Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly - Latest Comments

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

cathy — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 16:56:39 -0000

just get a pattern for a plain sweater and get some graph paper and make the logo yourself. it's not that hard...

Re: Mary Lyon, Meet Mary LION!

carrie — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 07:55:52 -0000

I just love lions. BEautiful creatures. too bad people are still hunting them

Re: Alumnae in High Tech Cross the Gender Gap

Betsy Hakewessell Miller '60 — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 19:09:18 -0000

I'm sure there are a bunch of us who, in the early 70's, joined large companies with mainframe computers. We were given in house instruction, and then went on to write very complex COBOL programs. and as hardware improved, designed intricate databases. Back then, interestingly, there were MORE women than men "programmers" (we weren't paid very much). The demographics (and of course the technology) had changed when I retired 25 years later.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Maxine Proskurowski — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 02:03:32 -0000

This was a wonderful article. I am one of those knitters that learned to knit freshman year and have been knitting ever since. I never knit in classes, however, I did knit at assemblies. I wonder what Senator Edward Kennedy thought when he looked at hundreds of young women knitting while he was speaking? I always tell everyone I meet that Holyoke had two unofficial requirements to graduate--to be able to knit and to play bridge.

I always have projects with me, and can knit at those many waiting times I encounter daily. I have also met friends through knitting. My most memorable experience forming connections across cultures occurred at the Frankfurt airport when the airline officials brought a very frightened elderly Afghanistani woman who was crying and screaming. When the woman saw me knitting surrounded by hundreds of other waiting people to enter the big jet, she gravitated towards me and became silent. The officials asked if I would take care of her and left her with me. She sat besides me, held the yarn, patted my shoulder, and also knit my project. We spent the time together until we parted in New York and could only communicate by knitting.

I attend knitting conferences/workshops at least once yearly; and am adventurous in knitting garments, socks, mittens, shawls. I also suffer from "fable syndrome"--fiber accumulation beyond life expectancy.

Every day I thank Mt. Holyoke for my education that is invaluable in my social and healthcare work at a school district, and for my leisure activities of knitting and being involved in the textile art world.

Re: Alumnae in High Tech Cross the Gender Gap

Alyssa Bennett — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:16:27 -0000

I want to correct a mistake in the article. It says I "test Xbox games and Windows phone apps before they’re released to the public." I don't test the actual games or apps. I really test the website publishers use to submit Xbox games and related content to the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Sandy Baran '77 — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:55:59 -0000

I was so pleased to see Sarah Hoag's response re ripping out! That story was told when I was at MHC and I've repeated it myself many times. I've always wondered where it came from. I was a double major in English and Chemistry. I absolutely did not knit in any science classes, but did in most other classes. My mother taught to knit when I was a little girl, which qualified me to play the part of "Grandma" in a Girl Scout's skit. I fondly remember Chanticleer in South Hadley, which is where MHC women of my generation bought their yarn. The other thing I remember is being very jealous of my classmate, Carol Long Loomis, who knit European style and could turn out a sweater in just a few days1

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Sue Dickie — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 08:37:37 -0000

I was at a meeting at a well known Eastern business school several years ago and a woman at the meeting was knitting. While at lunch after our session, I went over to her and asked whether she had gone to Mount Holyoke, and of course, she said yes.

I was never fast at knitting and gave it up after misjudging the gauge on an Aran sweater.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

ann iselin harwood — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 17:58:59 -0000

My grandmother also taught me to knit, on thick light wooden needles with dark yarn when I was six and had the measles. I loved knitting in class, anywhere really, have baskets of yarn, head for yarn shops in any town I am visiting, even Rome--a fairly large town. I still love knitting and can still knit with a pen held between the index and middle finger of my right hand, perfect for taking lecture notes. My congregation now has a knitting group to make afghans, hats and blankets for charity. [I have in my old knitting bag a beautiful unfinished pair of argyle socks intended for an old Amherst boyfriend--the curse of the argyle socks.] Ann Iselin Harwood '62

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Peggy Daus Schwartz 1962 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:50:41 -0000

That was a fun read. I remember crocheting in college while everyone else knitted. My grandmother was still alive (died in63) and the one who taught me to knit had died. Off and on during the past years I've taken up both actives periodically to provide myself a duplicate of something I've seen in the stores. I remember baby psych our first year, the professor told of a student experiment on him. The object was to get him to stay in the center of the front of the room instead of pacing. One day the knitters paid attention when he was centered and knitted fiercely with heads down when he strayed. He said it worked and now he prohibits knitting in his class.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Beth Gardner — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 14:30:49 -0000

