Little Things

I was thinking today, what does a dedicated knitter do when she (or he) begins to realise that the yarn stash really has extended beyond life expectancy?  For my part the substitute for yarn buying is yarn accessory buying, in particular, vintage accessories.  I was reminded of this when I joined in with a discussion on the Graffiti Grannys face book page about yarn organisers.  Actually the organiser they posted on their page prompted a lot of ridicule because as you will see the model appears to be knitting a crochet blanket with both knitting needles held in one hand - twice the magic!!

Anyway in the course of the discussion someone mentioned the Bakelite bee skeps that Patons sold in the 1950s.  The particular Granny on FB duty at the weekend had not heard of them so especially for the Grannys, here's mine...

Its quite small and clearly made for a time when yarn was wound into tidy little round balls

But it is a thing of true loveliness and in addition to the compartment that unscrews to fit the yarn, in the base there is also a needle gauge

 Not vintage but also a thing of beauty is my pottery yarn bowl, made for me specially by a potter friend of a friend.  This one is suitable for any size ball of yarn

I have found little vintagey things all over the place, beginning with my late mother's work basket where I found these tiny crochet hooks (the larger one is stamped 2 1/2 and the smaller 4 1/2)  They are so fine that I could crochet sewing cotton with them (if I ever had the time!)

the coin is a 5p piece

 And then there is this tiny pair of scissors, I have used these for snipping away fabric when embroidering broderie anglaise

Last night I was comfortably settled on the sofa and about to turn the heel of a sock.  I needed a pencil to make a note of the rows but really did not want to get up!! (lazy, I know).  What luck!  I remembered I had this row and stitch counter in the bottom of my bag, bought recently at a yarn fair

I can't remember where this tiny leather pouch came from

but inside the worn lining of cherry coloured silk it contains a penknife with three tiny blades and a mother-of-pearl handle

Now that I knit my own socks perhaps I shall darn them too using this darning mushroom (or perhaps not!)

I don't think buying little things like these will ever quite cure me of my yarn buying habit but they are treasures and I love how they connect me to previous generations of knitters.

xx

c