Cheap Thrills: Susan Bates Sock Set

While browsing at JoAnn with a 40% off coupon, I happened to see something I'd not noticed before:  a package containing sets of 5 sock needles in 4 small sizes, perfect for sock knitting.  I had been needing some smaller needles, since I knit at a relaxed gauge and have trouble getting my stitches small enough for socks.  With my coupon I spent less than $7 for 4 sets of needles in sizes I needed.  I really appreciate that the needles come in sets of 5 instead of the 4 as with most of my other Susan Bates double points.  The needles are color coded 000 (red); 00 (turquoise); 0 (light yellow); and 1 (green) for convenience. I can finally try some sock patterns with all the proper needles sizes to fine tune my gauge, at less than the cost of one set of European needles.

Purple Dress: Epic Fail!

The purple dress is finished and looks great on the hanger.  Unfortunately, I gained weight after I took the measurements and sewed the dress.  I was foolishly confident enough that I did not try on the dress as I sewed AND I did not count on the ease required to get the dress pulled over my head (it has a side placket instead of the usual roomy zipper-up-the-back opening.)  I am glad I used inexpensive fabric.  I almost wish the dress were ugly so that I wouldn't want to wear it, but it is lovely--as it hangs uselessly in the closet, taunting me!

Lesson learned:  No matter how many decades you've been sewing, don't get cocky and think you can skip important steps like trying on a dress in progress.  Now to look for some more purple fabric on sale and cut out the next size up!

BONUS: Links to pattern (most of them free) for making gloves.

One Quilt's Story: Anna Koch Preuss' Tree Quilt

Anna Koch was born February 17, 1864 in northwestern Germany. She came to America with her family when she was twenty years old, enduring a rough voyage from Holland. When their ship, the S.S. Rotterdam, was well out to sea, a terrible storm came up. The winds tore a hole in the side of the ship, so that even the captain thought they would all be drowned. Anna's father, Frederick Koch, and a friend, Mr. Fudiker, began to earnestly pray for the safety of the ship. Suddenly, the ship lifted up and rolled to the undamaged side, offering the crew an opportunity to bail out the water and repair the wooden hull. As soon as repairs were done, the ship righted itself and carried its grateful passengers to America!

The Koch family settled in Kansas, where Anna met and married Gustav Preuss, also from Germany. They moved to the rolling hills of southern Wisconsin in 1892, because the flat lands of Kansas did not appeal to Mr. Preuss. Wisconsin was more like his native Germany. They lived in a log cabin while Gustav, a carpenter, built the farmhouse. Together they had two sons and seven daughters, and built a prosperous farm. Their daughter Emma recalls the orchards, grape arbor, wild berries, fresh butter, wild game, popcorn, and other wholesome foods harvested and enjoyed by the family. She also had fond memories of sleigh rides over the snow-covered hills.

In the midst of gardening, canning, and cooking, the Preuss women also had to sew clothes and knit stockings and mittens for their large family. All the girls stitched samplers and learned to sew and knit like their mother. Daughter Claribel recalls a sock knitting machine that was cranked by hand to produce the tubular parts of the socks, while the heels and toes were done by hand. And yes, there was even time to produce some fancy needlework: probably by lamplight during those long Wisconsin winters. Anna had cedar chests made of cedar from the farm. These held her embroidery and her quilts. She gave embroidered pillowcases to each of her seventeen grandchildren, and several of her quilts survive today. The tree quilt in my closet was made by Anna and given to her youngest daughter, Claribel, who then passed it on to her grandson, Keith Schimmel. The tree blocks are hand pieced of assorted cottons and hand quilted. It was made to fit a double bed.

In February of 1916, a traumatic event shook this family. Gustav left the house with his dog and some traps, announcing that he was going to check his trap line. (Trading furs provided an additional source of income for the family.) At dusk, the dog returned without Gustav. Fearing he had fallen somewhere in the wooded hills and was injured and freezing, neighbors searched long into the night by lantern light. To this day, no trace of Gustav Preuss has ever been found. Though there was much speculation and gossip, the family quietly concluded that they had been abandoned. With typical German determination, they made plans to carry on. Anna and the four youngest daughters, Becky, Ruth, Anna, and Claribel, moved to the nearby town of Prairie-du-Sac, where they turned to dressmaking for support. Eventually all the Preuss children married and had families of their own.

Anna's descendants include many accomplished needleworkers, including daughter Claribel, who was especially fond of cross-stitch and knitting. Claribel's six great grandchildren all slept under hand-knitted baby blankets, with cross-stitched pictures framed above their beds. Claribel had to ask a cousin, Marianne Conner, to finish her last cross-stitch project, as her eyesight was no longer up to the task. She did, however, continue to knit for several years after that. All this collected needlework is now being preserved for the future great-great-great grandchildren of Anna Koch Preuss.

So, the tree quilt survives today as a witness to the life of one woman who survived a perilous voyage, nine home births, and even abandonment by a spouse. She survived these things and produced, in the midst of these hardships, things of beauty. She also passed her skills and her love of fine needlework to her many descendants. May we all go and do likewise, turning hardship into an opportunity to make something beautiful!

Sources: 1. Letter from Jane Vogland to Betty Wheeler, dated August 30, 1991
2. Story of the voyage from Lydia Bloeker
3. Handwritten manuscript "My First Ninety Years" by Emma Preuss Wegner, written July, 1987

Resources for Crafts

I just ordered "The Best of Interweave Crochet" from Crafter's Choice.  I perused the book at a Barnes and Noble book fair and decided it was worth ordering.  Now I've met my membership obligation to Crafter's Choice and can enjoy all the books I got with my initial membership.

Toe-Up Socks: My First One

Yes, I am still working on the purple dress (sleeves set in perfectly, just need to hem the skirt.)  But I also started some small knitting projects to work on while waiting for flute lessons, sports practices, and such.  One project is an outrageous scarf made of all my leftover bits of fuzzy novelty yarns.  The other is a mini sock I am making as a swatch before trying some of the socks in "Toe-Up Two at a Time Socks" by Melissa Morgan-Oakes.

I stopped by my local yarn shop (Stitch Point on Friendly Avenue in Greensboro, NC) and splurged on some size 1 Addi circular lace needles with a 32" cable.  These needles are wonderfully fast, with a smooth join that stitches just glide right over.  My yarn is some Red Heart Baby Soft I bought at Goodwill--full skeins in perfect condition!  The money saved on yarn paid for the new needles, right?

A Book Review for Knitters and Crocheters

75 Birds, Butterflies & Little Beasts to Knit and Crochet by Lesley Stanfield

This book is one of my newest acquisitions for my knitting library. There are some beautiful flowers and leaves in this volume as well as the many birds and butterflies.  I’ve crocheted some nettle leaves to add to a scarf I’m making and plan to try some of the flowers for hair clips.  There is a dove in the book that would be a wonderful Christmas decoration or part of a wedding centerpiece.

I am only beginning to imagine how much fiber fun I can have with the instructions in this book!

Croquis of Purple Dress