Archive for July, 2012

28 July, 2012 | No comments

Some favorites from the staff at A Tangled Skein

History of U.S. knitting

Why do we knit? We all have our own reasons, and knitters who came before us had their own reasons too. In America, those reasons have ranged from the need to provide warmth for a growing family; to help the country’s war effort; to assert America’s independence from European imports; and to express the knitter’s creativity and fashion sense. These goals and more are on parade in Knitting America: A Glorious Heritage from Warm Socks to High Art (Voyageur, 2007). Author Susan M. Strawn, a historian, reviews the part knitting and knitters have played in every phase of American history. The facts are interesting, but it’s the illustrations, many in color, that will keep you leafing through this book for hours. The pages are crammed with pictures that illustrate projects, people, and patterns. A mother knitting in a family portrait from the 1800s shows that middle-class prosperity had reached a frontier settlement. Pattern books show how yarn companies have both followed and influenced fashion. In photos from World War II, people from elementary-school boys to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt are shown at work “knitting their bit.” The included patterns from historical periods like Red Cross soldiers’ socks and a Victorian miser’s purse let you join this fascinating parade of American knitters.

–Edna Paulson

My Favorite Yarn?

I’m not sure there is just one. I love yarn. Period. Especially if it’s Merino wool, silk, or some other wonderful natural fiber. Currently, one I’m enjoying working with is Ella Rae Lace Merino (100 percent extra fine merino wool). The name is misleading, as it isn’t lace weight, it’s fingering or sock weight. But ooooh, is it lovely to knit with! it has a wonderful hand going through your fingers and gives wonderful stitch definition. I first knit with it when the yarn rep for Ella Rae gave me a skein to play with, so I knit a lovely pair of lacy socks – and they are wonderful. I have since used it for several shawlettes. A skein of the Lace Merino goes far, easily getting a pair of socks. I think even for someone with size 11 feet would only take one 460-yard skein, though I know I’d need more than one for my son with size 13 feet. Most of the shawlette patterns that abound on Ravelry and in all the knitting magazines only take one skein of sock yarn, another reason to try this lovely yarn. The colors are grand–solids and some multis. You can also use it for lightweight sweaters like the marvelous Featherweight Cardigan designed by Hannah Fetting from Knitbot. So, come try one of my favs, or if you want the same base yarn but in fascinating, vivid colorways, try the Araucanía Huasco!

-–Jennifer Woods