!

I always make sure I have some Gifts for Men in my Etsy shop because I find it hard to buy presents for men. This week I'm having a Father's Day Sale. Just use code FREESHIPDAD when you checkout in my Etsy shop: http://www.KnittingGuru.etsy.com and you'll receive free shipping on your purchase in the Gifts for Men Section of my shop. Here's a picture of the knitted and crocheted men's scarves I have available. They're all made with luxurious Merino wool, English chunky wool, or mohair. They are also one of a kind or limited edition pieces, so you'll be getting an original.

Also, there are still 14 days until Father's Day, so if you crochet, you can make the Fred Astaire Scarf featured in this picture in just a few short hours in your man's favorite colors. You can purchase the Fred Astaire Scarf in my Etsy shop in the Patterns Section, or at Craftsy. 

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Father's Day to All!

New Crochet Pattern at KnittingGuru

Brand New This Week -  the 'Round the Loop Crochet Scarf Pattern. It's super-fast and easy to crochet. The stitches used are chain, slip stitch and half double crochet. You'll be surprised at the intricate texture you'll achieve using these simple stitches. Even a new crocheter could make one of these in an evening.

The scarves shown are made with Paton's Roving - a soft wool unplied yarn, and Web's Berkshire Bulky - a wool and alpaca singles yarn. Because of the pattern's openness, the yarn texture really stands out so that the scarf looks very different in these two yarns. Suggestions for ways to vary the scarf are given in the instructions. An effective substitute for the bulky yarns, for example, is to use knitting worsted doubled.

These scarves don't take much yarn at all. With one skein of each color, you'll have enough yarn left over to make a matching hat.

You can get your pattern here at Craftsy or Etsy.

I hope you'll enjoy making this quick scarf! Please comment or ask me questions below.

Vintage Knitting & Crochet Patterns: Buyer Beware!

When it comes to buying vintage knitting and crochet patterns, the Latin phrase Caveat Emptor - let the buyer beware - needs to be taken seriously. I'm in love with vintage knitting and crochet patterns and have been collecting them for many years. This is just a small fraction of my collection:

 To look at the great styles of the past and the beautiful workmanship of previous generations of knitters and crocheters is always inspiring. However, it's important to remember that many things have changed since those patterns were written. Do not expect to buy a facsimile pattern or a cleaned up PDF pattern and be able to follow the directions!
    
Here's why: yarns have changed, needles and hooks have changed, sizes have changed, and most important standards of clarity have changed. The handbag pattern begins with these instructions:

Please keep in mind that the only parts of the pattern that are missing in this picture are the directions for the straps and inserting a zipper. In other words, this is all the instruction you get to make this lovely crocheted handbag from 1944:

What do the pattern instructions tell us to do? First of all we need 6 75 yard tubes of Jack Frost Cordet or we could substitute Soutashe, Ribbon Braid or Straw for that. Do you know what Jack Frost Cordet is or where to get it or the other yarns? The answer is that none of these yarns are available now. Cordet is now generally called corde and it's a dense, stiff yarn as is the soutashe. I'm not sure what ribbon braid looked like in the 1940s, but it definitely wasn't what we now think of as ribbon yarns which are usually quite lacy. I once had some of the yarn that was used to be called straw in the 1940s. It was very thin and dense also.

Looking further into the pattern, we're told we need a Size 5 White Crochet Hook. Would you know what size hook to use? Do they mean a vintage bone crochet hook? Possibly, but what size modern crochet hook should you use?

Modern knitting and crochet patterns always include the gauge which tells us how many stitches and rows equal an inch, or more likely 4 inches (10 centimeters). If we knew the gauge, we could crochet some swatches with yarns that seem similar to what is shown in the bag picture. After making several swatches, we would eventually find something suitable - maybe some heavy crochet cotton such as size 3. However, THERE IS NO GAUGE given in this pattern! This is not unusual for patterns published in the first half of the 20th century and earlier. Because of this, a lot more time would be necessary in order to come up with a suitable pattern for this bag.

Now let's examine the actual crochet instructions. We're told to make 79 circular motifs. That seems OK, but do they mean to actually make each motif separately, or do they want you to join them in strips? If you are to make each one separately, you're going to have a huge number of threads to weave into the inside of the bag! I suspect that the authors want you to join the motifs as you go along, but they don't say how. The finishing instructions tell indicate that strips of motifs should be sewn together, but they don't specify how to do that either. Looking at the bag, it seems to me that there are crochet stitches between the motifs, but the pattern makes no reference to them. Should the motifs really be crocheted together?

