???
Some time ago, a friend who knows I knit gave me her late mother’s knitting needles. The needles were in a box along with a few other, presumably craft-related items. There is an old wooden-handled pattern tracing wheel, a French Ivory-handled button hook, some bodkins and sail-maker’s and glover’s needles — those things I could identify. The “Pic-Pic Needles” luckily came with instructions (they are for needlepunch embroidery), so no mystery there.
The items in the photo, however, have me baffled. Well, I think the wooden thing in the bottom right of the picture must be a sort of darning egg. It’s made in Belgium according to the stamp, and a size 3.
What is the long latchet-hook for? The hook itself is quite fine, like that of a knitting machine needle. The two-eyed item in the top centre of the photo is three inches long, and the eyes don’t lie quite flat; one is slightly angled in relation to the other. The two cone-shaped things show two sides of the same thing (and I have 11 of them!). Are they for making some sort of fabric eding? Why would one need 11 of them?
I’d be grateful for any ideas about what these things are….
12 Comments
I know what all the items are:
You are correct on the darning egg.
The long “latchhook” thing is used for turning long tubes of fabric – to make cords and such. It is also used to put elastic into casings – for waistbands, etc.
The two metal things are for making braided rugs, or making bias binding. You put a strip of fabric into the wide end, and as it comes out the thin end, you press or iron it. If using for braided rugs, you don’t iron the fabric, just continue working it as you braid.
The double eyed needle could be a bodkin (similar purpose to the latch hook thingy) or it could be for darning or weaving ends and such – it could also be some form of bobbin for weaving or other fibre craft… I will admit that I’m less sure of this than others.
Hi. The long latch hook thing is for turning piping. You run it down inside the stitched bias tube, insert the hook in the end of the fabric, and pull the tube inside out. I never could get them to work very well. The cone-shaped things are for folding strips of fabric into single fold bias tape. You thread the bias strip in the large end and pull the strip out the other end. There are so many because each one only works for one width of strip. What kind of knitting needles did you get?
Thanks to you both for your answers! My email to a mailing list got some replies, too, and it seems that the long latchet hook is indeed for fishing cords or elastics through fabric casings or turning the casing itself, the cone things are for making edging tape or braided rug strips, and the darning egg is in fact, a darning egg. Jury’s definitely still out on the two-eyed thing, though.
Janet, I got quite a few knitting needles, but nothing dramatically interesting. Some well-used US 13 wooden straights, a few plastic straights in various sizes, and some (Inox, maybe?) dpns in sock-sizes. A few metal straights that seem to be in old British sizes. One thing I learned from this lady’s stash of needles is to not use rubber bands to hold needles together — the rubber deteriorates and besides not working any more, also leaves a sticky, staining mess on the needles.
Late-breaking update: the two-eyed thingie is perhaps a very short netting needle, although it seems that netting needles may have slits rather than closed eyes — a similar-looking item, though.
Barb in Irving answered my query about these items on the Sock Knitter’s list at Yahoo (a little odd, since I asked the question on the Traditional Knitting list — gotta love the mysterious ways of the internet). Anyway, I do believe she has the answer to the two-eyed needle mystery: it’s a double-eyed needle used in serging, for inserting chain ends under serged stitches (maybe when finishing a seam?).
I’ll be able to sleep nights again, now. Thanks, Barb!
I got a link for your ‘Comfy Old Socks’ pattern from one of my groups and I always read the blogs when someone sends a link. Just couldn’t sleep either until I figured that one out…lol. Barb
The double eye thingy is also used as
a transfer tool on knitting machines, sorry
my little pea brain can’t think of the name
of it right now, but I have them with my
knitting machines. They are indeed also
used on serged fabric to run the ends in.
I would agree that the little wooden thingy is likely a darning egg of sorts. I love darning eggs, I have no idea why, I just do and pick them up at yard sales and antique shops. The long bodkin/tube
turner can also be used to pull elastic
thru narrow casings.
It was fun seeing your new treasures.
DJ
Seed stitcher, that’s what the double
eyed thing is called by machine knitters.
Ah, never get old, the mind is a terrible
thing to lose. LOL
DJ
Thanks for the info, DJ. And as for never getting old, well, you should have mentioned that a few years ago! LOL
Hello. I agree with all the explanations for the tools but I just wanted to share that my mother worked in a knitting mill during World WarII and they made nylon hose for ladies. The long latch hook was what she used for repairing the hose before they were dyed. Hers were about 4 inches long with the handle and she used an empty shot glass to stretch the hose over to zip them up.This is when ladies hose became very short in supply. they were made in silk and then nylon when the silk was used for the war effort. She would repair my sisters’ hose and they got to wear them a lot longer than most.
Thank you for sharing the story about your mother, car34. In the age of 99 cent throw-aways, it’s always good to be reminded that there is another way of living….
The hook thing was to pull elastic through casings on skirts etc. The metal cones are for utting rags through while braiding rugs.