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.