Creative Crafting from 1970

Back in January my mom and step-dad's place in Washington was flooded, and as a result they were forced to do some major cleaning and organizing of their workspaces (the rest of the house is raised off ground level, but both of their work studios are on ground level). The upshot is that I got my hands on some amazing craft books from the '70's and '80's. I'm keeping some for myself, but the rest are up for grabs. Any of these titles strike your fancy?




Books:
Creative Machine Knitting (by Linda Mendelson & Mark Dittrick, 1979)
Spin, Dye & Weave your own Wook (by Molly Duncan, 1973)
Natural Dyes, plants & processes (by Jack Kramer, 1972)
Curtains, Draperies & Shades (a Sunset book, 1979)
Christmas Trims Kids Can Make (a Better Homes and Gardens book, 1988)
Warping All By Yourself (by Cay Garrett, 1974)
Nostalgia Crafts Book (by Phyllis Fiarotta, 1974)
It's Fun To Make Things From Scrap Materials (by Evelyn Glantz Hershoff, 1944, 1964)
Step-by-Step Macrame (by Mary Walker Phillips, 1970)



Magazines, Leaflets, Patterns & Pamphlets:
Make Someone Happy! Lapel Pins in Crochet, 1981
Craft Ideas (from Stretch & Sew)
Knitting & Crocheting (Lady's Circle, Summer 1984)
Crochet Fantasy, January 1965, issue #25
Mon Tricot Special, Shawls, issue #8
Columbia Minerva, Teach Yourself to Crochet, book #777
Columbia Minerva, In Shawls, leaflet #2524
Columbia Minerva, Rugs For the Home to Crochet, leaflet #2555
Handbook for Better Knitting A to Z
Learn to Crochet by Bernat, book #152 (1970)
Coats & Clarks Shawls & Ponchos, book #207 (1971)
Hat and Scarf in the "Frosted Look" to Crochet, leaflet #114
Boye, New! Turnabout Togabouts CroHook Knitting Reversibles, item #7696
Woven Chenille Pillow Top (Omnigrid pattern)
Fuss-Free Fit (Simplicity, 1978)
Stretch, (Bernina, #17 & #18)
26 Knitting Patterns from the Wool Bureau

Cupcakes: pins & cushions

I was having trouble creating cupcake pin toppers that I liked, so looking to the cover photo on Pinks & Needles for inspiration, I made these three for my sister-in-law. Along with the felt/ramekin pincushion, I think they make a pretty picture!

Pennsylvania, 'til next time

We're back from our trip to Pennsylvania; hitting both East and West, and the turnpike in between. Within the week we managed to:

Tour Philadelphia by foot and by Duck
Eat Cheesesteak sandwiches
See amazing art at both Tyler School of Art & University of the Arts
Celebrate Mother's Day
Drive to Pittsburgh
Make necklaces and foam frames, tickle and play hide-n-seek with 3 nieces, while cooing and cuddling with a fourth (at only 3 weeks old she wasn't yet good at hide-n-seek)
Eat sandwiches at Primanti Brothers
Ride the Duquesne Incline
Drive back to Philadelphia
Drink beer
Watch Sara get her MFA!
shop
Disassemble Sara's art show and kick ourselves for not making it to Bobby's
Thoroughly check out the Philadelphia airport as we waited for our delayed plane.

It was wonderful, whirlwind and well worth it! Can't wait to visit them in Ohio when Sara begins teaching at Marietta College!

This is what happens when tank tops go on sale, and three sisters all look good in the same color.

Mom apparently found Sara's graduation to be a tad bit boring - too bad the ol' witch wouldn't share.

Pretty Princess Mike

Pennsylvania, ho!

We're off to Philadelphia tomorrow to celebrate Sara and Bobby's new MFA's, check out their art shows, and then head to Pittsburgh to meet the new niece and do art projects with our other three nieces. Can't wait to see all the family, check out a new city and eat some good food!
In the meantime, check out my new shadow dancer magnet. I saw it at the SFMOMA gift shop, but didn't want to spend the $12. I came across it the other day at Powells for $6.50 - just the right price.

San Francisco, again

A few more photos of our San Francisco trip,
courtesy of Cherry & Elizabeth.

Spring has sprung upon us - let the games begin!

Can't begin to list all the stuff we've been working on in the past several weeks. I took another trip to California, this time to visit the Stanford School of Medicine for a couple projects we're kicking off; we've been digging dirt, pulling weeds and cutting grass like crazy, prepping for a huge vegetable garden; we participated in a foosball tournament, at the invitation of our neighbors - Anja walked home with first place, Alan with third; I've been pulling together family gifts for our upcoming trip to Pennsylvania; and I've even made some progress on my dollhouse project. Sadly, I don't have photos of any of it! Soon I will post more photos of the trip to San Francisco from earlier this month, and if the rain holds off I'll maybe even get a few shots of the yard!

Hair Gel, Bubbles and Flavored Ice

Last weekend Mike and I traveled up North to the Skagit Valley to visit with family, celebrate (belatedly) my mom's birthday, and partake in the annual Tulip Festival. After checking out the street fair vendors, purchasing some great earrings made from an Aboyna wood burl, we went to Susanna's house for a carne asada dinner. Mike, ever the indulgent uncle, agreed, quite willingly, to let Aidan and Vanessa "do" his hair... with red, green and blue hair gel... on the living room couch... in his new shirt.


On Sunday, while Mike went for a bike ride (in training for the Seattle to Portland with Pops this July), Mom and I managed to get the kids away from the computer and outside for shaved ice and bubbles. Aidan kept saying, "this is a great day, Nonny". It was.

San Francisco

I've been a busy traveling bee...
Week before last I was down in San Francisco with my colleagues to soak up design inspiration for 3 days. We stayed in the quaint and historic Stanyon Hotel on the edge of Golden Gate Park... friendly staff, great location and wonderful continental breakfast and tea time - downside: twin beds, one hard pillow, thin 1904 walls.

Regardless of my lack of sleep, we still managed to see an amazing number of places. Among those were:De Young Museum

California Academy of Science

Japanese Gardens

Federal Building


Contemporary Jewish Museum

Oh, I'm gonna getcha...

Mini House

We bought our house in 2005, and have been working steadily, albeit slowly, on it ever since. However, I've decided that I need a little more "instant gratification", so I've begun a new house project; one that's in 1:12 scale.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...

A treat... the weather this weekend was indeed a treat. Mike and I have both been so busy with work these last few weeks, that when the weekend rolls around we have to dig deep for motivation to work on the house. For the next 6 weekends we have plans, so to wake this weekend to sunshine all day long, seems like a blessing (if I believed in such things).

We spent all weekend in the yard: digging vegetable beds, re-sodding, weeding and mowing. Our goal is to grow, grow, grow this year so that we can eat, eat, eat frozen veggies all winter. Since our hard work really just amounts to squares of dirt, I figure photos aren't really needed - just use your imagination.

Our reward/cherry-on-top is a steak dinner with spicy sweet potato wedges and salad, followed by ice cream sandwiches.

Calling all Tomatos

For Christmas I gave my sister Sara a tomato pincushion for a present. By strange coincidence, a classmate of her boyfriend Bobby has been putting together an art show of tomato pincushions - so mine was included! I recently made another tomato pincushion at a crafting bee with my sister Susanna, which I think turned out even better than my first one... sorry Sara, you can always trade up.