Retro Knit Friday!

I picked up this booklet at the thrift shop recently. It does not have a date on it, but I would say mid to late sixties. They are mostly classic styles with a few humourous items thrown in for laughs (my laughs anyway). The front cover has a basic attractive Aran pullover knit in knitting worsted on sizes 4 and 10 1/2 needles. The back cover has another basic pullover with color blocking and ribbed detail, but most importantly, that girl has cute hair. That is the haircut I tried to get in high school, but could never quite manage to achieve.

The jacket and cardigan set are knit of knitting worsted in reverse stockinette with a woven-look trim done in a stripe pattern. The woven detail is done last with three strands of yarn embroidered into the stripe pattern.

Here's another pullover and cardigan combo, also done in reverse stockinette. The pullover has raglan sleeves, and the cardigan has set-in sleeves. The cable/lace panel up the fronts is done in stockinette. It is also knit of knitting worsted on size 9 needles.

These sweaters give me the creeps. You'all know I hate those bobbles because they give out unpleasant skin disease vibes. Oh my goodness, these are just as ugly as it gets, to me anyway.

I always thought those big collars looked chic. I have never worn one so I don't know whether they are comfortable or not, but paired with 3/4 sleeves as in the sweater on the right, it really looks nice in a sporty way. It is knit in a rib pattern at 4 sts/inch on Size 10 needles. The jacket is very interesting in that it tries to achieve a high-fashion look. The covered buttons look great, but that belt, which is sewn into the side seams, is made of "plastic leather", and has a bit of the straightjacket look to it.

The weather here has gotten cold at night, though the days are very sunny and pleasant. I am spending most of my time making Christmas presents and ignoring the housework.

Happy Birthday

Finished the birthday knitting for the husband. His birthday is not for two weeks yet, so I might have time to make him a pair of mittens, too. I have been reading that it is supposed to be a cold winter this year, so if it is, he will be ready.

29 Days Left Until Christmas

Though I am busy sewing Christmas presents, I am also thinking of the next sweater. Here are the ribbings ready to go in a bright apple green. The color is so strong that I am just going to make a plain cardigan with 3/4 sleeves. It will look very nice with navy blue wardrobe items.


M gave me these two colors of Lion Brand Baby Soft. These are not your usual blah baby pastels, and they go together so well. Our Joann's does not carry these two colors but M found them in LA when she was visiting a friend. The colors are a pinky lavender called 'Violet' (Color No. 191) and a great soft acid green called 'Pistachio' (Color No. 170). I only have one ball of each, but I want to use them together, so maybe a hat and some mittens. These balls have 5 ozs and 459 yds each, and this yarn knits up easily and well on the machine.

I was reading the BrainyLady knitting blog (http://brainylady.blogspot.com/) and Alison showed her old book, The Complete Book of Knitting. This reminded me that I also have that book, so I went to look at it again. This is a wonderful old book from 1947 with many old patterns in it. Alison is making some great mittens from this book, which I would like to make when I have the time. One of my favorite patterns in this old volume is the ruffled bedjacket. I love the idea of bedjackets, because it brings to mind cozy evenings reading in bed. This particular jacket has an interesting ruffled edging that would look good on a baby item too. I have long wanted to knit a baby dress, and this ruffle would look good on the bottom edge of the skirt and sleeves. The jacket is trimmed with velvet ribbon. You don't see much done with velvet ribbon anymore, but I remember it from my early childhood on some of my little dresses.


























I still have two sweaters to assemble, the V-neck pullover in Fiesta and the Ranch Red cardigan, but that will not stop me from starting anything new. I am in the home stretch on the second tan sock, and may start some hats for Christmas gifts.

Patons Cabled Hoodie

My daughter is home for the holidays and asked to do most of the cooking for Thanksgiving. I am not a fool, so I said 'yes', and now I am taking my ease on Thanksgiving and goofing around instead of peeling potatoes. She also brought one of the sweaters I knit for her about two years ago, so I had her model it while the rolls were baking.

