Vintage

Here is a new washable wool from Berroco that I am thrilled about:

Vintage Wool:  50% acrylic, 40% wool, 10% nylon, worsted weight.  The link on the name takes you to the shade card on Berroco's web site. And there are a zillion colors.

As with some washable wool blends, I am first skeptical because so often the yarn seems soft but then is sharp when you actually knit with it. Not so with this one. It is soft, soft, soft with no surprise endings. It is reasonably priced at $6-6.50 a hank for 217 yards in a typical 3.5 ounce skein. 

The yarn is wonderfully sproingy and machine washable in cold makes it a terrific choice for so many items.

Here is a sample in garter stitch with two other colors:
 
The label officially states 5 stitches to an inch and I got 4.5 and was very pleased with the fabric. It could be tighter but doesn't have to be.  You can find it on WEBS for $6.50 a hank.

Now we must talk vintage 80's hair:

This is me to a "T." I thought I was terminally cool. (Plus, do you see how she has TWO different colored earrings? Scandalous.)

Trying to get the "wings" on the sides one day in the bathroom that just wouldn't stay, my mom so appropriately called it like she saw it: "Kim, your hair isn't supposed to do that and that is why it won't stay." HA! That is why there was Aqua Net Hair Spray.

This is who I wanted to be:

Is she the IT girl or what? But most of all, I wanted this hair:

This to me was the epitome of grown up -ness. I knew I had arrived if I could ever have this hair. Sigh. It was not to be.

This hair flashback is courtesy of McCall's Needlework & Crafts from April of 1988. I was 16.

One of my friends is moving and cleaning out her closets. She found some old knitting magazines and wondered if I would enjoy them. Do you think she had to ask twice?  Did you enjoy the 80's sweaters with the 80's hair?

Another gem:

Bernats Hats from 1969. And the back cover:

Table of contents:

 

It had the same feel to me as Cathy Carron's Hattitude. Love it.

We must also discuss Vogue Knitting, Fall 1997, the 15th anniversary issue:

 
  
This one reminded me why we love knitting because so much is still the same,courtesy of Norah Gaughan:

 So many yarn manufacturers and designers 15 years ago still have a presence today. 

Here is a classic sweater I have admired:

 

The only thing that was different the yarn index:

 

I don't know why that tickled me, but it did.

The most delightful surprise was this:

 

Fleisher's Sweater Book. The best $.75 you could spend in MCMLXI, (which when I typed it in the converter), 1961.

The first pattern I was thrilled with, astonishing even myself:

But then I saw this one, which I L.O.V.E.

She just had a fabulous 'do and glasses that must be shared:

This one says both, "I so love my knitted pocket, I must put my hand in it to show you" and "Marsha's new pool boy sure is a hunk" :

I actually wanted to be her friend:

Doesn't she seem nice? And who wouldn't be with a 3/4 length sleeve sweater with a classic yoke?

These two, however, scared the willies out of me:

One of those must be Marsha.

The leader of this pack, hands down, is this gal:

"My waist is so tiny I must show you by wearing this vest. If you mess with me I will poke your eye out with my star brooch. Seriously."

Seriously. Knit on.