In the Fields

The next day at Brimfield the fields opened and we were lucky to get a good parking space in the local church's lot for a contribution to their activity fund. I had vague memories of our Brimfield visit a few years before and, unrealistically, kept expecting to find the same vendors and booths! I had to make myself let go and just let the experience flow over me. It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice cool light breeze. The antiques glowed with a "Buy Me" glimmer, but we feared for the rows and rows of glass-wear in that breeze!



The people-watching was very rich in the fields. There were many people wearing vintage, looking so cute! And it was a bit easier to take photos in this vast outdoor area.



The antique clothing on their racks waved at us. I think we looked at every item! E was looking for 40's dresses for a movie costumer, M was looking for 30's to 50's haberdashery for the next Fifties Fair in Sydney, and I.... well, I really really wanted to find some vintage knitting or crochet tools: needle gauges, wool-holders, needles or hooks, stitch holders and counters, even little flat bone, bakelite, or mother-of-pearl bobbins for colour-work.



Only M found what he was looking for, although E found a pair of pointy-toed shoes. M and I speculated that many antique dealers just toss the knitting and crochet items thinking that they are of no value. Anything needlework related - other than finished lace itself - was very hard to find! I was lucky enough to find several vendors with stacks of knitting booklets and they were happy to move them on to a buyer - happy enough to always throw in a couple free when I bought a handful.

Here are a few of my finds...

Vintage Vogue Knitting - including the 8th volume of the magazine!



Potholder patterns:



(this is the back cover showing more patterns)





A WWI (1918) pattern booklet for soldier's items from Star Needlework Journal:



Some 30's booklets:





Bedjackets (these would make beautiful sweaters) and an early 1900s Crochet Nightgown and Corset Cover Yokes booklet from Clarks:



40's fashions and Juvenile Styles:



The two hard-cover books I picked up are The Big Book of Knitting from the early 40's and the 1920 volume First Steps in Dressmaking from the Women's Institute series (I already have this series' volumes about sewing lingerie and sewing for maternity and infants):



The sewing book is a self-study textbook that contains directions and patterns for beautiful characteristic 20's clothing:



The patterns - just like 20's knitting patterns - are simple, with mostly kimono-type sleeves and the layouts are easy to copy by drawing out the shapes and measurements given in inches onto paper or cloth. The booklet also gives information on how to send away for "pre-printed paper patterns for the items in this book" for 10 cents.











The Big Book of Knitting is full of patterns for knitting clothing for everyone, all ages, as well as accessories and the home. I also found some patterns for knitted bathing suits - very similar to those finished items I saw displayed all through the Fashion Fair!



But, although all the stockings, scarves, men's vests, and other patterns are wonderful, the best - in my opinion - are the women's knitted blouses!









and, the hats! Oh, those caps and cloches! I've already identified a couple that I'll make for my winter hat-wearing, and I found these wonderful vintage celluloid hat pins for them:



That was the extent of my fun finds at the Brimfield Antique Fair. Two days is really not enough to explore all the fields full of booths and tents! But I needed to return for work and for our local Sheep & Wool Fair. What a busy time of year!

Brim full of vintage fashion

I've just returned from an exciting visit to the Brimfield Antique Fair near historical Sturbridge Mass. This is only the second time I've visited this enormous antique-market in the fields, and my main goal was to visit with my friend M, who had come from Australia specifically for Brimfield.



My friend, E, and I drove down on a beautiful early spring day - you know the kind that has that incredible haze of green haloing the tops of trees and the leaves open with their new colour. E called them "leaves the size of mouse's ears".

After a few unexpected detours and wrongs turns, we found our way to our hotel and met M in the lobby. We were excited to begin our visit with a trip to the Vintage Fashion and Textile Show. Here is what their website says about the kinds of things that can be found there:

TAPESTRIES, COSTUMES, QUILTS, HOMESPUN SAMPLERS, SEWING ITEMS, HOOKED RUGS, NEEDLEPOINT, EARLY WALLPAPER, CLOTH ANIMALS, ANTIQUE FANS, DRAPES, BUTTONS, PURSES, SADDLEBAGS, ESTATE JEWELRY, VINTAGE CLOTHING, BOOK OR PAPER RELATED GOODS, PHOTOGRAPHY, MILITARY ITEMS, HATS, SHOES, THEATRICAL BACKDROPS, LACES, LINENS, BROCADES, DOLLS OF ANY KIND, OLD FASHION MAGAZINES, RELATED ADVERTISING, ETC.

