Retro Knit Friday!

This booklet does not have a date on it, but I'd have to say that it is from the early to mid sixties with no sign of mod fashions at all. Almost all of these sweaters are knit at worsted weight or sport weight, the day of the fine gauge having waned. The cover sweaters are classic in style with high crew necklines.



Though the cardigan body of this sweater is nice, the neckline has one of the silliest looking collar treatments I have ever seen on a serious sweater. The ends of the collar ties are just too narrow.




These sweaters are classic early sixties collegiate-type sweaters knit with a sport weight yarn at about 6 sts/inch.













Here are two placket-front sweaters done in sport weight.
The white sweater has a ribbed collar and placket and an attractive cable pattern. The sleeves look like 3/4 sleeves, but since the pattern says to knit 17 inches to start of sleeve cap, I would say that the model just pushed them up. The blue sweater has a wide collar on a V neckline and true 3/4 sleeves.

I think these sweaters were also offered in kit form, since I sort of remember seeing them in an ad in an old magazine. I like the green cardigan with its skirt out of dyed-to-match wool fabric. Some companies at that time offered yardage for sale that matched the yarns. In the early sixties, the straight skirt was very popular. I only wore one once in junior high, and forgot the skirt was so restrictive, but I remembered rapidly when I tried to kick something and ended up throwing myself to the ground.
These evening sweaters are fun, especially the off-the-shoulder model. Fashion blinds you to realities only apparent in hindsight, especially regarding hairdos. The bouffant with the little flip on the off-the-shoulder girl is just funny. I remember the girls ratting (back combing) their hair then smoothing out the top, and the urban legends of the time about girls who found spiders living in their seldom-combed-out hair haystacks.

Here is the progress I have made on the sherbet socks. They should be done in a day or two.

Last night, M and I went to a class at the local yarn shop, Fash-ion Knit, given by Joan McGowan-Michael. I thought the class was very worthwhile. She covered measuring yourself, and fitting knits, and discussed short rows as a help in fitting garments. I enjoyed the class very much, and M got her new book autographed.

Retro Knit Friday!

Now we enter the era of knitting without TV, since widespread TV ownership was still in the future in 1938. The silhouette was long and lean during this decade, but in this late 30's booklet we see the beginning of the 40's shoulders. The instructions for the cover dress, like all the other garments in the booklet, only has Size 16, so the knitter had to adapt the instructions to her own size. A lot of these patterns had a very dressmakerly look to them, like this dress with puffed sleeves and collar. It is knit at 8 sts/inch with a dress yarn called 'Chantilly'.

This dress has a 'soft neckline' made by alternating double moss stitch with increases, then stockinette, then decreases, and repeated to make a ruched looking band.

The ribbed dress has a placket and sleeves bordered by picot, and a very interesting yoke. The decreases are kept in line so the ribbing forms a sunburst pattern. The description says that the dress is "cleverly designed to make you look pounds thinner" and that it is a fast knit. Though at 8 sts/inch, I don't see how that is possible.


The ribbed detail on the bodice of this two-piece dress forms an attractive pattern that leads the eye to the face. It has sleeves with tucks on the top and a small collar. Look at how the gores are highlighted by ribbed detail.


This syle is called "the new silhouette" with banding on the bodice and gathers under the bust. It is knit at 7 sts/inch of a nubbly dress yarn called "Miralaine". The skirt has mock gores formed by purl stitches. The V-neck and sleeve cuffs are faced, and the sleeves have tucks at the top.










The top of this two-piece dress is very interesting. It is knit up to the top yoke, then the patterned yoke is formed by short rows in a stockinette, reverse stockinette pattern. The skirt is a ribbed, mock pleated design.



Here's another dress with the "new silhouette". It has puffed sleeves, flared skirt, gathers at the bust, and a nubbly texture. She is wearing a seashell necklace and bracelet

I was up at the crack of dawn this morning cutting up apricots and making two batches of jam. Now my jam making is done, though I am still swimming in plums. I was proud of my opportunism yesterday when we were out front picking apricots and some hapless dude with various piercings walked by listening to his I-Pod. I asked him if he wanted some plums, and though surprised at being addressed, he agreed, so I brought out a whole grocery bag full. His eyes about popped out of his head, but he took them with many thanks. He had to reverse his course and carry them back home, yelling his thanks down the sidewalk, but I was so glad to have gotten rid of some of them.

Pink Sock

I thought that this sock would go swiftly, being plain and all, but it is just trudging along. This is Lorna's Laces, Sherbet (color), and for some reason, I am having a hard time maintaining a consistent tension on the yarn, and it keeps twisting up on itself. The color is muy yummy, however.