This is the Patons Cabled Hoodie. It is knit in Caron Simply Soft, which is the only yarn we could find with the particular rich dark red color she wanted. It has been in and out of the wash many times and still looks pretty good. The color line across the sweater back is from the light from the window, not mismatching dyelots. This yarn tends to get much softer and drapier with washing and machine drying, so you should not use it for a garment which needs to be very structured. It seems to be holding up well though. At first she was complaining that the sleeves had grown in length very much, but then she remembered that the cuffs were meant to be turned back and all was well.

I am still working on the second tan sock for the spouse, and sewing a lot of Christmas presents.

Retro Knit Friday!

Here's a view of a street over by my childhood home showing the fall colors that we get here in California. It does not compare with the great reds and oranges back East, but it's still lovely in its own way. And besides, the fall color means that it's not 110 degrees outside, so it's all good. They trim the trees away from the power lines, which leads to odd-looking trees like the yellow one in the foreground.


We are still looking at the styles from Fleisher's Volume 91, from 1952. The first page shows a group of three sweaters called 'Round The Clock Sweater Blouses'. The top sweater is shaped like a polo shirt, but is crocheted in a glitter yarn, has the typical 50's Peter Pan collar, and cuffs on the short sleeves. The middle sweater has a lace pattern on the bodice and sleeves set off by a ribbed midriff, cuffs and neckband. The bottom sweater has a modern-looking pattern of blocks of texture against a stockinette background. It is knit on Size 1 and 2 needles at 8 1/2 sts/inch.


The striped top has a diagonal line down the bodice front set off by small squares of color. It is very striking with its short kimono sleeves and bateau neckline. The picture is black and white, of course, but I see this sweater in my mind in navy and white with small red squares. The crocheted top is made up of small granny squares. It requires 165 large squares and 38 half squares. At least it would match absolutely everything in your wardrobe.


These next two are called 'Middy Type Pullovers' for unknown reasons. Maybe it refers to the longer length. I don't understand the fashion of turning up the bottom couple of inches of the sweater, a fashion usually seen on menswear sweaters of the period. This is the first time I have ever seen it on sweaters for women. Other than that, these are lovely classic styles. I especially like the wide ribs of the bottom sweater that turn into cables across the upper chest.


This pattern lets the knitter make a vest or a cardigan. The cardigan has the ribbing knitted around the armholes the same as the vest, and the sleeves are sewn in under the ribbing, leaving the band free. The checkerboard pattern is knit with bobbins.






These are called 'Practical Favorites'. The bottom sweater has appeared before in other volumes and is a typical fine-gauge cardigan with 3/4 sleeves, picot edging, and beaded trim on collar and cuffs. I remember my grandmother trying to get me to sew sequins or beads on a plain cardigan I made in high school and not understanding why I didn't want to do that. The other two cardigans have dolman sleeves. The top sweater has 3/4 sleeves, a shawl collar, and comes only to the waist where it fastens with two large buttons. The middle sweater is knit from side to side. I have always wanted to try that, maybe only on the fronts so that a fairisle pattern would be vertical on either side of the button bands.

I am still working on the husband socks. Looks like I will not have the Must Have Cardigan done for Thanksgiving, seeing as how I have not knit a stitch on it. Oh well.

November Knitting

Since the last thing the spouse would ever do is to read a knitting blog, I feel safe showing the progress I have made on his birthday present. I finished one pair of socks and made a watch cap to match. The cap pattern came from an old Patons booklet. Top of the cap looks pretty funny in the picture, but looks fine when the cap is on someone's head.

I have one sock done on the second pair. It is the same sock pattern (52 sts on Size 4 needles) but the stitch pattern is from the Blueberry Waffle Socks. All items are made from Woolease.

The spouse requires new hats from time to time. He loses them, shrinks them, burns them up (hanging to dry too close to the heater), and wears them out. This may be California, but it can get down to the 20's some years, so he needs a cap for working in the yard and for driving to work.

Retro Knit Monday!

