Retro Knit Friday!

This week's booklet is from 1954. This company, Nomotta, also offered the Knit-For-You skirts, but also included instructions for all the skirts in the booklet. The cover jacket, is described as having "the New Look in double yarn" and is knitted with dress-weight yarn knit with the yarn double on size 5 needles at 6 sts/inch.

The skirt patterns offered are a straight pencil skirt, flared skirts, full skirt (it looks like a very flared skirt, not gathered), skirt with godets, ribbed skirt, a mostly straight skirt with a pleated side panel, and various versions of pleated skirts.

This pullover is made with ribbon and yarn in a checkerboard pattern.

I wish they had shown a color picture of this jacket because it is knitted in yarn and metal thread. I thought at first that it had a zipper down the front, but it is faced with grosgrain ribbon and fastened with hooks and eyes. It is knitted with size 2 needles at 8 sts/inch.

This is called an "Easy-To-Make jacket With Cardigan Neckline". It has an attractive texture stitch and crocheted edging. Her peculiar hat looks like a very thick hairpiece.

Here is a fitted jacket with a Peter Pan collar, pocket flaps and ball braid edging. The edging is made in a humorous way: the instructions say to knit a long strip that will fit around the entire outside edge, sew it into a tube, and insert a very large number of wooden beads (but it neglects to tell you what size beads to buy) that have been strung on thread, then to tack the trim between each bead. It is attractive, but that would be a ton of work.

This jacket shows the Spanish influence that was popular during the early fifties. It is called a Matador Jacket, and I know that at the time there were pants called Matador Pants or Toreador Pants, which I think were close fitting and capri length. Notice how her hat looks a little like a matador hat, too.

In knitting news, I have the back of the pale green sweater hung on the machine, but it has been hangin there for several days without anything happening to it, maybe this weekend I sit down and knit it.

No Knitting!

No knitting going on around here, since my daughter will shortly be coming home from college for the summer and I have to move the kntting stuff out of her room. We live in a mid-century ranch house which has pretty small closet space, so I have left the bedroom closet to the use of the spouse and I hang most of my clothes on a garment district-type rack in the girls' room when they are not in residence. When they come home for a visit, I move the rack of clothes into the sewing room, and the only place it will fit is right in front of the knitting machine. Luckily for my knitting, this is the year the girls will get their own apartments and start their adult lives out on their own, so my poor rack of clothes won't have to be shuttled around until Christmas. This means that at this time of year, I shift from machine knitting back to hand knitting. I will start in again on socks and maybe even pick up the Must Have Cardigan again! I do have some nice sock yarn in the stash so should get busy with that.

This is also a busy time of year in the garden. My favorite part of gardening is starting the seeds in their little soil cubes and nuturing the seedlings until they are big enough to plant out.

I usually start lots of vegetables and flowers, and just keep on planting things until mid-summer.

Retro Knit Friday!

This booklet was published in 1949 and highlights wardrobes, kind of a knitted SWAP (Sewing With A Plan). The cover has a red and grey wardrobe that includes a red suit, a grey cowl-necked blouse for late-day wear, a tweed vest, and the popular short cape of the period. I like the hat with the curling feather and the oh-so-politically-incorrect fur wrap.

The red dress is accessorized for evening wear with long gloves, a fox fur wrap, and the peculiar hat with red paintbrushes on the side.

The white hooded evening coat is knitted of knitting worsted with an entire knitted lining striped in gold yarn.




The grey ensemble also has gold trimming and is shown on the sofa for evening wear and below in a butterfly chair for day wear.













The blue dresses are knit of nylon ribbon. The top dress has a stripe pattern in two different yarns, and the bottom suit has covered buttons and a slim skirt.










The back cover shows three blouses. One is a lace-front short sleeved blouse with elastic at the waist. The next is a very modern looking two-tones blouse, and the third is a cardigan with french cuffs that require cufflinks.


Today is a rainy day in the golden state, so I am going to put aside my knitting for the weekend and start some spring sewing.

No Dye Lot

I finished the purple sweater. I had bought an extra skein of yarn because I had changed the design to 3/4-length sleeves, and the yarn wrapper said 'no dye lot". The first 3 skeins were purchased a year or so ago. Well, they exaggerate, because one sleeve is clearly a little different from the rest of the sweater. It is only noticeable in certain lights, and I was only testing the pattern, but still. The raglan design worked out very well. I used the Berroco pattern, Loni, as my template for the raglan. The sleeves are not flat on the top but slope down into the front (I used short rows). It was interesting and really fits well across the shoulders. Next in line is the same raglan pattern with a scoop neck and cardigan front in soft green. May take me awhile to get to it though, because I have to start sewing some summer tops.

Does anyone recognize this baby sweater? This is the famous baby surprise sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. It appeared in this issue of Woman's Day Magazine in 1976. The pattern included some cute booties too. I used to cut out all the knitting patterns from magazines and put them in files, since I was training to be a high school home economics teacher. It is fun to get out the old files and look at the patterns from time to time.

