This may not be knitting, but it is knitting related! This is my attempt at being crafty and thrifty at the same time. I took an old 1960’s knitting basket and refurbished it. I didn’t like the thick smelly ugly pattern fabric so I took it off and sewed a new basket. The contruction of the old some how was sewn around the frame. I couldn’t do this so with the help of my husband, we added chain to make the legs not collapse. We painted the wood a matte black to better match my craft room. The fabric was from Sis Boom’s by Jennifer Paganelli’s “Girlfriends” collection. I love this updated elegant brocade in cotton. For now it houses my vintage knitting magazine collection as opposed to yarn. I have a feeling the naughty little kitty who is pictured might find it too edible.

Ode to Lana Turner, the babe with notorious sexual prowess who’s beauty stuns us all. Ode to the original “Sweater Girl”, dubbed so after her apearance in the 1937 movie “They Won’t Forget” where her busoms bounced with great temptation to the movie-goers of the era. Ode to her knowing how to catch a good man, seven in fact. Ode to her unfortunately not knowing how to keep one though, or two, or three, or four. Ode to her highly regarded performance in film noir “The Postman Always Rings Twice”.

To learn more about this one of a kind lady visit Lana Turner Online website. For a few more “sweater girl” photos of Lana, click (more…)

This may sound hokey but it’s true!

I have more appreciation for the things I have, especially if I make them myself. When knitting I tend to contemplate the steps it has taken to get this yarn to me. The earth has supplied food for a sheep. The sheep grew wool. The wool was shorn, cleaned and turned into roving, then spun and dyed. The long hours that go into a hand knit item are well spent. You come out with a garment you made youself, making you appreciate it that much more. Your proud of youself and the finished product. It also takes quite a long time to knit garments. This forces you to have greater appreciation for fewer things, rare in these days of mass consumerism and hording “stuff”.

Knitting, like life, always has mistakes. Knitting has helped me come to realize that mistakes are inevitible. They don’t usally mean I am any less of a knitter or person. When you realize this it is much easier not to dwell on those faults but just pick up and correct what you did or just accept the mistake and move on.

In the same light, with knitting & life there isn’t always a right answer. You may use one decrease, someone else might use another. Ce’st La Vie!

With hand knitting I have learned patience, and patience is a virture. In this modern age everyone moves so fast with cars and computers. We have the ability to have instant gratification in so many ways, be it for food, clothes, fun or information. Us modern day people can be very daunted when something does not happen as quickly as we are used to. For example when that credit card company charges you wrong and you have to spend endless hours on the phone, or perhaps when you have children and your patience is tested hour after hour. The slow pace of knitting slows down your mind, calming you. You learn patience because you know that this garment will not come out in an hour or a day, sometimes even weeks or months! Knitting also fills void hours of anxiously waiting for something to happen here and now, fast, fast fast. You have something to fill your time instead of worrying about something that is going on at work or in your family life.

Knitting is like meditation. The repetative movement is not too unlike yogic breathing. Meditation is good for the body and spirit.

Knitting has given me a way to connect to people. Knitters understand each other. It also gives me a connection to people of the past. I can understand more about how people lived. I picture women in the 1920’s taking great pride in the garments they made for their family. I find this a very special way to do things for your loved ones and connect with them.