Beth Gardner – ‘73

How I enjoyed reading this article and all the comments
attached to it. And I remember every one
of the commenters from the ’72-’74 era who posted. I was a chemistry major and one day in Anna
Jane Harrison’s thermodynamics class I sat at the top of the lecture hall – the
one with the concrete steps in Carr - and decided to knit. I too knew that busy hands left your mind
free to concentrate on the lecture, something I don’t think Dr. Harrison really
understood. Partway through the lecture I
dropped my metal needle and it bounced and clanged its way all the way down those
steps. I didn’t knit in chemistry again,
but did knit in my seminar classes that met in dorm living rooms. I tried knitting in meetings at IBM but that
did not go over well at all. These days
I work from home for Oracle and no one knows that I am knitting while on
conference calls. My love for all
needlework has grown over the years and now I embroider, needlepoint, quilt and
of course, still knit like a fiend.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Margery Peters Gardow '56 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:31:35 -0000

What memories! I learned to knit & crochet from my mother, Pearl Hawkins Peters '29; she taught me when I was home sick from school. Trouble was, I never stayed with either one to do them well. Practice & good stitchery companions at MHC brought me some expertise. I learned to make argyle socks for my man, Ernie, whom I later married; I made him a Norwegian sweater, thanks to the guidance and encouragement, and Norwegian directions (!) from a Norwegian student at MHC (name escapes me now), but then she went home to Norway before I finished it! It was scary to cut into my knitting to stitch in the sleeves, per her instruction!! When the sweater didn't fit him anymore, it went to a younger member of the family.
I remember others knitting socks, lots of socks, Argyles, those with 'clocks' in them at the ankle, of Greek fraternity letters, and especially the little beer mugs with the Greek letters and the angora 'foam' on top! Later, it was making baby things, for our own and others'; nowadays I mostly make things for charities. And BTW, tho' now I can do both, I mostly crochet, as I prefer to drop only 1 (one) stitch at a time!

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Sarah Hoag aka Sally Dunn '63 — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 00:10:58 -0000

It was John Lobb (sociology department) who told the story of noticing a student starting an intricate Norwegian sweater right after Thanksgiving. He assumed she had found a new boyfriend over the Thanksgiving holiday and was disappointed when it was time to leave for Christmas vacation and he hadn't seen the finished product...and realized he wouldn't, as it was certainly a Christmas gift for her beau. After Christmas break he looked up in the class to see her emphatically unravelling the sweater stitch by stitch. They had obviously broken up over the holidays! It unnerved him so much that he was the one who mentioned in the first class of each course he gave, that it was all right to knit, but under no circumstances were you allowed to unravel!

I have told the story many times, generally to illustrate that the knitting in class made one concentrate more on the lecture and to write down only the really salient points!

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Gaby Crane Peterson '83 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:54:17 -0000

I enjoyed both the article and the comments which followed! I, too, learned to love knitting at MHC. A few rows on a "Santa Scarf" at the bell desk were enought to get me hooked. I was a Biology major and remember a classmate who was scolded for knitting in Organic Chemistry because the professor thought she couldn't possibly be paying attention to the lecture. As I recall, she got a higher grade in Organic than I did! Now, I own a yarn shop in lovely Minnesota and get to coach others through their knitting challenges almost every day. Knitting has always served to help me untangle my thoughts at the end of the day...and is one of the many ways my life is richer because of MHC.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Dee Lamb Barstow '55 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:07:16 -0000

I knit constantly in classes when at MHC. Miss Lawson, my favorite poli sci professor and the namesake of Vinnie Ferraro's chair, wouldn't allow metal needles as they made too much noise when they fell, so I had to learn to knit on plastic. The most tedious sweater I ever knit (maroon with lots of cables) was for a Williams student who wore it to chemistry class. That romance didn't last! My most recently-knit sweater was for a great-granddaughter. Time flies!

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Ruth Gerard Poley '58 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:02:05 -0000

When I entered MHC in the fall of 1954, one of my first visits was to the yarn shop, where I quickly established a charge account. I had learned to knit as a child but had never done anything major. My first project was a pair of plaid socks for my father (I still have the pattern). During my four years I made myriad pairs of argyle and cable socks, and
Shetland sweaters (knit, then brush the finished sweater with a hairbrush to raise the nap and soften the sweater). In my junior year, Bulkely Smith, Jr. came to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology fresh from his Ph.D. at Yale. A friend and I each knit one sock of a pair, in class. We then invited him and his wife to dinner and presented him with the socks. He sported them proudly in class the next day by placing both feet on his desk and lecturing from this position for the entire duration of the class. Although I have added needlepoint and other needle arts, knitting is still my first love and I continue to turn out sweaters, afghans, socks, etc. for my family and friends.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Amy McCoy Aliberti '78 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:44:58 -0000

I love the articles on knitting and I was also an enthusiatic MHC knitter. I also remember Jana Kirlin's reindeer sweater (that beau fell to the curse I guess...) and Lauren Fiset taught me to knit with huge needles and 3 strands of yarn at a time to make great afghans. My mom has an afghan that I knitted for her while at MHC, still in use. When I tell people that I knit in my MHC classes, some are aghast and think it was disrespectful to the Prof. But after reading these articles, I think it was proper and my duty to carry on a grand tradition. I can't wait to get home today and start a new project! Thanks for the blast from the past!
Amy McCoy Aliberti '78

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Jane Zippe Putscher '87 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:30:32 -0000

I learned to knit in the living room of Brigham during winter term. I remember watching soap operas (which I had never done, before or since) and making a Lopi Icelandic sweater - I had asked for the yarn as my Christmas present. I did make my boyfriend an Aran sweater..... and then I eventually called off our wedding. :-) I am still married to my husband of 22 years, and I have made him several sweaters, so the curse can be broken! I cannot imagine my life without knitting; there are always at least four or five projects going at once. Thanks for the memories!