In Progress

Today I am just puttering around working on this and that. I still have the red Fiesta V-neck to sew together (I did indeed have enough yarn to finish it), and I am working on the purple V-neck for M. I was curious to see how the raglan would turn out, and so far it looks pretty good. I have the back and front knitted and am doing the ribbing for the cuffs by hand.

In other news, it is tax day, thank heavens. One more day for him to get through and the season will be over, more or less. The spouse always takes a few days off after mid April to rest and recover. Being a CPA is a strenuous job. He told me that he had 30 phone calls after office hours last night. A little late to be remembering your taxes I think.

Pattern Instructions

I find it very annoying to follow a pattern that is written out in paragraphs. I like to look down at the instructions and see in a glance what I am supposed to be doing. That is why I always chart out the instructions for both hand and machine knitting. It also makes it easier to determine design info, for example, the depth of the V Neck from the shoulders, the depth of the armhole, width of shoulders, etc. Long ago, I drew up some standard sweater shapes, or more accurately, traced some out of the Patons Back To Basics pamphlet, and I just trace them when I want to draw up a new pattern. I also add any sketches of design ideas. That heart is the result of one of my kids trying out a paper punch on my pattern sheet, but at least they chose a blank space to do it in.


I keep all the patterns I have drawn up in a big three-ring binder. I have divisions for children's sweaters, adult sweaters, and other things. I always put a small box in the upper righthand corner where I put in the gauge and which machine I knit it on or needle size.


One of the most useful items I have made for myself is my little book of gauges. I know I should make a gauge swatch for every color of every yarn, since the dye can affect the gauge, but hey, I am way too lazy to do that. So I just make a general gauge swatch for the variety of yarn. I make a long swatch with sections for needle size or machine tension, then I wash it and dry it, then take the gauge. I write it all down in the little book. That way, when I want to change an existing pattern to a different yarn, I just look the yarn up in my book and start the calculations. I will also take a gauge from an existing sweater that has been through many washes to give me an idea of how the yarn will behave in the future.


Today, now that I have finished the black V-neck and done assorted calculations, I am going to start the ribbing for the purple raglan sweater. I think I will make this one a pullover too, since there is no sense going to all the work of a cardigan until I know if the pattern works.

Success

Here's the girl after a hard week at work modeling her new sweater. She complained a bit about having a bad hair day, but all in all, she liked her new sweater and let me photograph her. I was pleased at how it turned out, and have been busy drawing up diagrams for the same sweater in other yarns/gauges. We think we will lengthen it about an inch and try different neck designs and also make a cardigan out of it. She says that I have hit upon the perfect 3/4-length sleeve length, which, for those who are curious, is 11 inches from the beginning of the ribbing to the underarm bindoff. The width of the sleeve at the bicep is about 16.5 inches. During this design process, I looked at a lot of patterns and was amazed at how much sleeve widths vary for the same size sweater. Some were narrow at 15 inches while others went up to 20 inches wide for a regular sweater (not a jacket). I have some purple yarn she likes and some soft green. Once you know it fits, the sky is the limit. One of the design variations I am playing around with is to change the sleeve style from set-in sleeve to raglan, since M likes raglans. I have the design done, but I have discovered that trying to watch mysteries on PBS at the same time you are doing math calculations is problematical.

I don't know what happened to our California spring, it is raining buckets today - in April! I know I am to blame because I spent all day yesterday running the sprinklers on the back yard, uselessly using up gallons and gallons of water for nothing.

Retro Knit Friday!

This Friday's offering is a Columbia Minerva book from 1953. The forties shoulders are now gone, but the post-war skirt length has been continued. The biggest fashion statement has to be the nipped-in waist. Another hallmark of the fifties fashion is the truly peculiar hatwear. I think they gave every shape they could think of a try.

This pamphlet had a page to order a custom-made skirt to match the sweater the knitter chose to make. In this incarnation, all the skirts are variations on the pleated skirt. I wonder what it was like going through your day with some corset device squishing your midsection. Like all things fashion, I suppose women could get used to anything.

This was the heyday of ribbon knitting. Nylon was a fairly new product at this time, and there are whole pamphlets dedicated to the new yarn. It was used for everything, not just baby items. I remember what that yarn was like, since my grandmother must have given me a skein of it. It was very soft but I wonder how comfortable it could have been, since nylon tends to trap moisture. Nylon was made into regular yarns and into ribbon yarns. The ribbons produced during this period were of silk or nylon, and were used to make blouses and dresses. There was a trick with knitting with it so that when pressed or blocked it produced a flat fabric, usually in a basketweave pattern, though it was sometimes used for lace patterns too. The white dress on the right in the colored picture is of ribbon, as is the red dress in the colored picture below, and the checkerboard nylon ribbon blouse.

This item is a two-piece dress. The right side shows the same oufit (plus a peculiar hat) with a jacket over the top. It is called a 'winged' jacket, referring to the wide lapels.

I really like this dress, something about the elegant scrollwork applique on the bodice and the 3/4 length sleeves. It must be a two-piece outfit because it includes one of the 'knit-for-you' skirts.

The light blue dress and the navy dress are actually crocheted with a size 5 hook at 8 DC's to the inch. That must have taken forever to finish.

