In this month's crochet time machine we're heading back to 1980.

This photo is from Christmas 1980 and was taken at my grandparents’ house.  We were always a crafty family.  My mom made the matching dresses for my sister and me.   The framed rug I’m holding is one I made and my grandfather framed for me for Christmas.  It now hangs on the wall of our office/Tayla’s room.

Reagan was president-elect, and Apple made its initial public offering.    If I could go back in time and make just one investment I'd buy some Apple stock.  

John Lennon was shot and killed so his songs were playing on the radio a lot.  Now when I hear one it always reminds me of being at the orthodontist.  It seemed like one of his songs was always playing when I was stuck in that chair. 
 
Other December Top 40 that year included some classics like;

• “Love on the Rocks” –Neil Diamond (Our household had this album)
• “Another One Bites the Dust” – Queen (Our household had this album)
• “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” – Pat Benatar
• “Every Woman in the World” – Air Supply (I had this album)
• “Suddenly”– Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richard (I had this album – Xanadu)
• “The Tide is High” – Blondie
• “I Love a Rainy Night” – Eddie Rabbit
• “Whip It” - Devo

 
The Covenant by James A. Michener was in the number one slot for fiction best sellers in December and had held that spot since the beginning of November.  I haven’t read that book but I have read two of the other best sellers from the list; Firestarter by Stephen King and The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M Auel.   

I did read a lot then but there was also an excellent TV line up then.  Magnum PI premiered in December 1980 and there were other classics like; M.A.S.H., Alice, Lou Grant, Hart to Hart, Mork and Mindy, Charlies Angels, Dynasty, Dallas, my favorite: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and my sister’s favorite: BJ and the Bear.

​The Workbasket issue we’ll be choosing from this month is a double issue.  

It’s November/December 1980 and it has six crochet patterns; Jacket with Scarf, Bouquet of Carnations, Poinsettia Tunic, Littlest Angel, Star Snowflake and Silver Wreath.   Because I’m still working on holiday gifts I’m giving you two of the smaller ones to choose from:
 
The Littlest Angel (also in color on the cover above):

​The littlest angel is made with Unger Arianne gold and silver yarn.  This is approximately a sport weight yarn or a #3 thread.   It also uses a cone shaped paper cup and a 4 inch Styrofoam ball.

Silver Wreath in crochet:

​The Silver wreath is made in the same yarn plus some plastic holly and berry trim.
 
Let me know which one you think I should make this month!

!I finished the scarf but ran out of the matching yarn for the hat.   The scarf turned out better than I thought it would!
 
About the pattern:
 
The pattern started with motifs; two for each end of the scarf.   
 
The motifs start with a ch 4 to form a ring.  I started with a magic circle and went on to make the granny square motif from there.  Once those are done you sew two together and then start the body of the scarf from one side a motif continuing on until you get to the desired length and then sew the other two motifs together and connect them to the end of the scarf.   
 
The body is done with double crochets and chains and looks like a granny square in rows.   
 
How it went:
 
This was pretty fast and simple.  But, once I finished the body I thought it looked unfinished (thanks State Fair Judges for telling me everything needs a border!). I added a border in the contrasting blue color from the second round of the motif and it looked much better.
 
I mixed the yarns from the motif to make the fringe and it was finished!
 

I love the vintage ads and I always make sure I check those out for each month we choose.  As I was paging through the November 1978 issue one ad in particular caught my eye and brought back a lot of memories.

I had a subscription to the House of Miniatures.   My grandpa built houses and occasionally furniture for us. He was a pretty stoic man at that time and putting together these miniatures made me feel closer to him.   I've since given these away so I don't have any pictures of the ones I did but they were definitely put together by a 10-12 year old and were far from perfect.  I remember the ones with fabric were my least favorite since it was hard to glue on correctly.  I don't think I had an actual doll house but my grandma made me little rugs and blankets for the bed I made.  

You can still find kits on ebay of course and there's a great site done by a hobbyist that gives some of the history and shows many of the kits and catalogs.    I know I did one of the clock and a Queen Anne Tilt Top Table, a canopy bed and a dining room table with chairs.


Since this is a November issue the recipes revolve around Thanksgiving and are very...brown.

You can see a small piece of the one recipe that has some color - Gumdrop Bars.  Gumdrop bars are described as a sweet bar cookie studded with gumdrops.  They also add a creamy vanilla frosting if the gumdrops aren't sweet enough.  

Next week I'll have the scarf done from the scarf and hat pattern.  I ran out of the main yarns with the scarf part so I'm going to skip the hat.  

​It was close but in the end the Crochet Hat/Scarf Set was the winner.

​About the materials
 

• Two ounces of three different shades of one color in 4-ply knitting worsted weight yarn
• Four ounces of Mohair to match the medium shade. 
• Size G hook

 
I’ll be using
 

• Red Heart Unforgettable in Gossamer
• Paint Box Simply Aran in Kingfisher Blue
• Knit Picks Brava Worsted in Hunter

 
Either the green or blue will be the stand in for the four ounces of Mohair.
 

​The pattern starts with motifs; two for each end of the scarf and five for the hat.    It looks fairly simple but depending how long it takes to get the scarf done that may be the only piece finished by the end of the month.