Kool & Kicky

If you're a vintage pattern collector, you've probably noticed that Spinnerin yarns, in the 1960's, tried some rather unusual motifs and photo spreads for their patterns. Nothing too bizarre - no photos of Vampira modeling sweaters, for example. But I think their "Kool & Kicky" volume comes pretty close with the models they chose. Behold, The Return of the The Wicker Man:

Yes, the Daughters of The Wicker Man have decided to avenge their father's death (a theme common to kung fu films and horror movie sequels). Here they are, in all their beauty. If you suspect they are in your area, carry lighter fluid and one of those bbq fire starters - burning is the only death these creatures know!

This is some of the more pathetic yarn hair I've seen.

This one with her black lace veil is obviously the evil leader among them.

The pink pigtails are effective on this one. This would be the good Wicker Sister, the one who thinks they should give up their pointless plan for vengeance and move on...she loved their father as much as the rest of them, but that doesn't mean he was right in everything...perhaps she's befriended or fallen in love with a human male...anyway, we all know that she will die, too, but her death will be less gruesome than her sisters', perhaps even accidental.

I know, I've seen too many horror movies... (Are you kidding? I just wrote a treatment for 'The Return of the Wicker Man' - a sequel loosely based on the first one, or to be exact, the title of the first one. Hey, in the first Friday the 13th, Jason wasn't the killer - that series didn't suffer much from the change in focus. Killer wicker mannequins - no wonder Hollywood won't hire me to write movie scripts.) But I digress. I was surprised to find that the patterns in this book go up to finished measurements of 44 inches. Shockingly generous in 1967. The designs are all sleeveless; I'll have to hunt down some appropriate yarns and try whipping one of these up. I don't care for the colors, but fortunately there are no pattern police to come around and enforce compliance. I may try knitting them up in the round, too. Surely somewhere in the world wide webz there are some excellent hints for converting flat knitting to round. When I have time to follow up on this, I will report back.