crochet

Attic 24 Inspired Ripple Blanket for a New Baby

August 16, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

So many things that I love doing have gone on the back burner over the last couple of years. Crochet, and crafting in general, has been one of those things. I’m desperate to be able to go back to spending evenings curled up on the sofa watching a box set with some crochet in my hands. I think it would probably help me sleep better too.

I’ve also got some wonderful Clothkits kits to make up before TSB’s first birthday in November. I really want to make her some things to remember, like I did for Little Miss C when she turned one, and I’m scared that time will be against me on this. I bought the kids three months ago, but they’re yet to come out of the carrier bag since returning home. It’s shameful really.

There is one project though that I have managed to finish in the last couple of years and it was rather an important one.

My sister gave birth to her first baby last month and I was determined that this niece or nephew should have something handmade from his Auntie. A crochet blanket seemed the obvious choice and so that’s what I set out to do. My sister didn’t know if she was having a boy or a girl so I wanted to use bright colours that would work for either gender. I managed to raise my leftovers from the various blankets that I’ve made in previous years and came up with a lovely selection of Stylecraft Special DK that I could use.

I based my pattern on Lucy from Attic 24’s Ripple Blanket and just altered it so that my foundation row was shorter, so that the final blanket would be a similar size to one that we had for Tube Stop Baby. I then just kept crocheting until it was approximately square in size. I’m not going to lie, it took months, especially as the only real time I had to crochet was when a passenger on long car journeys around the country, but I’m delighted to say that I managed to get it finished about two hours before she gave birth!

Now I need to just run my attentions to finishing all the other blankets that still need ends sewing in and borders adding. I’m beginning to think that I might just stop sleeping to gain a few extra hours in each day!

Vintage Woolworth Knitting Magazines

June 5, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

What I love about going to a car boot sale is that you really have absolutely no idea what you are going to find. Or what you’re going to bring home with you. It’s fair to say that you don’t always want to bring home some of the things you find. But for other items you know that as soon as you clap eyes on them they have to be coming home with you. The latter was certainly the case when I spotted a couple of vintage Woolworth Knitting Magazines in amongst some knitting patterns and books that an old man was selling.

I’m trying not to dwell on the fact that it was a man on his own selling these, as I’m sadly guessing that it means his wife or partner has either died or is no longer able to knit. I’ll certainly forgive him for the badly placed 50p each price stickers that have been slapped right in the middle of the covers of each of the two magazines.

On the outside they both look relatively tame. The 1973 issue 4 certainly shows how much brown and beige were in fashion at the time. Quite a contrast to issue 2 which came out in 1972 and had the boy on the cover wearing a very fetching pair of green trousers with a hand knitted yellow sunshine sleeveless pullover.

Inside Issue 3, 1972

The covers were enough to make me pick up the magazines, but inside was something else entirely. This rainbow crochet maxi-dress is pretty special, but I’m not sure I can quite carry it off on the streets of Dunstable!

Maybe instead I should work on Master C and convince him that together we could rock the sunshine and flowers look?

I’m not sure Little Miss C would forgive me if I presented her with this smock top and trousers combo. I don’t think even doing it in a different colour would help much!

Perhaps I should set my attentions on winter instead and set the whole family up with co-ordinating ski-sweaters and hats? You’d certainly spot us all coming in the snow!

Inside Issue 4, 1973

Despite the more sedate cover, the 1973 issue of the Woolworth Knitting Magazine opens with a bang with this on page 2! Who can possibly not want to make that??? Its title is “Loopy Outfit” and in 2019 I think you’d have to be a tad loopy yourself to go out in it.

There are some fantastic “His ‘n’ Hers” sweaters and some brilliantly comedic posing from some of the male models in the magazine too as they show off their knitwear.

In fairness though this edition also has in it a fair number of tops that actually would look perfectly acceptable in modern times.

These “ribby tops” in particular would look perfectly nice with a pair of jeans for a vintage look.

I’m not so sure I’ll be wearing a crochet bikini on the beaches of Norfolk this summer though.

Woolworth have obviously had some tie in with Disney in 1973, possibly to mark the release of several of their big films at the cinema.

For Robin Hood fans you could ask you mum or grandmother to knock you up your very own waistcoat to keep you warm in the cinema.

To keep the kids warm for their bedtime stories there are some remarkable crochet dressing gowns, although I’m not too sure if these kids are unimpressed by the dressing gowns or frightened by the candle.

This Flower Power Toddler Suit has to be one of the most remarkable things I’ve ever seen. Probably not helped by the slightly deranged look on the girl’s face. Heaven only knows what would happen to your child if you rocked up to a toddler group with them wearing it. They’d probably be a fire risk for starters!