Had a very busy weekend. I went with my daughter and sister to the bead show in Oakland. I was not really in a bead-buying mood so I only picked up a few things and a present for Beanie, but M bought quite a few things. From there, we headed over to the peninsula to pick up A. After another tour of A's new apartment and a stop for delicious Thai food, we went to the Event Center in San Mateo for the Creative Festival. I was looking for a computer program to draft sewing patterns, but most of the booths had quilting fabric and patterns. So most of my birthday money is still unspent. On Sunday, the spouse and I searched for a new vacuum cleaner and were ultimately successful. My criteria for a vacuum cleaner are simple: well rated by Consumer Reports, doesn't fall over and hit me when I am using the wand attachments, and doesn't require remortgaging my house to afford it.

My weekend knitting was pretty sparse. I am almost done with a watch cap for the spouse to match his new socks. I also found two more sock colors for him, a tan and a grey. Hopefully I will be able to make another pair or two before his birthday.


These vintage knits were also from the Fleisher's Vol. 91. The top sweater is an evening sweater with angora yarn around the neckline and smocked darts. The darts are a panel of p3, k1, p3, k1, p3 which are embroidered later with metal thread to resemble a smocking stitch. It is knit at 8 sts/inch in a yarn with the cute name of 'Twinklette'.

The bottom picture is of an angora shrug. The instructions are only 2" long, since it is a simple rectangle with cuffs at both ends, sewn up about 10 " from edge of cuffs. It is knit on Size 10 needles at 4 sts/inch.


This classic dress has kimono-style sleeves and a texture trim at midriff, cuffs, and hem. It is also knit of Twinklette at 6 sts/inch on size 7 needles for the bodice and size 8 for the skirt.

This dress is called 'Basic Dress'. It starts off with a basic ribbed skirt, and the ribs are carried up into the bodice and echoed on the cuffs and collar. I don't know what to say about that hat, it seems to be a throwback to 1895.

This dress is very Hollywood. It has a draped and wrapped bodice, kimono sleeves, and skirt with ribbed godets. It is knit in a textured yarn at 7 1/2 sts per inch. You can imagine Lana Turner wearing a dress like this.

The next dress is a two-piece 'Middy Dress' with a knife pleated skirt. Look at the nice crisp pleats you can achieve with ribbing and slip stitches, although I think I would be daunted by directions that started with 'Cast on 650 stitches'. Most skirts started at the bottom and were decreased gradually up to the waistline. The top has set-in 3/4 sleeves and a low cowl neckline.

My plans for today are to finish off the watch cap and start a new pair of husband socks.

Darning Egg

I have a small wooden darning egg on a handle that I use to darn socks and until now, used to help me graft the toes of socks. It seemed a little small for the grafting job, so I set out today to find something better. Here it is, the perfect size, and you really can't beat the price - 99 cents. It is a papier mache ornament meant to be decorated, and I got it in the craft department of Beverly's. I also got a wooden ball the same size in the section that has the wooden cutouts for painting.



Here it is in the sock, and you can see that it will make grafting the toe so much easier. I like to take the stitches off onto waste yarn of a contrasting color, because that works better for me to adjust the tension of the new stitches. In a few minutes, I will have finished the first pair of husband socks.

Weekend Knitting

The first husband sock is done. I chose a time when he was watching sports on TV to prop his foot up on the footstool and measure it. He was engrossed in the game, so he probably won't even remember it. This is made from chocolate brown Woolease, which he likes. It is done on Size 4 needles on 52 stitches. I figured that the rib stitch would make any sizing problems moot. It is a real pleasure to knit a sock at a larger gauge because it goes so quickly. I also have some regular sock yarn, also in brown to make more regulation socks in a finer gauge. Pickings are slim for manly colors in socks, I find.

As proof that I really did finish off the other front of the cardigan, here are pictures to prove it. Have no plans to sew it together this week, because I am mostly making socks and wrestling with the Weekender Travel Bag (Amy Butler). Sewing piping into a thick seam is the pits.

Retro Knit Saturday!

Fall in the garden! This year the blooms have lasted longer than usual so there is still some color in the garden. In honor of cooler weather, here is a vintage volume from 1952.