It was held in a Hotel, where every room on the ground floor was filled with dealers in antique textiles of every imaginable kind!



There were especially rows and rows of antique clothing from the 50's through the 1800's. Well-known fashion designers could be seen poring through the stacks, looking for inspiration:

"The Aisles of the Vintage Fashion and Textile Show may offer a window into the past, but it also can be a look at the sartorial future. It's here that major design houses come to find inspiration for "new" looks which sometimes become the next big trend.

The last time I was at Brimfield, I ran into John Malcovitch shopping for antique buttons. I would not be surprised to see Michael Kors or Betsy Johnson turning over the antique petticoats!

This year, I didn't find the many vintage button sellers at the Textile Fair, but did find one person and was able to score these glass pictorial buttons, which will no doubt feature on some summer sweater for the little guy!



You know how when you go antiquing and one thing always seems to be on trend? You find a million of this certain item, but none of the things you're actually looking for? Well, for me, this seemed to be the knitted bathing suit! Almost every stall had it's example of a man's knitted suit. Most of these where from the 20's or 30's, with the early versions sporting a modest tank top.



It was very difficult to take photos at the shows - most stall owners did not allow it. I was able to Kinnear a few, such as the one above of the red and white knitted bathing suit.

And in this photo, you can see just the barest hint of what - to me - was a pretty exciting find:



I wasn't able to get a clear photo of it, but in the center of the picture you can see the navy length of a pair of Amish Wedding Stockings - the same type as were highlighted by Piecework Magazine a few months ago. This pair was dark navy blue, knit from rather heavy worsted, but the tops, which would have been just above the knee, were a brilliant feather-and-fan design in red and white! They were beautifully knitted, about 8 - 10 st per inch, so were very study as you would expect from handspun worsted knitted on small needles.

At this same stall was a home-made wool swift constructed of wire and mounted on an elaborate cast iron footed stand. Some clever person made this swift for the knitter in their life (or themselves)!



One thing I was not able to get any photos of, but that were numerous and outstanding were the antique silk stockings. Each pair was tagged more than $100, so none came home with me, but I did love them! Hand knit on tiny silk needles with 20 sts per inch, these long thigh high stockings from the late 1800s and early 1900s were decorated with panels of knitted lace on the instep, or up the front, and often had elaborate and tiny silk embroidery designs nthe front or the side. The hours of work that went into each pair must have been blinding! Many of these pairs were unused or very lightly used. I wonder if they were mainly old store stock that went out of fashion when the industrial age brought in the fine silk thread that created flesh-coloured diaphanous stockings and these lovely knitted versions - delicate but opaque in white, cream, peach, ice blue, and navy - became less desirable. I can't imagine anyone passing these up, but there they were boxes and boxes and boxes and boxes of them! Oh, how I wanted them!!

What I was able to find was a 1923 Bear Brand Bucilla and Glossilla knitting booklet called Lightweight Sweaters of Novelty Yarns, Volume 43.



In the introduction, the authors state:

"Gayly colored sweaters made of soft, lightweight yarns have assumed a greater importance in the wardrobe of the smartly clad woman, particularly during the Spring and Summer months. For sport wear or for general use, a brightly colored garment of this sort adds just that touch of individuality required to complete one's informal costume."

Sporty! A decade before, it was 'not the thing' for a woman to go out without a male escort and sporting was seen as a man's and college boy's activity. In the 20's, fashions were emphasizing women's independence and energy:



The yarns used in this booklet are called "Magicfloss", "Twinkle Yarn", and "the latest artificial silk novelty - Glossilla Krinky-Twist"!



