Inheritance – Knitting and Crochet Treasure Trove

A friend of the family recently passed away after a long illness.  She was very talented at both knitting and crochet.  Her work is exceptionally good with a skill level that I can only hope to obtain one day.  At one point in her life, she even owned a yarn shop.  

Now that she is gone, I have her knitting and crochet items.  Needles, yarn, patterns books, tools, and a few gauge swatches.  Some items are newer, others are vintage.  But I am thrilled to have them all.  My favorite item is the 3-ring binder full of patterns in sheet protectors.  There are a few of the free patterns that you can get at Hobby Lobby in the yarn aisle – the ones on a pad in front of a certain yarn.  The oldest is from the early 80’s and has her comments on it.  Others are from yarn shops that no longer exist.  It is interesting to see which patterns she saved.  A few she saved for only a portion of a project.  One is for a child’s sweater and there is a handwritten note to convert the yoke portion of the pattern to an adult size.  After seeing that comment, I’m looking at all patterns with new eyes.

 

Other items fill out my own collection.  I now have a copy of The Magic of Shetland Lace Knitting by Elizabeth Lovick.  It’s a book I’ve wanted for quite a while but have been too cheap to buy, thinking that I could never knit such delicate fabrics.  I am itching to pull out some of my lace yarn and get to work but no more WIPs. 

 

I also got a couple of sets of knit blocking combs.  Another item I’ve wanted for a long time, but I already own blocking wires and pins.  I couldn’t justify buying yet another blocking accessory.  Now I need to educate myself on what types of projects they are best suited for.

 

As for needles, I now have several pairs of needles in sizes 1 – 4.  There are a few pairs of straights and lots of circulars.  Before now, I never owned needles in these sizes.  My Denise interchangeable sets don’t have these super small sizes and when I was in a shop, I was never sure which sizes/lengths to get so I would tell myself I would pick them up later.  Of course, that never happened. 

 

I am very grateful to have received her stash.  And when I’m no longer able to stitch, I will be sure that I pay my stash forward to some else who loves playing with yarn.