feeling a bit crepe today ...

a bit of a play on words, but appropriately so, since I also have a touch of sinusitis. I have decided this week, to share some patterns knitted/crocheted by my mother/knitting tutor during my early years, together with some early photos of me in cardigans she knitted. She mostly knitted in pure wool crepe ... hence the title of this post. Sadly, I don't have a lot of photos of any hand knit garments being worn by family members, as my father was the photographer in the family, & he died suddenly when I was 8 years old. But I thought seeing the patterns might interest some, & perhaps also stir up some fond memories.

On with the show!

(a) A two piece, from a pattern in a UK Stitchcraft magazine (Issue No 370), which Mum knit, not only for me, but also for my sister. (The days when children were dressed the same!) The yarn used was wool crepe. The main colour for mine was mustard & my sister's main was very much like the one in the pattern, which, secretly I would have liked ... but I think my sister ended up with it because there was only enough wool in that colour for her. I believe I ended up with the mustard because that was the only other option, I can't quite recall. We certainly didn't have the vast choices that are available today! Those outfits became our Sunday Best Outfits, worn to church - & were much admired by many.

(b) Shows a hat Mum also knit for us both. Exactly as seen in the picture. Complete with ribbon bow. I think this may have been one of the few times she knitted in acrylic.

(c) Shows a pattern for a fairisle sweater my mother knit four times! One for her, & one each for the offspring. All were exactly the same - & yes, we ALWAYS wore them out at the same time! They were our 'traveling' sweaters as I recall. I remember feeling very conspicuous & yes, they were much admired! I vividly remember wearing them on the InterIslander from Wellington to Lyttelton a few times. Including a time when the crossing was so bad, that among other things, a crew member fell overboard (thankfully rescued) when the ferry stopped to rescue a yacht caught in a horrible storm. We were in the same spot for 6 long hours as I (rather vividly) recall. Wearing those sweaters made it easy for the crew to find my brother when he disappeared from sight that day at one point, causing a few anxious moments. That crossing finally ended up berthing in Lyttelton in the early hours of the next morning.. All in all, very rough & no fun at all!!! But - my brother was found & safely returned because of the sweater! None of the sweaters ended up being kept for posterity, sadly.

(d) Mum made this sweater for me (I think my sister also had one) in a deep teal/ocean colour, & added a polo neck. It was a warm, snug knit.

(e) A crocheted top Mum made for herself in the same shade as the pattern (acrylic I think), which I seem to remember borrowing once or twice.

(f) A sweater she made my brother, in similar colours, from memory.

(g) The knitted tank top on the left - I can't remember the colours but they may have been similar to the pattern.

(h) & (i) My mother crocheted a dress for me when I was about 13. As I recall it was a mix of these 2 patterns. I think the sleeves were added from (i) to the dress pattern in (h) It was lilac - & I loved it! I wore it to my 3rd Form (Year 9) school social, along with far too much makeup! I cringe when I think about it now!

(j) I remember Mum knitting this baby set more than once for gifts. Knitting supplements in the Woman's Weekly were very common back then!

(k) My 1st attempt at knitting a sweater (as a teenager) was this pattern! I thought I was very clever knitting this! I used a mid blue, scratchy wool (not crepe) Mum already had on hand. Enough said! Obviously sourced at a good price, or perhaps given to her?! And obviously, she didn't' want to knit with it! Not surprisingly I don't remember wearing it much, nor what happened to it. Both these patterns were in a free supplement from the New Zealand Woman's Weekly of May 5, 1969, in the days when knitting featured prominently in the magazine, & supplementary booklets were quite common, regarded as a real treat by the knitting fraternity!

Here I am (above) in some primary school photos (aged between 5 - 11), wearing knitted cardigans my mother made. The one on the right is (l) in the collage below.

I remember really liking the cardigan in the middle photo. As you can probably tell it was a lighter, and to my mind, 'prettier' shade! A lemon pastel colour, I think. All my other cardigans seemed to be in more 'practical' shades after that! I remember hearing that word practical rather a lot! I do remember having a pink, lacey cardigan I loved, though - before it mysteriously disappeared after a trip from Invercargill to Milford Sound with my dad. I must have been about 5/6 & I think Mum stayed home. I also remember the fallout when she discovered my cardigan was gone, & never having another pink one again!

I remember the cardigan on the right being nice & soft to wear & I often wore it to school. Another blue/green, dark colour I think. I think the one on the left was in royal blue. And I know I have that pattern somewhere too! I may have to do a part 2 of this memory lane trip at some stage - there could be more treasure in the vault!

(l) already mentioned above.

(m) I remember the Pixie Hat well, having a mustard coloured one & wearing it, even to school in my early years. I used to get a lot of earache, this hat was worn often!

(n) A twinset! Short sleeved top & cardigan to match. My mother made one each for my sister & I - in the same, practical colour! She must have wanted something really boring & mindless to knit! The colour was close to, but a bit deeper than the one in the pattern. We had pleated skirts with a bodice that we wore with our twinsets, matching of course!

Now, for the Piece de Resistance - The last photos show the pattern book & a cardigan that my mother knit for herself in the 1960s. I have both the (UK) Woman's Weekly Magazine, dated 25 June 1960, & the cardigan in my possession now, & apart from the fact that I think Mum may have changed the buttons in the 1970s (possibly from metal to plastic) the cardigan is in AS NEW condition. A sign that quality wool (also wool crepe) stands the test of time! Having hauled it out & looked at it again I think I might even wear it myself, one day! It would go great with jeans! There is a mix of colours in the black/brown base which includes blues, greens & a kind of apricot/peach colour. Really hard to photograph so you can see just how lovely it is! In case you are wondering, my mother is coming up 85, sadly hasn't knitted for a long time, & was last year placed into managed care after yet another bout of serious illness that saw her hospitalised. She is doing a lot better now though & is in the best place. Although I did consider taking this cardigan in to her, I think it would be too heavy for her frail body - & I don't believe it would stay in top condition if sent to the laundry there!