It must have been elegant and fun to have gloves and hats as required elements of a chic costume. Nothing sets off a fabulous bracelet like gloves.

This top is interesting because it is knitted in a texture pattern with two different yarns, one for the background, a sport yarn, and the purl rows in the fancier dress yarn. Note the fox fur wrap. I never understood the appeal of those wraps, though my grandmother had one. It was like slinging a dead animal around your neck. Well, actually it really was slinging a dead animal around your neck.

First Sweater

Here is the first sweater I ever made. I was in high school and for my birthday that year I asked for some mohair yarn. Mohair was all the rage that year. I didn't get to have too many 'popular' clothes, since there were six kids in my family and money was tight. I got hand-me-down clothes from my older cousins sometimes, and I learned to sew from my mom and from home ec classes in junior high. The only other trendy item in my wardrobe was a wrap-around skirt I made of blue denim. Wrap around skirts were really cute, with pockets and a tie belt, but though cute, every breeze was a hazard to your dignity. I can't remember how long it took to make the sweater, but I can remember how great I felt wearing it. I still have the magazine the pattern was in, Vogue Knitting.

The Adventure Begins

Today the only knitting things I accomplished were the winding up of several balls of yarn on the big capacity winder I got at Stitches this year. After that arm workout, I did a long gauge swatch in a new yarn, ready to toss it into the washer tomorrow. Once I pull that swatch out of the dryer, I can start drafting up a new pattern, using the same pattern as the blue short-sleeve sweater as the base pattern. I am thinking I will make a 3/4 length sleeve, deep V-neck pullover. I finished knitting the Fiesta pullover, just have to sew it together and do the neck ribbing.

I tried to knit a swatch for the yellow crinkly yarn, Bernat Baby Coordinates, I think it is called, but alas, it is a sport yarn and too small for the bulky machine, so I will have to clean up the girls' room so that I have room to set up the midgauge. I would love to have a room to myself to set up my machines, no wait, I do. It is just a little full of stuff at the moment, like fabric and yarn. Maybe the best thing I can do to encourage my knitting is a big spring cleaning.

Retro Knit Friday!

I have started the Fiesta pullover, but I decided to
make the sleeves 3/4 length. The back and front are knitted, and I have two yarn cakes left. Both sleeve ribbings are done, so will there be enough yarn? Each cake is about 6 oz, and I did the whole back with one cake, so I think so. Not bad for one day's work.


This Friday's retro offering is one of my favorite pamphlets, published by Minerva in 1948. I am especially amused by the setting, since it was photographed in the Met in New York, and the exhibits are right out there for the public to touch, stealing evidently not the concern it is today.



This red three-piece outfit is made of wool and has a two-piece dress with matching overcoat. It is photographed in a display of early Pennsylvania-German items. I have seen that painted chest in other books on early American furniture. The gauge was 8 sts/inch.



This grey tiered dress is posed in front of a panel of Egyptian carvings. It is knit from some of the dress yarns of the period (Minerva Stylaine or Monterey) at 9 sts/inch.

The brown dress is called a 'long-torso costume' and is photographed in front of 19th century Duncan Phyfe furniture. It is knit at 9 and 10 sts/inch on size 0 needles!

The bobbly dress in front of the horse in armour is a 'fast' knit at 7 sts/inch.

The suit with the striped jacket is knitted in a sportweight yarn at 8 sts/inch on size 3 needles. I do believe that ladies of the period had to wear a 'merry widow' waist cincher to get those wasp waists.

The elegant navy outfit is knit in a yarn with the fetching name of 'Velveen'. The instructions have the knitter crochet each polka dot separately and sew them on, and does not tell how many to make. I think they could have rethought the dot placement, however. Love the gloves with the bracelet and the classy pearls.

The red outfit is a fitted suit with detachable cape. Short capes were popular in the late forties and you see them with day and evening attire. Look at how perfectly her hat matches the yarn color. In those days it was possible to buy yardage to match the yarn you were using so that you could knit a sweater or top and sew a skirt to match.

My mother did not knit or crochet, but she would have looked fabulous in some of these outfits.

Fuchsia Sweater

I love to put on a big cardigan sweater in the chill mornings so I decided to make a few more of them. I want a washable sweater that can go right in the washer and dryer, because I have been known to go out back and pot up a few seedlings in my sweater, and potting soil does fly about a bit, at least it does for me. I also wanted to try a lace border from Knitting On The Edge.

The sleeves came out a little too long for me, so I cut the lace cuffs off, flipped them over, and grafted them back on as folded-back cuffs. I like the looks of the cuffs, makes me think of Russian garments for unknown reasons. The bands are a combination of garter stitch for about 8 or 10 rows , then a picot edge. The lace edgings were knit by hand then hung on the bulky machine. The sweater is indeed large, but makes an excellent jacket-type garment for puttering around in the mornings. It still needs a little blocking, but that hasn't prevented me from wearing it already.

Back From LA

The girl has arrived back safely from visiting a friend in LA and was immediately made to model the shrug. She also admired her new knitting machine and expressed adequate gratitude to the wonderful mother who got her such a bargain.