Tuesday, May 17, 2011

On Rats' Nests and Your Aunt’s Attic


The rhodies in the
front yard exploded
over the last few days

I signed up in the Ravelry Blog Hub Group to participate in a stash swap. Underground Crafter, the organizer of the swap, set the parameters: you won’t know who’s sending you the yarn, it must be from stash, it can be one skein of any yarn, you must blog about the skein you receive, and devise some sort of project from the skein (if at all possible) and then blog about that.

Ok – everyone all set on the guidelines? Good. Well, I received my skein of stash yarn on Monday from PandaBearofDoom, and when I opened the package I laughed out loud. Yes, yes I did.


Now, for those of you who might not be familiar with our PandaBearofDoom, she’s a college student – a history major, actually - and also a recent knitting convert blogging at Random Knits. I became acquainted with her blog during the recent Knitting and Crochet Blogging Week madness. The first thing that came to mind: did she pull that skein of bullet-proof acrylic orlon from this rat's nest in her dorm room? That thought made me laugh some more.

Then, after I stopped laughing, I started looking at the label, and saw I had received quite a piece of vintage Americana yarn. Note the price (I really think it’s the original Heck’s sticker) - $1.00.


Also note the things Carrousel is touting about this wonderfully fugly skein of yarniness:

It’s a new pull skein! It’s mothproof! Shrink resistant! Non-allergenic! Machine washable and dryable! And my personal favorite: it’s long wearing! No sh%$ Sherlock – it’s got to have a half-life of … oh … a century. Geez, this skein must be at least 40 years old already.

I also draw your attention to the beauteous colorway: #385 autumn (at the right). 

I personally am afraid to see what winter must have looked like. Yes people, be vewwy, vewwy afwaid.

Since I have not adorned my home in early creepy pumpkin, I seriously doubt I can find anything to make with this. However, I am open to any of you out there that might have vintage 70s pooling patterns – if you have any good ideas, I’m all ears.

I sincerely thank PandaBearofDoom for making my stash complete. No one really should be without such a skein.

Now, if it came from that messy corner, or your Aunt’s attic, we might need to chat.

11 comments:

  1. This skein is a worthy candidate of the patterns from Knitting it Old School by Stitchy McYarnPants and Caro Sheridan. (http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/nobody/33980327/51iex915g5l_small.jpg).

    Look for hot pants (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cheeky-hot-pants), a bottle cover (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bottle-buddies) or even the Atomic Bowling Bag (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/atomic-bowling-bag)?

    At least swatch for us so we can see the pooling potential??

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  2. Nope I found it in the bin of yarn my knitting club has I realized it was vintage and had to have it...Then I had no idea what to do with it. I figured a more knowledgeable knitter would know what the yarn wanted to be. XD

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  3. I love vintage yarns! But if you feel pattern challenged, why not work up a swatch in a stitch you've been wanting to learn?

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  4. I like underground crafter's idea of a swatch first -- who knows, you might love the way it knits up so much that you'll flash on an idea for a project quicker than you expect.

    When I first saw the skein, I immediately thought of a crochet vest -- very old school! Can't wait to see more....

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  5. Thanks for your comments so far!

    @Erin in Boston - Yes, I promise I'll swatch so you can see the lovely pooling possibilities. :)

    @PandaBearofDoom - Thanks for the vote of confidence. :) I do love that your knitting club has a bin of yarn!

    @Marie/Underground Crafter: I actually like all of the historical info on the label. I am going to swatch ... but all I think of are those 70s sweaters where you couldn't get away from ugly pooling. :)

    @Evelyn: A vest would definitely be old school! See pooling comment above. :)

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  6. How about make an smaller granny squares and make a scarf out of them? like a skinny granny square scarf... an aside: that yarn is indeed FUGLY!

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  7. Wow, those colours are bright! They definitely have a retro vibe don't they. I'm sure you could make some uber-funky corsages from them. I'm really looking forward to seeing pictures of what you do :-)

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  8. Well, you pulled off the $1.64 a day food thing so maybe you can work this miracle, too!

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  9. Ah, memory lane... My mother used to knit me sweaters with Wintuk yarn, though I am happy to say that I do not remember any in that spectacularly scary colorway. I can't wait to see what project will come your way where you'll think, "Oh, this would be perfect for..."

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  10. How fun! I used to have mittens and slippers knit for me by my mummu in yarn such as that when I was but a girl.

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  11. That's BRILLIANT skein of yarn! I love it! And yes, you really do have a piece of knitting history :-) If you have any (grand)children, nieces, nephews - even for a local charity - it would make some really cute little hats... for autumn!

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