Finally completed second bedspread, this time crocheted granny squares. So this week the blog is granny themed 1) Granny Squares, 2) Kindle Granny Baking and more 3) What would Granny have knitted?/ Retro knitting 4) What would Granny have listened to. So much is different now, and yet so much has remained the same.
1)Granny squares have truly stood the test of time and there are numerous patterns on the net and even novice crocheters can achieve an effective project, whilst the more advanced can enjoy the portability and crochet odd squares wherever they are, whilst travelling, waiting rooms, watching tv etc. But it is easy to get carried away churning out numerous squares but to avoid the tedium of sewing them all together in one fell swoop it is best to attach the squares as the project matures, otherwise one has a the seemingly never ending task of sewing them together and sewing in ends.
Below are some links for free patterns for granny square patterns that are available on the nethttp://crochet.about.com/od/homedecorpatterns/tp/granny_square_patterns.htm
there are loads on this one! http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/6in_squares.php
this site has lots of different size ones http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/grannies.html
there are some pretty advanced ones on here but some simpler ones too
However, it is important to remember that US and UK use different terminology and a UK tr is a US dc. But the patterns are still easy to follow once one has established which side of the pond one is sitting! And in case a conversion is required: http://crochet.about.com/od/conversioncharts/a/termtranslate.htm
2)Kindle Granny
Amazon had a free Granny Muffin cook book for Kindle this week that was really good, unfortunately when I came to put the link in today it was no longer free. But I looked for a granny type free cook book and came up with this
This one was done by someone who is or will be an Amazing Granny!
It is worth looking regularly for free kindle books as many really good ones are only available for a few days for free and then revert back to being listed with a price.
3) What would Granny have knitted/retro knitting.
With the resurgence of knitting, there are knitters who also like to knit vintage patterns, sometimes they knit the original and other times it is adapted to today’s yarns etc. Here are some sites specifically dedicated to these knitters, and of it goes without saying there are free patterns on them! Ravelry has no less than 2000 free vintage patterns! So worth starting off there. Then consider: http://www.vintagepurls.co.nz/patterns.html
http://www.freevintageknitting.com/ ( a mine of patterns, take time to browse the site as the home page belies its potential)
For anyone who like fair isle and intarsia the yarn from http://www.shetlandwoolbrokers.co.uk/ is very reasonable, and lots of lovely colours.
Vintage knitting would be truly authentic with their yarns.
What did Granny listen to?
On Radio there were such old favourites as The Navy Lark and Aunty Beeb has kindly provided a taste of this here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00bfvkd
Granny might still be following the oldest soap The Archers as it is still broadcast http://www.bbc.co.uk/search/?q=the%20archers
She is still probably also listening to this long running programme which can still be heard or downloaded http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s5dp
Many grannys will have the coronation of 1953 as their first tv memorable programme and only a few homes had a tv then, so many neighbours crowded round to view the spectacle on perhaps the only tv in the street, and that may have only had a 9 inch screen! This is the sort of thing shown on the grainy screen, but no colour only black and white http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGLN1kREJ2Q
No comments:
Post a Comment