I asked the oldest daughter to send me a few sketches for sweater designs that I could use to adapt the 3/4 sleeve sweater. Here are some of her ideas using both the raglan version and the set-in-sleeve version. I especially like 'C' with a decorative border on sleeves and hem and a deep 'U' neckline.

I am supposed to be resting my injured hand this week, so not much hand knitting going on, but on the plus side, the weather cooled off a mite and the fruit trees are ripening fast. A and I may make several batches of plum jam and apricot jam for her to take off to her new apartment. This tree has several different fruits grafted onto the same trunk, and has never before in its long life had so much fruit on it. I don't know what is so different about this year, but I am glad.

Old Friend

We used to have a great yarn shop down at the old strip shopping center, but it closed its doors some years ago. At the ending sale, I got a Magicord at half price, because it is a mini-knitting machine. I played with it a time or two, and one of the things I did with it was to make the hood cord for a sweatshirt sweater for my dad. Today I am making a few household items, and realized I need a new laundry bag for small items. I have extra fabric, but I needed a cord for the top. Amazingly enough, I knew right where the old notion was, so I hauled it out and attempted to remember how to work it. After a failure or two, I was forced to read the instructions, and ten minutes later I had a few yards of I-cord. Once you get it started, all you have to do is turn the crank.

The cord I knit above is sport weight, and it works fine in the Magicord, but baby yarn is even easier to knit. Here is a pair of booties I made of flannel for my first daughter, so these booties are a good 25 years old. I made this I-cord on the knitting machine before I had the Magicord, and it makes a nice soft tie. The cord ties are just sewn to the side, not in a casing.

You can also make I-cord on a regular knitting machine, and one thing I have always wanted to try is to knit endless cord with all my scraps and make a rug out of it by braiding the cords.

Retro Knit Friday!

The Minerva Style Book, Volume 73, dates from 1947. The cover ensemble is called 'Guardsman' and is supposed to look military. It is knit on size 3 needles at 8 sts/inch of fingering yarn. The jacket is diagonally buttoned and is meant to be worn without a blouse. The skirt is pencil slim and has both front and back slits for walking ease.



The dramatic evening dress is knit at 7 sts/inch in a dress yarn called Minerva Monterey, but the flowers are knit in Germantown yarn. The motifs are knit in intarsia rather that being embroidered in duplicate stitch afterward. The skirt is knit separately from the top, then the two are sewed together.

The model for the Fern Fantasy dress looks a little like Drew Barrymore to me. Look at those shoulder pads! This outfit was supposed to be special because it was designed by a Hollywood designer, Audrea of Hollywood, who I have never heard of but will look up later. The fern motifs are also worked in intarsia and the garment is a dress, not two pieces.

Here is another design from Audrea of Hollywood. I like the lines of this one except for the linebacker shoulders, especially the 3/4 sleeves and the neckline. It is knit of Monterey dress yarn at 8 sts/inch.

The fuller coat topper with a swing back was popular after the war and into the fifties. In this version, the back is very full and the whole garment has lots of dressmakerly qualities like cuffs, yoke, and collar.

Continuing the military theme, this dress is called 'Epaulet'. If you bumped into a shorter person in a crowd, you could put their eye out with those shoulder pads. In spite of that, the whole effect is elegant. Also of Monterey at 8 sts/inch.

'Double Check' is a one-piece dress with gathered skirt worn with a short, checked jacket. The instructions say it was knit in pearl and appleberry, by which I think they mean cream color and apple green. I have heard it said that 3/4 sleeves will fool the eye of the beholder and make you look 10 pounds lighter. They certainly look chic.

This one-piece dress has intarsia panels in the contrasting dress front, a slightly flared skirt, and a knitted bow tie.

Today is supposed to be about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. The weather guys here always talk about the maritime influence and the fog creeping up or down the coast and making its way inland, so the fog is supposed to really get here tomorrow. I will applaud its arrival.

No Knitting Today

Here's why there is no knitting today:

This Is Knitting

This peculiarly useful garment appears in an old volume of mine, 'This Is Knitting' by Ethel Evans, 1948. It is a hospital jacket. The pictures are a little fuzzy, but notice how the back is so short so that it won't drag on the person sitting up in bed, but is long in the front to keep the person modest and warm. I just think this would be great to have for when you are sick at home with the flu or a cold, though it would be easier to get into as a cardigan. The pattern also includes hospital bed socks, which don't look any different from ordinary socks.