It’s been a while since I’ve picked up any vintage knitting or sewing patterns and until I sat down and properly went through these Woolworth Knitting Magazines I’d forgotten how much I used to love doing so. They transport you back in time so much. There’s also all the vintage adverts I could tell you about – everything from toilet roll to sewing thread – but they’ll have to wait until another blog post.

I’m back, writing about what I love, and that in itself makes me smile.

What’s keeping me busy right now

March 19, 2019 by Penny Leave a Comment

If you only read about what I’m up to here on Penny Blogs then it may well seem like I’ve not been up to much lately. But if that’s your thought then you couldn’t be further from the truth!

Life, as it always seems to be, is manic!

Having three kids, plus a part-time step-daughter, is pretty much a full time job in itself. Keeping on top of all their social arrangements, plus Brownies, Beavers and Cubs meetings (yep, two children but one of each!), after school clubs, swimming lessons and the various Brownie, Cub and Beavers trips and sleep-overs that seem to be going on at the moment, means I need some ninja logistic planning skills. Then there’s all the things that they seem to need. Dressing up outfits for World Books Day. Cakes for cake sales in aid of Red Nose Day, World Downs Syndrome Day and Autism Awareness Day. Remembering which day one kid needs to wear odd socks and on which the other needs to take a superhero toy with them. Ticking things off on camp packing lists. Sewing badges on to uniforms, paying for school trips and collecting plastic bottles for Arts week. No wonder I feel tired at the end of the day.

Add into the mix a four month old baby, who luckily is happy to be dragged all over the place, but one who still needs feeding at least once every night and that there is your reason I get through so much tea in a day!

There are a few other things that are keeping me out of mischief though.

Firstly, this week we are celebrating a whole year in our “new” house. In a way it looks like we’ve done very little since moving in, and there are still plenty of reminders of retro decor that need sorting. We have though managed to replace nearly every window in the house so far this year as well as getting the garage roof repaired. As I sit here now I’m waiting for a man to come back to finalise a quote for fixing the gutters and some problems with the main roof too. It can be hard sometimes to remember that things don’t just happen overnight. There’s plenty more that I need to crack on and do though. The decor in Master C’s room probably being top of the list. He’s trying to push tings on a bit by peeling wallpaper off himself whilst he lies in bed at night listening to audio books!

On the work front I’m being kept busy with various bits of writing work and some social media stuff too. Having created a whole new online presence does mean that some work has slowed down (which is sadly to be expected) but there are a few leads that I’m chasing at the moment so please cross your fingers.

I’m working away at both Penny Plays and Penny Travels on an almost daily basis. Bonn and I are slowly working our way through a huge pile of vintage board games that we are wanting to feature on Penny Plays as well as some new games and toys that I have been sent to review. We’ve also set up a Facebook Group for people to talk about vintage board games here in the UK. I’d found a couple of American groups, but no British ones, so decided to set one up myself.

On the travel front we’re slowly (see a theme here?) working our way through the 270 London Underground stations that we’re hoping to visit with Tube Stop Baby. We’re up to 28 so far. That’s over 10%! Last weekend saw us cover off the top bit of the Metropolitan Line and I’ve totally fall in love with how unlike London it feels there. Chorleywood (where we parked our car) felt like driving into a small village in the Yorkshire Moors rather than approaching a tube station. I’m a bit behind in writing up all our trips, but I’m hoping to have a bit of time over Easter to catch up. Her Instagram account is a bit more up to date though.

I’ve also realised just how much I need a daily dose of fresh air in my life. The days that I don’t get outside for a walk I find myself struggling with motivation to get anything done. I’ve recently discovered geocaching (and have written a little introduction to it over on Penny Travels if you don’t know what it is) and I’m finding that a great excuse to get outside and explore with Tube Stop Baby. It can sometimes be a bit of a challenge finding some of the caches when you’ve got a pushchair with you, but even if I don’t manage to retrieve every cache that I go after, I’m getting the fresh air and exercise which is making me feel better.

In between all this I’ve discovered just how addictive Netflix box sets are. Especially whilst you’re pinned to the sofa under a feeding baby. I’d honestly forgotten just how much I love a good crime drama on the telly. I’m desperately trying to make time for crochet, as I know that crafting is another thing that I really need in my life to keep a bit of balance. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do as much as I’d like, but small progress is being made.

Inspired by the Sewing Bee I’m also hoping to get my sewing machine out again soon. There’s a cot bed quilt that really needs finishing, but I’ve also got a load of clothes patterns that I’d like to have a go at. A recently trip to a local haberdashery shop had me finding some Harry Potter fabric that I know Little Miss C would love a quilt made from so I’m wondering if I can do something “mummy made” for her birthday in June…

Maybe I should just give up on sleeping as being too time consuming?