The cover dress, much to my surprise, is crocheted. Makes you wonder why they did not just knit it up in garter stripes but who knows? It is made with a Size 2 plastic hook at 17 sts to 2 inches. The resulting dress must have a firmer fabric than it would be if knitting had been used instead of crochet. From this picture it looks like a fur stole was not just evening wear.

This sheath dress is knit in the lace pattern that Barbara Walker, in her 'A Treasury Of Knitting Patterns', called Frost Flowers. BW says that it is an old pattern dating back to the early 1800's at least. It is a stitch pattern with a sophisticated appearance (BW says that though it looks complicated, it is a simple lace with 4 basic rows) that creates an interesting scalloped bottom edge. The dress is shaped with ribbing in the hip-to-waist area.

The colorwork on this suit is modern and fools the eye into seeing a wider bust and narrower waist. The outfit is knitted with Size 2 needles at 8 sts/inch, and the colorwork is done with bobbins. The sleeves have arrow-point tabs on the cuffs and yarn-covered buttons are used on the cuffs, belt, and front closure. She is fully accessorized with belt, handbag, gloves, hat, and pearls.

A fifties Gypsy dress! Movies of the forties and fifties used to feature Gypsy characters from time to time, and the Gypsy was a common Halloween costume at the time. This dress is called 'Gypsy Striped Dress' and is knit of a textured yarn at 7 1/2 sts/inch on Size 3 needles. It calls for 8 different colors, including a metallic yarn in copper color. Here's the color scheme: desert gold, taffy, redwood bark, cinnamon, dark brown, chartreuse, pine green, and the copper metallic.

Isn't this a great dress? It is knit at 8 sts/inch of a slubby yarn called, descriptively, Nubbee. I like the way the dark band between the two main colors of the bodice carries the skirt color upward and ties the colors together. The belt exactly matches the midriff color creating a leaner line. Look at those great gauntlet gloves!

I am proud to report that I finally finished the other Ranch Red front and now only have to assemble the sweater and do the bands. I may have to put this off, since I have some socks to knit for the spouse's birthday in early December. I was upset to discover that I lost one of my Knitpicks sock needles. I had carried the darn sock around the house looking for the best light to take a picture of it, and when I went back to knitting on it the next day, one of the needles was missing! I wasted many minutes searching all over for it, but later that night, when I was locking up for the night (which I do in the dark carrying a flashlight) the beam of light glanced off of a thin sparkle, and hooray, there was my needle in front of the back doors. So all is well in Sockville.

Shaken

This should be a lesson to me as one of the evils of having several projects going at the same time and forgetting to keep proper records. I started this sweater a while ago, and I now believe that the weight of the yarn is not appropriate for the design I had in mind. I was going to make a cardigan with garter borders and 3/4 sleeves, but the yarn is too fine a gauge. Besides, I forgot to make a note of what size needle I used to make the two borders I completed. I think I am going to rip the whole thing out, such as it is, and design another sweater better suited to the finer gauge. I have been meaning to try a hemmed garment (translate this into being too lazy to handknit yet another set of ribbings right now) so I may go in that direction. I do like this luscious pink though.

I am still working on the second front to the Ranch Red cardigan, but was sidetracked into ripping out the Jaywalker socks. M has been after me to finish up the Must Have Cardigan, and since it is orange, I am going to try to finish it up by Thanksgiving. She wants to try it on to see if that size will fit her.

We had a little excitement here on Tuesday night with a rather large earthquake in the South Bay. I was knitting while sitting on the bed, and the whole bed swayed like a boat on the water. We are quite far from the epicenter so the quake here was short and mild, but I followed the proper earthquake procedure, which is to yell to the spouse "Did you feel that?" then to get on the phone and call my father and daughter to ask "Did you feel that?", then to get on the computer to the USGS to see how big it was and where it was centered. Once again, I had heard the neighbor dogs having a conniption fit of frenzied barking early in the afternoon. It turns out that there was another very small quake on our local fault about that time. It is funny how the animals can sense or be confused by the change in magnetic whatzit or whatever it is the quakes emit. Right before the last really big one (Loma Prieta, Oct. 17 1989) a bird flew down the vent for the stove fan and died there.

Well, enough scary earthquake talk. Time to go finish that other front.