Outdoor Knitting, in Three Takes

Door County, Wisconsin, August 1984. My Mom and her best friend, Donna, share another afternoon knitting.  Meškė is sitting with Mom again.

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Door County, Wisconsin, August 1984. Oh, you say Mom's not knitting? She's reading the new issue of Vogue Knitting.

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Door County, Wisconsin, August 1984. Donna brought her gold, vinyl knitting bag.

Most people have some wacky photos from the 1970s.

In the early to mid-1970s, it became customary for women to wear wigs. My Mom had a couple of wigs and a hairpiece. For many years, she stopped cutting her hair. She instead pulled it back and snapped on the bun-like hairpiece in the back. It was fashionable, and it looked nice.

During that same era, women often wore long dresses. The trend started, of course, with the "maxi dresses" that the cool set popularized. The square-because-they're-over-thirty crowd imitated the style. Sometimes all the women invited to a house party agreed to wear "long dresses."

Here are three snapshots from a party hosted by my Mom's best friend, Donna and her husband, Vytenis. We socialized at their home often. It's unlikely that the three women bought the "long dresses" for this occasion. They probably purchased them for some other purpose and decided to get another "wear" out of them. My Mom, for example, had selected the two-piece brown number for a rehersal dinner.

Suburban Chicago, December 1974. My Mom, Donna, and Jadzė D relax in a corner of Donna's living room. You recently saw this threesome knitting at our house. Mom is wearing her "bun-like" hairpiece. Donna is au naturel. Jadzė D often wore wigs.

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Suburban Chicago, December 1974. They always have more fun when we're not around. Left to right are Jadzė D, Vytenis, Jadzė D's husband, my Mom, and Donna. My Dad is taking the photo.

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Suburban Chicago, December 1974. My Dad loved to flirt. It was a running family joke. Dad was harmless, and Mom didn't mind: she's the one who is snapping this photo.

The best place to knit.

Our family has spent time in Door County, Wisconsin, since the late 1960s. Many of the sites and tourist spots no longer are destinations for us. But we still enjoy the quiet time near the lake. It's a great place, for example, to sit by the picture window and knit.
 

Door County, Wisconsin, May 1985. My Mom and her best friend, Donna, relax with their knitting. The women have matching knitting bags. My Mom and Donna spent a lot of time together knitting.

That's Meškė, the Poodle, sitting on my Mom's lap.

Knitting Duet

Suburban Chicago, December 1968. My Mom and her best friend, Donna, get together for another afternoon of knitting. They're sitting in the corner of our living room; Mom feels at home because she's wearing her moccasin slippers. The women both wear ensembles they knitted by hand, and they have matching, gold, knitting bags.  I suspect they're knitting suits in the photo; my Mom appears to be working on a skirt.

There's an ashtray on the end table, and my paternal Grandmother Tatjana's copy of Nicholas and Alexandra rests on that surface, under her eye glass case. It's funny that Nicholas and Alexandra pops up in this post; I was just talking this afternoon with a friend about Robert K. Massie's 2011 book, Catherine the Great.

A Day to Knit

Saturday afternoon is another good time for knitting. Invite a friend and pull out the needles.

That is what is on my agenda today.

Suburban Chicago, June 1968. My Mom, wearing her beloved moccasins, sits in the corner of the living room with her best friend, Donna. Mom's knitting bag is at her feet. The furniture and wall-to-wall carpet are "protected" with the throw rug and slipcovers.

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Suburban Chicago, June 1968. Both women relax in their "stay-at-home" clothes. My Mom wears a simple gray-and-white cotton shift. Donna is more fashion forward in her knit pedal pushers and her polka-dot shell. Notice that both women work on circular needles.

Picnic Culture: Bring your knitting because it will be a long afternoon.

Geneva area, Illinois, June 1965. My Mom's best friend, Donna, and Mom knit during the annual picnic sponsored by our Lithuanian enclave. Mom is wearing that yellow dress that I loved so much.

Look! There is a copy of Vogue Knitting peeking out from Mom's knitting bag.

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Geneva area, Illinois, June 1965. My Mom enjoys the conversation, and my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, rests.

