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Book Review: Knitting Ephemera

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knitting ephemera book reviewAny craft that has been around as long as knitting has is sure to have a lot of lore, fun facts and trivia attached to it. Carol J. Sulcoski gathered a bunch of those facts, stories and tidbits into her book Knitting Ephemera: A Compendium of Articles, Useful and Otherwise, for the Edification and Amusement of the Handknitter.

That pretty well explains what the book is. It contains a miscellany of information about where knitting came from, how it has been practiced through the years, different techniques and styles, facts about fiber, famous knitters and famous people who are knitters. There’s information about fictional knitters, knitting acronyms and figures of speech that come from the fiber and knitting world.

Opening the book up randomly, I find a discussion of the difference between the knitting patterns Feather & Fan and Old Shale, a collection of surnames derived from fiber-related occupations (like Howard, from an Old English word for one who tends ewes), a collection of punny yarn shop names, a brief history of Bohus knitting, the possibly apocryphal story of why William Lee invented his sock knitting machine and the story of the name Susan Bates.

It’s a really fun book if you’d like to know more about the history, personalities and trivia of knitting, if you’d like to know and share fun facts about your favorite craft with others, or as a gift to a knitting friend.

About the book: 136 pages, hardback with ribbon bookmark. Sixth & Spring Books, published February 2016. Suggested retail $14.95.

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Comments

  1. I love all that trivia. So fun to learn how things got started or used to be used. I think the shepherds used to knit while tending the sheep.

  2. How fun to put my love of reading together with my love of knitting and yarn!! :>)

Have you read?

Christmas Sock Knitting Patterns

Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts. 

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