Vintage Craft Book Feature: The Country Diary Book of Knitting (1987)

Another of my many needlework hobbies is the collection of vintage craft books.  Found in dusty corners of second hand shops, in pride of place in used book stores, these old tomes often contain beautiful nuggets of crafting wisdom, and a heaping helping of vintage charm.  Reviving the techniques, tips and retro projects is just one more way for us to bring back the wonders of the handmade.

The Country Diary Book of Knitting - 1987

As the title and the illustrations on the cover suggest, this is inspired by The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden.  The knitting patterns are grouped by season and surrounded by the beautiful watercolor illustrations of the original.  Taking inspiration from the natural world, each knitted project feels at home in it's given season.  I really like the way this book is meant to mirror the naturalist's diary.  Coupled with the illustrations, it really gives a certain richness to the designs, a deliberateness that is easy to lose in a large book with lots of patterns.  It feels like each design was created and chosen with purpose, not just to fill pages.

All of the garments have an interesting blend of 1980's and 1900's styling which weirdly enough makes them seem a little more modern.  There are certainly some good ideas and designs to be found here.  Many of the sweaters are designed to be layered, and when paired with modern garments I think they would work quite well.

Borrowing from older styling seems (at least to me) to make these designs fit better into contemporary fashion than most vintage knitting books I come across.

Enough waxing poetic, this book has a lot of substance as well.  The charts and instructions for each project are very clear and thorough.  Even if you don't like the styling of a particular sweater, it would be easy to reuse some of the stitch patterns and color charts on a different project.

There are also a lot of designs for children, and I find them even more timeless than the adult sweaters.  From kids clothes to accessories and even knitted toys, this book has a large selection of goodies for the younger set.  Some of them seem easy enough to start a young beginner on.  What better way to get them excited about the craft than to make something for themselves?

 

Even for non-knitters, anyone who has read and enjoyed The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady would likely enjoy a flip though this as well.  All of the pictured and illustrations are lovely.  The retro styles have aged better than most, and the instructions are clear and detailed enough for even a novice to find a project they can enjoy.

Making The Order of the Zodiac

For the last few years my bestie and I have had tons of fun attending the local comicon.  We're not champion cosplayers, but we have a blast nonetheless.  Last year I pulled together a couple steampunk dresses from thrift store finds, but this year I wanted to try for actual anime characters.  Luckily I have a friend who is game for anything and a husband who is easily persuaded.

       

I am a huge Gundam Wing nerd, my friend and husband far less so, and I was thrilled they put up with me dressing them up like that.  The real fun for me though is always the making, not the wearing.

I started with a trio of coats from the thrift store.

                   

Lady Une's was easy, there are tons of tunic length red coats for women at the thrift store.  Zechs' was also fairly straightforward; ankle length red coats are also very common.  My husband's coat was the most challenging.  Finding a blue suit coat to fit him was the first hurdle, and I only found it about a week before the event.  It also needed the most alteration, to add the white front and rear tails.  After those major alterations, it's all embellishment.

My supplies of gold fabric and trim ready to be applied, and my 'assistant' on paw to 'help.'  He's especially good at holding things down.  I used thrifted black sweaters to make the under shirts for Une and Zechs; a faux leather pouch purse became their gun holsters, and a couple of vintage hankies transformed into lacy collars.

                        

With nearly 30 sticks of hot glue, large scrap fabric reserves and a heaping helping of cheerful perseverance, three full costumes can indeed come together in less than three weeks.  

And in case you were wondering how much gold trim these costumes used.  All theses spools were full when I started.