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Vella Gonzaga

Vella Gonzaga

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Aug 23, 2021
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Wooden thread spools

French knitting, anyone? Do you remember those wooden thread spools back in the day? Grandmas would nail tacks into the top, and voila, the knitting Nancy was born! It was a thing Aussies did as kids at school, boys and girls alike. I wonder if the tradition lives on today, though those old wooden cotton reels are becoming quite rare. Who here still has these?

compressed-nostalgia.jpeg
Credits: Etsy

 
I remember knitting with these and then upgraded to a red plastic knitting Nancy

I'm guessing kids are not doing this anymore.

Yes I still have some old ones SILKO and only because I don't SEW

Screenshot_20230630_072547_Gallery.jpg
 
I can remember them and now teaching my great grandchild to do tomboy stitch. I have quite a few reels as I inherited from my grandmother
 
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Wooden thread spools

French knitting, anyone? Do you remember those wooden thread spools back in the day? Grandmas would nail tacks into the top, and voila, the knitting Nancy was born! It was a thing Aussies did as kids at school, boys and girls alike. I wonder if the tradition lives on today, though those old wooden cotton reels are becoming quite rare. Who here still has these?

View attachment 23643
Credits: Etsy

we called them rats tails as a child in NZ tacks and wool.
 
Wooden thread spools

French knitting, anyone? Do you remember those wooden thread spools back in the day? Grandmas would nail tacks into the top, and voila, the knitting Nancy was born! It was a thing Aussies did as kids at school, boys and girls alike. I wonder if the tradition lives on today, though those old wooden cotton reels are becoming quite rare. Who here still has these?

View attachment 23643
Credits: Etsy

Spent many hours at the age of 6 making long snakes of knitted yarns and Mum teaching me to hand sew them into small circles to be used as table protectors for hot pots etc. Great memories.
 
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whether one sewed or not very handy for knobs on draws in the shed or even cupboard doors in laundry and if family was classed as poor in the kitchen and/or bedroom cupboards
 
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yes, I still have some of these, today you can buy a proper "thing" to do it on, I got one for my grandson many years ago.
 
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I still have quite a collection of wooden cotton reels, I collected more from an old friends house after she passed away. A lot still have cotton on them. I still use the cotton for sewing, still in top condition. We used to do French knitting at school and at home on these cotton reels. When I iced wedding cakes my father in law made my cake boards and used these cotton reels cut in halves for the feet under the bottom board on multi tier cakes. I still have these boards as well. We also used them as knobs on various pieces of furniture when growing up. They had many uses.
 

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