I have spent the whole morning browsing through my stash of Phildar books. They really are timeless and as old as they are they are still chock full of things that I could knit or crochet and wear today. I didn't do this on a whim. Since the I Knit show and launch of the calendar I have been asked a few times about the pattern for the half moon cream shawl and so I decided to find my copy so that I could at least tell them the origins of it just in case they can pick up an old copy on the net. The pattern is old and probably out of print but just in case it is from Phildar book No 42 (undated) and the pattern is Colombe (No 45 in the book) and was made in Camargue which was either a 3ply or a fine 4ply.The book has 4 shawls in it (as well as many knitted items) and they are all lovely.
I love the hooded poncho/shawls but don't know if I am brave enough to actually wear something like that to do the shopping. Maybe I will say sod convention and swan around Tesco wearing one one day. I did say I wanted to grow old disgracefully.
Don't you just love the brightly coloured T squares in the bottom photos? You knit them in different colours. or in stripes, but instead of stitching them together you tie them together so you can swap them around and have different colours for the front,back and sleeves by simply rotating them around. Good idea. 4 sweaters for the price of one. You would have to wear a T shirt underneath unless you were very bold but that idea appeals to me. I wonder if I could design something similar in crochet?
The photos are only of my adult Phildar books. I also have several baby books and a couple of children's books as well. I guard these patterns with my life and am very territorial about them. It would have to be pistols at dawn before I parted with any of them!
As you can see from the first photo I have managed to re-work the 3 unravelled balls into Jen's shawl and am hopefully on the right track for keeping the pattern straight and increasing. I do hope that no-one on Ravelry asks me for this adaptation as people have asked Doris Chan before if they can make this shawl in finer wool and she has said there is no way she is going to work it all out as she would have to re-write the pattern. As I don't write anything down, I just crochet on the wing, then they are out of luck with me also!
Still no sign of the neighbour's baby from across the road. Mum is still happily toddling around and is now 8 days overdue so I think it's going to be a dynamite job any day soon. No sign of the other baby either although that is only 5 days overdue. I think theses babies are hanging on for better weather.
A friend showed my calendar photo to someone and asked him how old they thought I was. He said late 40's or early 50's. That'll do for me. Ooh you're a nice man - are you single? (Bit of Dick Emery coming out there)
1 comment:
It's turning out so lovely, Jan. I also really like the sweaters on the bottom. I'm SURE you could design something in crochet. In fact, when I saw it I wondered if I could too.
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