WEB PAGE NO. 2826 16th October 2021

1ST PICTURE: Home made Reel

2nd PICTURE; Knitting Dollies

3RD PICTURE; French Knitting Octopus

FORTH PICTURE: French Knitting Hat

French or Spool knitting We must have all done this in our youth at some time or other, although I cannot for the life of me remember what we did when these long sausages of wool were complete. Spool knitting, corking, French knitting or tomboy knitting is a form of knitting that uses a spool with a number of nails around the rim to produce a narrow tube of fabric. The spool knitting devices are called knitting spools, knitting nancys, or French knitters or to us when we were kids just wooden cotton reels The technique was to wrap the yarn around the spool's pegs. The yarn is then lifted over, thereby creating stitches. This process is repeated continually until the project is complete or you ran out of wool. Spool knitting is a traditional way to teach children the basic principles of knitting. According to Mary McCormack, author of Spool Knitting (published in 1909), "Few elementary exercises have aroused more interest in the child than the toy knitting; due, perhaps, to its simplicity and its power to do it easily and well." Spool knitters typically have four or five pegs (or brass nails), although the number can range to more than one hundred. Many things can be made from the resulting tube. For example, it can be wound in a spiral to produce a mat or rug or, if a larger spool with more nails was used, a sock or even a hat could be made. Historically, spool knitting has been used to make horse reins. Commercially sold spools sold as "knitting nancys" sometime had a picture of a girl painted or printed on them, thus resembling a wooden doll. Homemade knitting spools were sometimes made by placing a peg-like object, such as a nail, into a hard solid object, such as a block of wood. This was the way that most of undertook French Knitting. However today a modern plastic knitting spool with crank handle is sold and is similar, but not identical, to the spool knitting technique. Knitting spools are the oldest members of the knitting loom family, with a history dating back over 400 years. It has been speculated, however, that the so-called Roman dodecahedra may have been used as glove knitting devices, dating to 1st–5th century CE. Beginning in the latter half of the 20th century, various small looms (usually plastic) using the same peg-knitting technique as knitting spools have been made. Some are larger than knitting spools, and can knit larger items. Some are straight, enabling flat items such as blankets or scarfs to be made, and some are round for making socks, hats, or other similar items. Simple versions contain just peg-like structures sticking up from a solid object. More complex ones operate complex mechanisms and automatically produce a knitted item with just a simple motion, such as a turn of a crank. All I remember is that with children’s hands using the French Knitting frames the wool always seemed to be bit grubby and not too clean.

Letter from Mary I was sad to read of Ken Ashbee`s death, not that I knew him , but to die so young is tragic. I lived in 1st Avenue, Farlington, & both my brother & I had friends in 2nd Avenue. In Sept 1967 I went to live in Singapore, quite nr an Raf camp called Seletar. I cannot remember any air accident but there were fatal road accidents from time to time. On a different subject I love the smell of Imperial Leather soap. I would often buy the shaving bowls for my father. He loved the smell of it too. The soap certainly lasts longer than other soaps. These days people seem to use the liquid soap in pump containers. I always look forward to reading your weekly blog,

Janet asks:- Do you know of any photos or films of the Manor Court trip to Istanbul, it would have been in about 1965, or thereabouts? We flew to Venice then boarded the Dunera to cruise to Corfu, Crete and then to Piraeus where we caught the train to Athens. It was a wonderful trip but I only have a couple of photos (somewhere) and would love to see more. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com