New and Old

I watched the Obama inauguration today with much interest and excitement. It is amazing to think that it was the most watched event in television history. It's one of those events that will rank right up there in my memory with the JFK assassination (I was in Grade 4), the RFK and MLK assassinations (Grade 9), Neil Armstrong first walking on the moon (my first day of music camp after Grade 10) and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre twin towers on September 11, 2001.

At the same time, our plumber, Ben Huston, was installing a new pressure valve in our main bathroom shower.

Please excuse the 80s celadon tile and tub colour. When we win the lottery, we'll demolish both second floor bathrooms and update them very stylishly.















Last week Skip called Ben to come and see if he could find the source of a very small leak which has caused minor damage to the ceiling of the front hall below over the past 12 1/2 years of our occupancy in this house. An 18" x 18" hole was cut in the ceiling exposing the trap but no leak was found.





















I finally posed the suggestion that it was water getting through the workings of the shower tap. Sure enough, that was the problem. I guess after 26 years, the caulking and seal had worn out. While Ben was there we asked for an estimate on getting the pressure valve installed. We have occasionally been the originators and recipients of blood-curdling screams when the toilet gets flushed while one of us is showering. So today was installation day.

During the inauguration, I spent some time puttering in my office starting to pack up yarn and stitchery that I'll be taking to Texas. I found this book which was my source of technical information about knitting and crochet for many years before the Internet came into my life.

This revised edition is copyrighted 1957 by Coats and Clark and cost 29 cents.

















There is a lot of information packed into this 67 page booklet - the basics of Crochet, Knitting, Tatting and Embroidery. Also included are several patterns including a very fetching Rib Stitch Hat, a Classic Pullover and Cardigan,
















Mittens,
















Anklets (modelled in penny loafers),
















and a children's Cable Stitch Sweater.
















I was particularly interested at the sizing for the Classic Pullover and Cardigan.

The size 10 cardigan is for someone with a 30 inch bust (a person whom I would refer to as 'a stick'). The largest size (16) is for someone with a 36 inch bust. It really demonstrates how clothing manufacturers have altered the numbers for clothes sizing over the years. I would venture to guess that nowadays any woman with a 36" bust would be horrified to think that she was size 16.

There are also detailed explanations for Weaving (what we would call Kitchener stitch today) and "Knit One Stitch In The Row Below" which is the subject of one of the newest XRX books.