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Mostly Knitting Blog

Want to find the new stuff on Knitting-and.com, or read about my latest projects and discoveries? This is the place.

Free Knitting Pattern – Vintage Shopping Bag

I came across today’s free knitting pattern while trying to find a different one. I liked this one so much that I’m going to add it to my Ravelry queue 🙂

Free knitting pattern for a vintage shopping bag

Knit from fingering weight cotton on large needles with comfy padded handles.

From the pattern:

“THIS little carry-all is especially useful. It weighs under 2oz., has firm, padded handles that are comfortable to hold, and can be carried in a handbag in case one sees an unexpected bargain.”

I don’t know about you but that happens to me all the time (and I have the stash to prove it)! 🙂

Make a Bag from Knitting Cotton from the Western Mail (Perth, Western Australia), December 18th 1947

Tomorrow I’ll show you one of my favourite work bags that I knit from a vintage pattern.

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Free Knitting Pattern – Maurice the Monkey

Apologies for not having posted any free patterns recently. I’ve had vertigo for quite some time, so instead of posting new patterns on my site I’ll be showing some of my favourites from around the internet.

Maurice the Monkey is a great way to learn the knitted loop stitch.

Maurice the Monkey, with free knitting pattern

He’s made completely of rectangles so you won’t have to work out how to decrease while creating the loops, and he’s a real stunner. Make him for a little one or to keep your sock monkey collection company!

Maurice the Monkey from “The Land”,  Friday the 27th of March, 1936

I hope to showcase a new pattern daily, so feel free to sign up for notifications whenever I make a post.

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Learning to Knit – We’ve all Been There

At least those of us who know how to knit have!

Do you remember the times, when learning to knit, finding that your rows were ever widening no matter how you tried to keep your stitch numbers the same? Not much has changed in 80 years 🙂

A poem from the Sunday Times (Perth), October 27th 1935.

KNITTING.

Hush! You mustn’t speak to them,

Marigold and Joan.

Tip-toe past the nursery door,

Leave them quite alone.

They are, oh, so busy now,

For they’ve learnt to knit.

Perched before the glowing fire,

Solemnly they sit.

They are counting all the time,

“Purl, plain, purl – two plain; Purl once more – oh bother it!

Dropped a stitch again!”

Then the ball of wool gets lost,

Till at last it’s found

Twisted by bad Kitty-Cat All the chair-legs round!

What’s Joan knitting? Well, you know,

That is hard to say!

Though, it started as a scarf,

It has run away!

If it grows much more it will

Make a lovely rug!

Big enough – it seems to me –

To keep an army snug!

VW Combi Van Binca Cross Stitch Table Runner – Finished Project

I don’t usually embroider cross stitch but I have fond memories of a binca kit my Mum and Dad once bought for me when we were on our Summer holiday, with red fabric. I was very disappointed when the things I made promptly unravelled, but it was a late 1970’s craft kit for ten year olds, with instructions to match (I.E. lacking in finishing details of any sort)!

On the Monday before Christmas I found a green piece of vintage binca fabric at the op shop,  just like the one from my kit all those years ago, so I brought it home. I immediately knew I wanted to make a Christmas table runner with it, and finished on the 7th. Just in time for Christmas, um, next year 🙂

Cross stitch Christmas table runner with VW vans and snowflakes on vintage binca fabric.
Cross stitch Christmas table runner with VW vans and snowflakes on vintage binca fabric.
Cross stitch Christmas table runner with VW vans and snowflakes on vintage binca fabric.
Cross stitch Christmas table runner with VW vans and snowflakes on vintage binca fabric.

Nothing says “Christmas” quite like a table runner with VW Combi Vans and snowflakes, don’t you think? Our Christmas table cloth is orange, and our favourite Christmas serving bowls are light blue with lobsters on them so it fits our Christmas decor perfectly. As my daughter put it, it’s weird so it’s “us”

It’s stitched entirely with thrifted embroidery threads (I have a problem with “rescuing” almost every discarded embroidery thread I find, so I have a large stash of many different kinds). I made up the border and the snowflakes off the top of my head but the VW van chart comes from Hancock’s House of Happy Blog where you can download it for free, just like I did 🙂

I have some more modern cream binca fabric in my stash that I’m going to have to play with. I was thinking of just having some fun with it and see what I come up with. I’ll let you know what happens!

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