I liked the above sweater because I have always been interested in old-fashioned methods of home care for the sick. When my kids were little and had ear infections or whatnot, the only course of treatment seemed to be to pump them full of antibiotics, and I got to wondering what on earth people did in the pre-antibiotic era. I found the book shown here, which is from 1899, and it is full of home cooking remedies people used to use like beef tea, albumin drinks, eggnogs, and lemonades, and other concoctions. There used to be a regular regimen to feeding a sick person in the days before Pedialyte and meds.

I did finish knitting the Fiesta pullover, but then forgot about it. This week I will sew it together and put on the neck border, and continue handknitting the ribbings for a variety of sweaters.

Retro Knit Friday!

This booklet dates from 1942 when there was a Columbia company and a Minerva company, and they had not yet joined forces.

The cover jacket is knit on size 11 needles at 3 1/2 sts/inch. It is called a 'Box Coat'. You would never know from reading this booklet that there was a war on at the time.

The two-piece suit has short sleeves with a squared-off top formed by the use of two tucks on each sleeve. The waist is nipped in and the skirt has faux panels delineated by columns of purl. The whole outfit is knit in an interesting undulating texture stitch. It is knit on Size 1 needles at 8 sts/inch.



I have seen other patterns like this striped, close-fitting cardigan that is knit in bright colors in an elongated stitch. They are usually done in Mexican inspired colors of black, red, yellow and green, but this one calls for brown, surf (blue?) fern green, and copperglo (?). Seems to be about knitting worsted weight at 5/12 sts/inch.


This beautiful, classic, fitted cardigan is called the 'Hepburn'. It has the nipped-in waist and saddle shoulders. The fronts have a moss stitch texture, and it is knitted on Size 5 needles at 6 sts/inch.

The following fashions are also from the 1949 KnitKnacks booklet that I showed last week. The offerings for children are much more classic and attractive than the adult patterns. I do like the ribbed adult blouse with the collar though, and it is knit of sport yarn at 7 sts/ inch. It is similar in style to the lace-patterned blouse for the small girl, a very classic and useful design. This charming child's top is knit of fingering yarn at 7 1/2 sts/inch.

The baby dresses and bubble are very cute. I like the idea of using fairisle knitting to simulate smocking on both the dress and bubble. There is an increase row after the first band of fairisle, then a decrease row before the narrow band of fairisle to make the gathers on the dress bodice. It really looks like smocking.

This little dress is very modern in feeling. I can see it in bright pink, orange,and white or with multi-color dots.

I am gearing up to continue my design exercise on 3/4 length sleeve fitted sweaters that was interrupted by my daughter's visit home before she starts her new job on the peninsula. I am eager to get back to the knitting machine. So far, I have knit a black v-neck pullover with set-in sleeves and a purple v-neck pullover with raglan sleeves. M likes both, but prefers the classic fit and look of the set-in sleeves. I plan some more pullovers and also some cardigans. So far I have yarn in light green (still hanging on the machine waiting), red, grey heather, hot pink, apple green, dark aqua, and light aqua. M wants to look more professional in the office, and her mom wants to encourage this. In addition, I have managed to get A interested in shrugs, so there may be more of those in the future. And what about the Must Have Cardigan? It is waiting in lonely patience in its bag.

Rainbow Socks

I finished the first pair of socks for the summer. Opal was pretty generous with the yarn, and I had lots of yarn left over from the ball.

The length of the color repeats were not the same as I worked my way through the ball, but I matched the colors up as much as possible. A loves them, which is all that is important.

I immediately cast on for a new pair, this time the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Sherbet. I think I will knit a relaxing pair of socks in stockinette with standard heel and toe.

Hectic Weekend

Friday got away from me this week, so here is a very late edition of Retro Knit Friday. This magazine was published in 1949, and not only are some of its offerings not very high on the chic scale, but some of them are downright funny.





The beany hat is not too bad though




This girl is young and pretty, but the sweater makes her look quite matronly. The frilly sweater is just too froufrou, but would have been quite at home in the 80's.

These two sweaters are much more attractive. The dark sweater had a nice fit and interesting details, but I can't quite make out what is going on with the neckline aside from the off-center placket.

The ribbed sweater looks like something that could have come from Lily Chin, but you have to be suspicious when the model is posed in an exaggerated fashion because she may be compensating for some design flaw, like lots of baggy fabric under the arms.

The bow sweater is one of the blouse sweaters so popular during the thirties and forties, but this one is a little too cute for my taste.

And in an era of often silly hats, this hat from an old McCall's book wins the top prize for silliness. It looks just like a nuclear power plant we drove by a few years ago. I like the dress and bolero though.

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