This example, "The Norma" is "an easily made lacy blouse, particularly charming because it is made in the new Twinkle Yarn which combines Worsted and Artsilk in such a way as to produce radiantly lustrous garments." The pattern recommends using "unbreakable" Amber knitting needles - these are the amber-coloured celluloid ones that we often find in the knitting boxes in antique stores - Broken - because amber coloured celluloid breaks down and becomes brittle over time in a way that white celluloid does not.



This example is knitted with Bear Brand Silky Iceland yarn and embroidered with worsted threads on a simple filet crochet inset band.



This second booklet is an incredible silk knitting booklet from 1882 - a gift from my friend M which he had found in a shop the day before. This is from the Nonotuck Silk Co. and is called: How to Use Florence Knitting Silk No. 4.

The introduction reads (in part):

"...knitting is positively a restful and pleasing occupation, requiring but little physical exertion or mental application. For this reason it has become a fashion to carry Florance Knitting Silk to the summer resorts, there to be knit into stockings, while the knitter chats with friends on the hotel veranda. Under such circumstances it will be found that this accomplishment has an additional value in case of a stormy day."

Oh - so true!

There are drawings, not photographs, in this 64-page booklet just packed full with patterns - for knitted lace and insets, for lacy stitch patterns that may be used for shawls and coverlets, and for small accessories, like silk mitts and silk purses.





There is also an ad, which cast some light on the manufacture of the long silk embroidered stockings that I saw at the Fair, which described them being "hand knit from Florence Knitting Silk on Hand Frames."

These stockings were them embroidered with silk threads by women on staff and sold as completed "in the best full-fashioned shapes known to the trade."

I so want a pair of these lovely long stockings! Maybe I'll have to make my own.

A Dose of Vintage

I thought you might like a little dose of Vintage this morning. A dose of vintage can lift your blues, kick-start your inspiration, and generally make you feel good. It works for me! But I admit I'm a little odd - I'm the person that has a chocolate-bacon bar for breakfast and likes wearing an old cotton granny-slip for a nightgown! But maybe you have your own reasons for liking the vintage flash, so here it goes:

A couple of years ago, I was fortunate enough to find an old children's knitting book, called I Learn to Knit to Dress My Doll Primrose.



It has an inscription on the inside, Christmas 1950, for Diane, with Love from GeeGee. So that pretty much gives me the publication time frame. A friend on Ravelry told me that this is the US publication of a French book of the same name, published in 1947. The story in the book is very 40's with carrier pigeons bringing news and propeller airplanes.

This children's book tells the tale of how the doll Primrose came to be found in the garden of a little girl, The little girl has just learned to knit, and so she makes a wardrobe for her new doll, and in the process gives simple directions - with lots of pictures - of the knitting process.





I love children's knitting books and have a couple of others (we have an antique book fair in my town every year - I missed it this year, but have gone often in the past) but they are scattered around the house in different places... Oh, okay. I'll go find them!

Here are the Mary Frances Sewing Book (Adventures Among the Thimble People) and the Mary Frances Knitting and Crochet Book (Adventures Among the Knitting People), published in 1913 and in 1918. The sewing book still has all the patterns, including one for a doll's wedding dress



Like the 1940's one above, these books provide simple instructions through a fantasy adventure story format and then offer practice with small simple projects that result in pretty instant gratification to keep the kids interested. These projects are described in these old books as "small projects that will not tire her."





Another Book I have is a reprint of Flora Klickman's 1910 Little Girl's Knitting & Crocheting Book by the LACIS company. Flora Klickman was an incredibly prolific crochet and knit designer and collector and chronicler of designs. She edited many little books of patterns, as well as the Girls Own Paper, which was a magazine for girls and young women meant to fill in the gap left by the popular Boy's Own Magazine. I have one or two of her Home Arts Series crochet books and a few of the Girl's Own Paper in their Annual Edition - which is a bound book of a year's worth of the magazines, with all the articles and colour illustrations. But back to the Little Girl's Knitting & Crocheting Book:



This book has very few instructions - just a couple of pages of simple stitches. Many of these patterns are doll clothes and accessories but the Little Girl's book has patterns for "Baby Sister" and "Baby Brother" too. This has the added advantage of teaching children to care for their younger siblings.