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Nancy Bond '66 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:05:09 -0000

Nancy Bond '66 - My mother (MHC '33) taught me to knit before I went off to college. I remember my freshman year knitting a grey worsted cardigan; when Mother came to visit, we went to the yarn shop and I picked out pewter buttons for it. She was a little hurt when I wouldn't let her buy them for me, but really pleased when I presented her with the sweater for Christmas! I knitted all the way through MHC and for many years afterward, then stopped when everyone I knew had enough. Now my sister, who is fiber-mad, has nagged me into starting again and I really enjoy it. Thanks for reminding me of the '60s.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Liz Kormos 73' — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:27:28 -0000

I can't remember who the profession was, but I do remember him telling us the first day of classes it was alright to knit in class but he had one rule. He told us you couldn't unravel your work in front of him. He went on to tell us about the student who knitted a beautiful cabled sweater for her boyfriend all semester long only to come to class one day and unravel the whole sweater in front of him. She had, of course, broken up with her boyfriend. He told us he was heartbroken to see such beautiful work destroyed. Unraveling was therefore prohibited.

I was from Rhode Island and back then there were still lots of textile mills in Pawtucket. When home I would roam the mills for inexpensive yarn. Word got around and soon I was bringing huge bags of yarn back for everyone in the dorm. The yarn was still in skeins and we would spend hours in the dorm lounge rolling them into balls.
Thanks for bringing back those memories.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Kristen Scheyder '92 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:33:59 -0000

When I was a freshman, I knew a senior who had a great blue sweater with the old mhc logo in white in the middle (the one where the "h" was inside the "m") - does anyone have this pattern or is it perhaps saved somewhere in the archives. I've always wanted to make one for myself.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Kimberly Jones Blake '72 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:21:05 -0000

I'm now a college professor myself and have one student who knits and with whom i talk about the activity. I learned to knit as a freshman in Safford and my dad was not too thrilled when i told him what I'd been learning that first semester: knitting, bridge and calligraphy. I no longer play bridge, knit profusely and create invitations and cards using calligraphy. Some of the slides in MHC's collection are labeled with my own calligraphy, still! Or at least whan last I checked, at our 2007 reunion. I feel lost if I'm between projects and am expecting a fourth grandchild soon, so will decide about pink or blue pretty soon -- all the rest are girls! I, too, never knit in my bio classes, but can recall doing so in Southern Africa in Transition, a class where I learend about many countries which now have different names . . .again! Thanks for the reminder about my favoirte sport.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Ann Lyles MacPhail '91 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:20:06 -0000

I knitted scarves for three boyfriends in a row, but stopped when I heard about the curse. I kept the last scarf, but the boyfriends continued to come and go. So much for the curse! The scarf stayed with me for many happy years.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Jenniver Sparano '86 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:04:47 -0000

During my MHC years -- when many of us didn't have TVs in our rooms -- we would gather to watch "General Hospital" in the dorm's TV room. At the beginning of the year, there would be a knitter or two...but as the semester progressed, more would join in. Every couple months, another of the GH regulars would bring along a pair of needles and a skein of yarn that she picked up at the yarn shop that day, eager to learn how to knit. So the experienced knitters would teach the inexperienced, we would help one another fix mistakes, or understand what a pattern was trying to say -- it was a great dynamic that repeated itself in each dorm that I lived in, and is one of my fondest MHC memories.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Hilda Brody Greenbaum 1958 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:44:28 -0000

"Piece Quilting" is my winter gardening project! I started in an Adult Ed. class in 1974 and still find great pleasure in choosing fabrics instead of dahlia tubers and anticipating the thrill of seeing what happens when all the little pieces are sewn together. Not being able to take the larger projects to meetings, I find that the time flies quicker if I bring jacquard stockings to knit on little round needles. It is always a surprise to see what mysteries unfold as I work my way through each skein.

Re: Unraveling Knitting’s Enduring Appeal at MHC

Karla Jacobs (Klasson)'72 — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:30:00 -0000

I remember there were the knitters and the mid-afternoon bridge players and soap-opera watchers, who were often doing all three at the same time. I also remember that one girl was working on a small cap for her boyfriend's "special parts" and one very memorable Eric Anderson concert. He came out on stage, did his introductory patter, and a minute or two into his first song he squinted into the audience and stopped singing. "What are you doing there in the front row?" he demanded. "And there and there and there? Are you knitting? Are you (bleep knitting) while I'm up here performing. How many of you are knitting?" and many of us held up our work. He said, put that away, all of you, or I'm not going to sing another note. We didn't, and he walked off the stage. It was a fine moment.