It's good to spend a Sunday afternoon knitting.

Suburban Chicago, January 1967. Donna, Jadzė D (who appears in the last photo here), and my Mom gather to knit in the living room. Mom's dressier knitting bag is at her feet.

I'll bet the women are knitting suits.

Knitting Together, Again

Door County, Wisconsin, October 1979. Mom and her best friend, Donna, share more knitting time. Mom's still working on that fair-isle, yoked sweater.

They knitted together through the years.

Door County, Wisconsin, December 1979. My Mom's best friend, Donna, has joined Mom and Dad for a weekend in Door County. Mom and Donna spent many hours together knitting. (See, for example, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

Mom shares her chair with Gigi, whose toy rests on the carpet.

Backyard Picnic

Suburban Chicago, July 1969. My Mom's best friend, Donna, and Donna's husband, Vytenis, host a barbeque. Mom brought her knitting bag.

The Knitting Circle

I often refer to my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, as "Alpha Baba." Tatjana was a strong, aristocratic presence in the household. Her daughter-in-law, my Mom, may have been the breadwinner and certainly was the disciplinarian, but Tatjana "wore the pants."

Tatjana lived with my Parents from the time they emigrated to the United States until she died in 1974. Tatjana was the force that ran the household. Eastern European cultures tend to be matriarchal, and Russian families are run by supremely dominant matriarchs.

There was only one area in which Tatjana sometimes "alphaed" my Mom, and that was over the question of parties. Tatjana loved to entertain. Mom was too overworked to enjoy entertaining.

My Mom preferred to have quiet times with her friends. Ladies would come over to our house, and they would sit and knit with Mom. The "stitch and bitch" sessions usually took place on Thursdays, because that was the day my Mom did not go to the office. (Most doctors took Wednesdays off back then. Mom's partner—the senior physician in their practice—did not work on Wednesday, so Mom was off on Thursdays). The ladies sat in the corner of the living room, chatted, and knitted elegant 1960s-style suits and dresses.

A source of humor at our home was Tatjana's determination to participate in the knitting circle with the younger generation—even though Tatjana didn't knit. I have no recollection of these interludes, but my Mom remembers them vividly.

Suburban Chicago, February 1965. Tatjana sits off to the side, on the piano bench, but she's right in the middle of things. My Mom has her back to Tatjana. Mom's best friend, Donna, sits on the far right. Tatjana is sewing the apron of my first Lithuanian folkdress.

Summer Knitting

Door County, Wisconsin, July 1979. Mom and her best friend, Donna, spend another afternoon knitting together.

Good Things Last

My Mom and her best friend, Donna, go "way back." They've been knitting buddies since the 1950s.

Suburban Chicago, December 31, 1965. Donna and my Mom toast the New Year. (Both women quit smoking.)

Crafty Afternoon

Door County, Wisconsin, August 1983. Mom tackles another needlepoint project while her best friend, Donna, works on her knitting. Meškė spots the camera.

(You might recognize the lamp.)

It's picnic season again.

Near Geneva, Illinois, June 1968. Here's another image from that fashion-forward Lithuanian-school picnic. Both Mom and her best friend, Donna, have brought their gold, vinyl knitting bags.

The woman on the left is Lily, and the lady on the right—wearing a dress—is the "Other Irene."

Christmas Manners: Put out a few decorations before the guests arrive.

Suburban Chicago, December 1965. My Mom and her best friend, Donna, enjoy the Christmas cheer at a friend's home. Mom wears a suit she knitted. At the edge of the shot, on the far right, rests Mom's knitting bag. She must have thought she'd be able to sneak in a few rows during the party.

Common Threads

Verona, Wisconsin, November 2010. My Mom and her Best Friend, Donna, still keep up. Knitting remains in the picture, too.

Keeping Count

Door County, Wisconsin, June 1980. My Mom and her best friend, Donna, are knitting outside.

Picnic Culture: Things are changing.

Near Geneva, Illinois, June 1968. My Mom and her best friend, Donna, knit at another Lithuanian-school picnic. They were knitting at a similar function three years earlier, but back then, the women wore dresses to the picnic.

Things were even fancier at the 1961 picnic.