One of the things I always enjoy looking at are old advertisements. They tell you a lot about cultural values, and are a big part of memories (I loved the Kit Kat Pandas as a child) for some of us.

They also tell you what crafters thought was important in a yarn. Nowadays, we have the soy-bamboo-hemp-silk-organic-variegated goodness. But back in 1972, it was a different story. I give you...Phentex!

A lot of things? Such as 'making your children look like Big Bird'? Apparently not:

Yup, you read that right- polypropylene! I wonder what kind of 'swinging' would get done in a Phentex bikini?

Scientific yarn? Really? Perhaps I could knit a conical flask out of it...

I would imagine it IS durable. That stuff looks like it would be all that was left after a nuclear winter, except for cockroaches.

Who drips iodine onto yarn? Is this some kind of 70s version of kool-aid dyeing?

Know what? Given the last part of the list I'm not surprised. I think I hear Elizabeth Zimmermann turning in her grave...

Ah! Is this perhaps a cunning yarn designed to force one to knit a gauge swatch?

The water test? Like...phentex dunking? Are its strange properties in fact the result of black magic, instead of it being made of plastic? Because I sure as hell wouldn't want to risk burning that stuff.

Well, it's good to know even moths have standards.

Including Muppet Yellow and Soylent Green.

TWEEDS? You made TWEEDS of this yarn?

And be careful if it touches your skin...it's sort of like the yarn equivalent of Venom, of Spiderman fame...

Hey, I'm not scared of sneezing or wheezing. I am kinda scared of this yarn, though...

Yes! You spend a lot less on yarn when people stop asking you to make stuff for them in case you make it out of Phentex...

Protection against soiling? But you just spent a page telling us how it doesn't stain or get wet!

If it's not available you'll make sure I get some?....

You don't do Wollmeise as well, do you?

Macramania

So I've been away for a little while. Sorry to keep you waiting, folks! But I'm back with a real treat. Well, I think it's a treat, anyway. It's time for a spot of Macrame...

Is it a necklace? Is it a collar? Is it some kind of bib designed to have the same effect as a beaded car-seat cover, but on your bazooms? Who knows? Whatever it is, you have to wonder: if they followed Chanel's rule about jewellery- put on the jewellery you're intending to wear, then take one piece off- what was removed?

Thing I Love Thursday

So, I promised you evidence that the 1970s boasted some great style today (don't worry, there's plenty more to send chills down your spine, but snark is like cayenne pepper, a little goes a long way), and here it is:

I really like this bag- it wouldn't look out of place in a lot of clothing and accessories stores today. It's a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll. Mostly, though, it's quite 'boho'- it seems like something Sienna Miller would float around carrying when she's on her way to break up with Jude Law (or get together with Jude Law, or break up with him again...). I like the bead detailing, especially those big lovely beads on the handles, and the fringe is lovely. If I saw something like this in Paper Bag Princess (awesome Wellington vintage clothing store), I would seriously consider buying it.

However: 'maid in the suede'? I see what you did there, advertisers, I'm just not sure why. Also, all macrame is not good macrame, as we shall see tomorrow!

Shows what I know...

So, as I mentioned yesterday, having grown up in the neon-Cyndi Lauper-power dressing stylings of the 1980s and, indeed, the Global Hypercolour t-shirt-busy floral print-parachute pants dystopia that was the 1990s I know very little about timeless style. McCalls, however, know ALL about it. How do I know? Because they told me so, with this confident pronouncement:
Argyle? I had no idea! Nobody I know under the age of 35 rocks the argyle unless they're attempting to be ironic, but maybe we're the poorer for it. Maybe Argyle really IS forever, and not diamonds, as I had previously supposed. However, I do have to wonder exactly how timeless the McCall's interpretation of argyle is. This is the design that accompanies the above description:
What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a trifecta of 1970s fashion keynotes- big bold print? Check! Print continuing on both top and bottom of two piece outfit? Check! Orange and brown? Checkity check check CHECK! It says 'three autumn colours' in the description. Maybe it's just me, but I can only see the rust orange, and the chocolate brown. Get used to these colours, you'll be seeing quite a bit more of them. The only thing missing is a mushroom, owl, or tiger somewhere in the picture (you'll be seeing a lot more of them, too).

You might be getting the impression that our journey through the 1970s is going to be all about the snark. But you would be wrong! There is plenty to love about 70s style. Like anything fashion forward, sometimes it endures, sometimes it doesn't. I'll leave you to make your mind up about the argyle. But tomorrow, I'll be bringing you something that might change your mind if you're inclined to think of the 70s as some kind of style wasteland.

New Directions

My current job sucks. I'm not going to prevaricate. However, I do have one or two really lovely colleagues (they get a little lost amongst the awful ones, but there you go). Last week, one of them brought this in to work to make a photocopy of a pattern:
This fine craft publication is the McCall's Needlework and Crafts magazine for Fall/Winter 1972. There is so very much to enjoy in here, from the horrifying to the frankly fantastic. I thought it would be fun to have a look together, wouldn't you agree?

Let's start with a rather wonderful advertisement that caught my eye in the back of the magazine:

Yes, that's right. For the ridiculously cheap price of $6.95, you can crochet your own hot pants- in machine-washable Orlon!

I can't help wondering, though, about the yarn. Orlon rather sounds like a pointy-bearded, green-skinned villain with a silver cloak and huge shoulder-pads that Captain Kirk did battle with.

The colour choices for your own hot pants are very much of their time. Sure, you've got timeless colours like French Blue, Emerald, and Scarlet (I think I may even have seen similar colours- and designs- on Ravelry...) . But if you were really fashion-forward in 1972, then Wyco Yarns had you covered with Avocado and Coral. Personally, I think Avocado is more a colour for bathrooms, but then I'm a child of the 80s and don't know anything about timeless style. More about that tomorrow!

Caerphilly Hat

Just to say- I'm sorry if people had trouble with the Caerphilly pattern. If folk want to PM me at Ravelry (I'm purplesparkler) and let me know where they ran into trouble, I'll try and fix it.

So sorry!

More conversations with my fiance about yarn...

DF (looking down at me as I sit cleaning my UFO shelf, look up at my yarn stash, smile and wave at it)- "You look like you have a baby."

And today:
Me: You know how you said you'd buy me something to say thankyou for the Christmas knitting? Well the Yarn Pirate is having a shop update today and there will be one-off colours! And *goes on about Yarn Pirate*.

DF: I see- it's the special crack...

Later on
Me *does special I Won The Internet dance of Chumtabulous Update Acquisition*
DF: Let me guess- you got yarn.
Me: Yes! I got two skeins- one is brown and red and gold and really pretty and the other is pink and green and yellow and...
DF: Really pretty?