Wednesday 23 March 2011

1980 Book Of Crochet


The last book of my bargain second hand purchases arrived yesterday. It is the Hamlyn Book of Crochet by Carol Payton and was first published in 1980. The cover shawl is dateless as is the top. It's just the openwork skirt that dates the outfit.I bought this book from World of Books through Amazon for 1p plus 2.80 postage so I think that it's a real bargain.



I do still have a sneaky liking for ponchos. Not sure if I would still wear one but the colours of these ponchos are subtle as opposed to the very bright coloured ones that were all the rage in the 80's



Granny square waistcoats are a little dated these days unless you have hippie tendencies as I secretly do. Still pretty for a young child thought.



Nothing dates much in baby wear and any of these outfits would work for a modern day baby especially the pram rugs.There are also patterns for a christening shawl and romper suit as well as striped jackets (not shown on my photos)



The children's hooded jackets and long cover up would still be wearable and practical today as would the crochet dresses if you know of any Mums who dress their little girls like girls these days.



I don't know whether the pop over tops are still fashionable but I would wear them around the house. I love the elbow length sleeves when I am pottering about. It saves having to keep rolling up my sleeves. I prefer this shape rather than a waistcoat which I make and then never wear. The little girl's blue top I would make but make the collar smaller. It does seem to overwhelm the sweater. The hats are timeless. I have seen pattern very similar to this for sale on Ravelry.



I would still wear this jacket today and the blue sweater with the cowl style neckline. As I am not a waistcoat wearer I am not keen on the other styles on these pages.



Shawls are something that doesn't go out of fashion for me. I love all of these and also like the loose cream cover up sweater as it is very 'me' shaped.



The hats are still very wearable although the brimmed hat is not for me as I don't suit hats at the best of times. The car rug is a slightly different version of the granny square as is the cushion.



The bedspread is very pretty and something that I have always said that I would make even from being a teenager. I doubt if I ever will though as I lack the patience for all of those identical squares. The cushions are very pretty and the loopy mat would be nice and fluffy to my feet by the side of the bed.



I started this baby pram rug whist at the hospital yesterday as I can't concentrate on anything too patterned when I am going from department to department. I had a scan, then I was injected with some radioactive dye and scanned again for 25 mins. I was in the hospital for almost 5 hours as I had to wait 3 hours in between the scans and it was too far and too expensive to go home in between. I had a spot of lunch and then tried to find a nice quiet spot to settle down with a bit of crochet to pass the time.

I won't k now any results from all of these blood tests and scans until I see the specialist in May. I presume that if they do find anything untoward then they will call me in earlier.

My knee is sore this morning but I put that down to the hospital tramping about that I did yesterday. Hope hospital is a maze of corridors and even though I have been hundreds of times I still find myself on the wrong corridor or in the wrong colour coded zone. I am in Blue when I should be in Red. The signposting is really ambiguous and I find it hard to follow.

Today the sun is shining and I have risked a line of washing outside to dry. The first of the season. I should start my niece's jacket today but I would rather finish off the baby pram rug that I started yesterday as I hate different WIP hanging around. I still have the front to knit on the Oddpin knitting that I started a couple of weeks ago. I made the sleeves after the back to see how the vintage yarn was working out as I know that I cannot buy another ball if I run out as the yarn is so old.

I am going to watch Loose Women now and then maybe sit outside in the sun this afternoon if it is warm enough.

5 comments:

Debbi said...

>sigh< I'm jealous of your weather that's nice enough to hang out laundry. We were teased with several beautiful days, but snow flurries and freezing rain are forecasted thru the weekend. The rain is stinging at my office window right now. Ugh.

It would kill me to wait till May to find out test results! Thankfully you've got your projects to keep you busy!
I love the 1980 book....I've definitely got to check my library for this one!

June said...

What a lovely book of patterns. Quite a few of them have not dated at all and would be just as good to wear today. Glad you have had all your tests now and hope your knee improves soon.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the look at the most recent pattern book. There are lots of things in there I can see me making. I'll have to see if I can find it here.

I know what you mean about hospitals and all their corridors. I often feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz trying to stay on the yellow brick road.

Have a great day!

Enid said...

that book brought back memories!!!
love how the rug is looking.
I have hung out my washing for several days this month, smells lovely when being ironed, after

Barb said...

Beautiful crochet pictures! I secretly like ponchos, too and wish they were in style - lol! And, I like the skirt on the cover of the book, though I would probably never wear it. I love crochet. Wish I had more time for it!