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Harry S Truman was president. Popular songs that year were “Manana” by Peggy Lee, “Now is the Hour” by Bing Crosby, “It’s Magic” by Doris Day, “My Happiness” by Ella Fitzgerald, “Because” by Perry Como and “Toolie Oolie Doolie” by Dinah Shore. The New York Times Fiction Best Seller was Shannon’s Way by A. J. Cronin for the first two weeks, The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer slipped in on week three and then back to Shannon’s Way for the last week of September. Those two books traded back and forth from June to November. Miss Minnesota BeBe Shopp was crowned Miss America. Here are a few of the movies that were released in September 1948
Your two choices are: Rug in Crocheted Needlepoint – the materials list says to use rug yarn or you can use “discarded rayon hose or underwear cut into narrow strips”. I’ll just use yarn. The rug has 9 blocks of each rose pattern that are made individually and then sewn together. If this wins I might just make one block. I’d have to see how long it takes.  Checkerboard Pan Holders – these use “string weight” crochet thread. I think that means #10 crochet thread. It could be something thicker though so I’d have to try it and see how it works.  Time to vote! Which one should I make for September?
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The travel slippers are finished and they’re…fine. Not great, but there’s nothing bad about them. I used Lion Brand Jeans Colors in Corduroy and a J hook. It seemed like a big hook for this pattern but my gauge matched the pattern. The large hook meant it worked up really fast but it’s also a bit more open than I would expect slippers to be. The pattern starts out with four sole pieces; two for each foot. Those are slip stitched together to make each sole for the slippers. Then you make the upper sections, sew up the heel in the back and slip stitch the upper section to the soles. Hold a piece of narrow elastic around the top and single crochet over that to finish. I made a few changes as I went. I did the soles a little differently. When I got to the end of the sole I didn’t finish off and cut the yarn. I kept going and worked it back so I could just fold it over and slip stitch the two halves together. I tried to slip stitch the upper part of the slippers to the sole but I didn’t like the way it looked so I whip stitched them together instead. I didn’t add the embellishment they had either. I thought about adding a small flower or a button but I decided these were more travel friendly if they were lighter and took up less space. I think a button would be uncomfortable on the top of the foot.  They’re good summer slippers with the open stitches but I don’t think they’d be great for winter. The doubled up soles are super cozy though. It's a little hard to see in the photos but I noticed that the left slipper was on inside out when I took the photo! I can tell because of the stitches around the opening aren't visible on that foot.  Next week it will be time to vote on the September pattern. The year will be either 1979 or 1948. If you have preference for one of those years let me know!
Earlier this month I received a package from a lovely woman on Ravelry who was selling some vintage patterns. I'd picked out the ones I wanted buy and she ended up throwing the rest in for free. The pattern books ranged from the 40s to the 50s and have some really cool patterns I can't wait to make. This first photo is a vintage Woolworths 3-ring binder with Workbasket Magazines from 1945 through 1948.  Four full years of vintage 40s patterns! There are hats, flowers, mittens, slippers, and lots of "pan holders". I might use one of these for the September pattern. Next up some 1940s pattern booklets:  The Crochet Your Gifts booklet has a lot of patterns. There are bibs, aprons, collars, doilies, flowers, glass jackets and more pot holders. The bags look amazing but the directions are often vague and list a stitch pattern and leave it up to you to decide the sizing. Here are some of my favorite booklets from this delivery:
The Scatter Rugs booklet is from 1940, the Hot Plate Mats is from 1950 and Centerpieces is from 1951. The Puritan Crochet Book is from 1950. It says crochet on the front but there are a couple of knitted patterns in it. Quick Tricks in Crochet is also from 1950. This has hanger covers, candy cups, hats and bags and belts. The Crochet Lacy Pickups is from 1943. This has several Dickeys, some fascinators, gloves, collars, and hats. It also has a few knitting patterns. Here are the rest of the 1950s booklets:
I thought the cardigan on the front of Modern Crochet was nice but it turns out it's a knitting pattern. And here are the last two - the 1960s booklets:  There are so many fun things in all of these books I don't really know where to start!  The winning pattern for August is the travel slippers. The Materials:
And because I read the pattern all the way to end for once I know it also requires:
I couldn’t find anything about that specific yarn but the pattern does give a gauge. A regular worsted weight yarn with a J hook gave me the required 3 single crochet to 1-inch gauge. I found some Lion Brand Jeans Colors in the color Corduroy on clearance at JoAnn. Since I have no idea how big a skein of the Phentex yarn I grabbed two skeins.  I have a stash of buttons but I think I might do something different for the bow. Maybe some flowers made with crochet thread. I’ll have to see what looks good with the finished slippers.
The Pattern: These look fairly simple but the directions are pretty short so I think there will be some extrapolation on my part. It starts out with a sole that’s two identical pieces sewn together. Then the upper part and it’s all slip stitched together. The Jeans yarn is super soft so these should be pretty comfy when they're done! |