At the end of the pattern when we're told to attach the zipper, we're instructed to join two of the motifs together and attach them to the zipper pull. There is no mention of lining this bag with it's hundreds of loose ends from all those motifs. I would expect that the average crocheter would be stymied by these instructions and would give up on this pretty bag. What a frustrating waste of time and money!

The next time you're tempted to buy a vintage pattern, please keep all of this in mind. It's not impossible to duplicate the design, but it does take a lot of work and time.

Because I adore these patterns, I've started to produce some that I've updated - or translated - into modern knitting and crochet instructions so that they are doable. So far I've only done two: one for a belt and one for a hat that we would call a fascinator. Here are the two patterns I've updated.

 1940s Retro Crochet Belt Pattern

 1940s Crochet Tassel Hat Pattern

 To make these patterns, I first went through the process of figuring out what yarns would be suitable that are available now and what size crochet hooks should be used. I then retyped the instructions using large, easy to read type. (Did I mention that most of the vintage patterns are in tiny type?)

Then I worked on the pictures using Photoshop. I made them brighter and clearer, and just for fun I added color to the bag and belt. Each pattern shows several color variations to get your design started. I also added suggestions for ways to vary each pattern and finishing techniques so that the end result is professional looking.

Needless to say, each pattern took many hours to produce. I'd love to hear what you think of this project I've started. How interested would people be in acquiring these updated patterns? Please leave your comments here and I promise to answer them.

Meantime, you can get these patterns in my Etsy shop.

Belt Pattern

Hat Pattern

DIY Fred Astaire Scarf Pattern

I'm really happy to say that after being included in dozens of treasuries on Etsy, my Fred Astaire Scarf is now going to a new home!

I've always been a big fan of the debonaire Mr. Astaire and chose to include him in my series of knitwear dedicated to Old Time Movie Star Idols. Now that the scarf has a new owner, I've published a pattern so that even really new crocheters can make this fast and simple scarf. The pattern includes many suggestions for yarn and color variations, so there's no need to stick with the black and gray I chose for Fred.

You can get this pattern at Craftsy Have fun making several of these for yourself or to give as holiday gifts. The scarf only takes a few hours and a small amount of yarn, so it's perfect for unique, inexpensive presents.

The Search for a Great Sunhat Ends Here!

I don't know about you, but my search for a really great sunhat has been futile. Either they look good but don't keep enough sun off, or they're great looking but I don't want to lug around a big straw hat all day. (What do you do with those big hats when you go indoors?) Most hats I try on keep the sun off but look awful on me.

However, with a ball of cotton worsted yarn and my trusty crochet hook, I've come up with a great solution. My new hat has a definite Retro 1940s look. I really love the elegant fashions of that period and they look just right now, too. Therefore, I'll show you the hat first in a photo montage I just made of Ingrid Bergman wearing it and gazed at adoringly by Humphrey Bogart! (Photoshop is so much fun!)

Of course I can't promise you that you'll look like Ingrid when you wear this hat, but I can promise that if you have just the basic crochet skills, you'll be able to make it quickly, easily and inexpensively. In fact, the hat will cost less than two dollars to make in readily available Sugar and Cream, or Peaches and Creme yarn. The pattern includes suggestions for ways to alter it's design too, so you could easily make a half dozen of these and they'd all look different.

I love the coolness of this hat in pristine white. My design criteria were: coolness, hair-proof style, sun protection, and portability. I used openwork lace for the crown of the hat. All those little holes give it an air conditioned feel. They also minimize the tightness on the head that makes you end up with hat hair! I hate to go indoors, perhaps to a restaurant, and take off my hat only to find that my hair is ruined, don't you?

My second criteria of sun protection is built into this hat through a very tightly crocheted brim. The tightness of the stitches also keeps the brim from flopping. If you happen to be wearing this in a very windy place, the optional head band can be adjusted to a tight fit that will keep your hat from blowing off.

Finally, I like a hat that I can roll or fold up so it fits in a handbag or pocket and this hat certainly will do that. Because of the firmness of the stitching, the hat isn't altered by this and it looks just as good as new when you put it back on. I'll bet Ingrid really would have liked to have this!

You can find the pattern at Etsy and at Craftsy

If you decide to make this hat, I'd love to see pictures of your finished projects!

*** I'm giving away one copy of this pattern to someone (at random) who post a comment about the hat here. A reward will go to someone who takes just a minute to comment! ***