Australia used to have lots of woollen mills that made yarn for hand knitting. One of these was Lincoln Mills (Australia) Limited which opened in 1919 and operated until 1980- although it delisted and was bought by Cleckheaton in 1962. The mills were in Coburg, Victoria in Gaffney Street. I can’t remember if…
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Retro Monday – Patons Herdwick
This week I thought I’d show you something from my collection of old patterns that I actually want to knit. It’s from a Patons Australia pattern leaflet. There are five patterns all designed for a yarn called 8ply Herdwick – which is now discontinued. The front cover features a cardigan knit in a…
Retro Monday – Questionable Menswear
This week’s offering is from a book called “All You Can Knit and Crochet for Men”. It’s a Golden Hands special publication from the mid 1970’s and I must admit that I bought it for giggles. Although the jumper on the front cover is quite nice, most of the patterns are hilarious. The…
Knitting as Medicine
I went to the doctor yesterday. I haven’t been to the doctor in Ballan before so I had to do the whole medical history thing and fill in a million forms. Then I waited to be called for my appointment. At the Ballan medical centre not only do they bulk bill (yay),…
Retro Monday – Vogue Knitting
I have a formidable collection of old knitting patterns. I bought some of them because one day I’d like to knit them up (after I win the lottery and get bionic wrists so I can knit all day). Others I bought just because they are so dated and daggy and funny that…
Simple Stripes
Sometimes the simplest patterns can be just as rewarding as complex ones. Recently I made up a few striped scarves to show off my hand dyed yarn. Nothing too fancy – just two colours in stripes of two rows each over a 1 x 1 rib pattern. It’s so simple that I…