As well as doll outfits, it has slippers, hats, bags, knitted stays, filet crochet curtains, edgings for sheets, a petticoat, a fluffy blanket, a pretty vest (undershirt), and edgings for underclothes sized for a 4-year old and other patterns. This book seems to be geared to the preschool child who has already begun her lessons in needlework - lessons that in 1910, would continue through her childhood and girlhood if she were lucky enough to go to school or to have a governess or a mother with free time to teach her. (I also have some of those needlework instruction books that were used in early schools or by governesses to teach knitting and crocheting to children.) The Little Girl's book includes Filet Crochet in it's instructions and patterns, something I didn't find in the others. But that's not surprising because filet crochet was one of Flora Klickman's own special interests.

Here's a pretty vest pattern that fastens with knitted ties, on the side.



I love the ruffled, fancy cap sleeves on this little vest. I'd like one for myself!

Glove Egg

While my friends on the West coast were at the Portland Zine Symposium, I was searching out elusive vintage knitting and crochet magazines at a local antique fair. Every once in a while, the skating arena in town is taken over by a crowd of antique flea market dealers and mass vintage hysteria ensues. I noticed the sign a couple of weeks ago but couldn't induce any of my friends to come along - no, not even with promises of tea and cake afterward...

So off I went on my own, full of hope and with a pocket stuffed with one dollar bills. When I first entered the door of this huge space, I was disappointed. Few tables were set up and there was a lot of empty space. The goods looked more yard sale than vintage... but I thought there might be some hidden treasures, so I went on the hunt...



I actually found 4 tables with knitting and crochet. My attention was first caught by a colourful pile of aluminum knitting needles, which I passed up. This same vendor had the stack of 1940's magazines above and gave me big discount on them. The best ones are in the front: The Fleisher's Style Book, Woollies for Babies, Handknits by Beehive, Jack frost Sweaters... A couple of them were missing their covers, but had such great patterns that I couldn't resist them, like these crown and pomegranate charts for intarsia or duplicate stitch :



Some of my favorites... the Smart 40's Sweaters:



and this great robe! I think it would be wonderfully cosy to wear a knitted or crocheted robe in the winter, but very boring to make something so big and repetitious.



The rest of my attention went to vintage tools: this glove egg for my collection, which will be put to immediate use mending the finger tips (which lasted about a nano-second) of my winter cashmere gloves:



There was one vendor who had lots of bone crochet tools in dishes on the floor (which was annoying because I had to keep crouching down, and then getting up to ask a question, then down, then up, then...well, you get the picture) and on top of that, they were annoyingly expensive (like $30!). I was able to talk him into selling me this tiny, tiny bone and steel crochet hook and ivory thread bobbin for a couple of dollars, but had to leave all the pretty carved hooks on the floor. (tears)



Finally, at the very last booth I stopped, I found a big bin of antique buttons! After I was done pouring through the bins and boxes on the table, the woman said, "would you like to see my special buttons?" Apparently, she kept the good ones in a little cedar chest under the table and didn't display them, but I got to look through those too and bought quite a few. She was selling these so inexpensively, that even though I had spent most of my money, I was able to collect three bags full! Here are just a few of the good ones:



The big one is pressed horn with a pattern of grapes. There is a glass paisley button with gold accents, and a black glass one with melted copper flakes in a violet flower design, some mourning jet buttons, and a complex milk glass, blue glass, and gold carved button. There were many more, but I can't show them all because, well, my friend Marky has a birthday in a couple of months and he is as crazy about old buttons as I am.

The great thing about my button collection is that, since I use them on my knitting I can buy just one instead of holding out for the full sets. So I get really excited with these random single finds! Even so, I fell for two sets: some small coral domed buttons, and 12 really unusual red glass buttons with mother-of-pearl centers.

So the Antique Flea Market was great fun and has set me up with goodies to mull over for while!

I'm completing a transitional pair of socks (transitional between one project and next) right now because I couldn't decide what to get started on. I do have to complete the lace Lily-of-the-Valley shawl, and then might start the blanket design I have percolating in my brain. But I really, really want to start making sweaters for fall! Is it too early?