Resolutions For 2008

Time to get ready for the New Year. My daughter, M, is going to make 2008 a KNIT FROM THE STASH Year. I, on the other hand, have other ideas. We have successfully come through a half year of severe budget constraints, so, as I enter the new year, I plan to:

1. Finish that darned Must Have Cardigan

2. Buy whatever yarn I want when I want it

3. Make whatever project I feel like, when I want to, or put it aside when I want to

4. Have no, absolutely no, stash guilt

5. Try not to get caught in an avalanche in the sewing room

And there you have it. On to 2008!

Retro Knit Friday!

I can't remember where I got this old Sears booklet, but it dates back to 1965. The cover states that it is a wardrobe created by Lois Holmes of California, who, according to a bio article, was a production knitter who supplied shops in Beverly Hills, Palm Springs and Miami. All of these designs are done in Sears worsted weight yarns. The wardrobe consisted of mix-and-match pieces to interchange for different looks. The cover shows 'The Empress' , a pullover with crochet trim, worn with the straight skirt.













Here the model is showing the basic skirt teamed with the shell.

The color-blocked cardigan is called 'Crazy Quilt Cardigan' and is layered over the shell and skirt. LH says, in the text, that this outfit is perfect for club meetings, luncheons, or shopping sprees. The cardigan is trimmed with crochet.

A classic sailor cardigan with a somewhat giant tie. Those sunglasses are pretty funny, but it was 1965. The collar is knit in one piece but it has two layers. The contrast band in the back of the collar is knit as a stripe into the middle of the collar piece, then the side borders are knit on last.

There are more pieces to this wardrobe, so I will show the rest next week.

Retro Knit Sunday!

Only one more day until Christmas Eve. I have finished all my sewing, the daughter is home for the holidays to do the Christmas baking, so I guess I will wrap the presents. Instead of getting right to it, I will take time for a little blast from the past from Spinnerin Volume 163 (1963). The first picture shows a classic cardigan for men. That model looks a little like Bobby Flay to me. The instructions for this sweater come in three yarn weights, sport, knitting worsted, and bulky. Kind of a Mr. Rogers sweater, but still nice looking.

The red sweater is called 'Daytime Intrigue'. I wonder if it was a chore to have to think of names for all the designs in all the many books Spinnerin put out. Anyway, this is a classic sweater with attractive front detailing with cable and ribs. It is knit in knitting worsted weight yarn at 5 sts/inch on sizes 5,6, & 8 needles.






"Very High Fashion' was a his-and-hers sweater with instructions for sweaters to fit both men and women. It is knit of knitting worsted at 5 sts/inch, and the V-shaped pattern is embroidered on after the sweater is knitted.

This pullover is knit of three different strands of yarn held together. The collar is divided in the front but can be buttoned into a turtle-neck position.

These two are called 'Cheerful Caprice' and 'Unerringly Chic'. His sweater , knit of knitting worsted, also has instructions for a 'Her' version. 'Unerringly Chic' has instructions for the pullover with tab front and one button, and the skirt.

My daughter wishes to make her Christmas cards, so it is time for me to go into the sewing room and try to find my hoard of colored papers. I will try to avoid the usual sewing-room avalanche.

Pacific

Not much (or any) knitting content today. We had to go to the Monterey area for business this weekend, but after the business part was done, the spouse suggested we walk on the beach. I have been to Carmel-By-The-Sea many times, but never down to the beach there, so it was all new to us. Ocean Avenue ends in a small parking lot and a drop through lovely soft sand to the beach below. The waves were extremely large and high because of the storm that was headed inland. A lovely overcast day.

Heading down the dune to the Pacific with the curve of land in the distance.

Large curly waves. Must not be a surfing beach because not a surfer in sight.

View down the beach to the golf course in the distance.

The view across town to the sea over the rooftops of Carmel-By-The-Sea.

I guess I feel obliged to add some knitting content. Did you know that that odd long needle that has been sitting in the box with the knitting needles for decades without being used, the odd one with a hook on the end (I think it may be an afghan stitch crochet hook) is excellent for fishing a clog out of the end of the vacuum cleaner hose? And I must observe that people who sew and knit can produce lots of fodder for vacuum cleaner clogs. At least the masses of threads and fabric scraps are colorful.

Retro Knit Friday

I have finally finished the Christmas present for my nephew's little boy, a book of family stories illustrated by me. I had run out of humorous stories about my own branch of the family, but my lovely MIL took me aside at her birthday party on Sunday and told me some really funny stuff about my brother-in-law, the little boy's grandfather. These embarrassing tales were very shortly immortalized in living color. Here is a sample page from my favorite story, wherein my BIL gets his head stuck in a gate and a rescue must be arranged. There is also a great story where my BIL runs away and sneaks into a field and gets chased by a bull. Ah, the good old days!

Our retro offering for this week comes from a booklet I found in a bookstore in San Jose. This is Spinnerin Volume #163 which sold for $1 in 1963, the year it was published. This first pullover is knit in knitting worsted at 5 sts/inch on size 7 and 9 needles. It has a boat neckline, dropped shoulders, and the longer length of a ski sweater. I recall that skiing was a popular sport back in the sixties, if you could afford it. Lots of my school friends would go up to the Sierras with their families in the winter for the skiing and would sometimes come back with broken legs. I have never gone skiing in my life (which is a lucky thing for me, I think, not being overblessed with coordination) but I have always liked this look, popular in the sixties, of long, lean stirrup pants and a long ski sweater. Though I have always wondered if that would really be warm enough for outdoors.


This shorter sweater is a fifties throwback, and there are instructions for three different yarn weights. The sleeves are really big squares folded into tiangles and sewn in place, resulting in a batwing look. This is not the world's most attractive sweater.

'Furred For Fashion' has a texture stitch and fur trim. It has a classic jacket shape and is knitted at 4 sts/inch on size 9 and 10 1/2 needles. It would require some advanced sewing skills to sew that fur, which looks real, around the collar to look as nice as it does in the photo.

The yellow sweater has several interesting features. It is a stockinette raglan pullover, but the bottom section is knit in a pattern stitch with slip stitches that creates a fabric that looks like cross stitch fabric or huck towels. This is later embroidered in a pattern that does look like huck towel embroidery (Swedish Weaving).

Another raglan pullover, this one called 'Stunning Impact'. It is also knit in knitting worsted. The bands of color are knitted first, then the center black motifs are embroidered.

I spent today doing fascinating things like changing sheets, clearing a clog from the vacuum cleaner, and going to the hardware store. Now I am going to go sew some more.

Almost Done With Christmas Sewing

And when my Christmas Sewing is done, it will be back to the knitting machine. In the meantime, I may as well show a picture of my Royal Jumbo Yarn Winder which I got at Stitches last year. I just love this thing. I chose this one over the wooden one at another booth because it is similar to the little ones I had for the knitting machine, and it doesn't have any belt mechanism that might need adjustment. It works like a charm and makes lovely big yarn cakes almost as big as my head.

I approach Stitches with a different plan from most people at the market in that I never buy yarn, unless I am buying sock yarn for my daughter. I go to look for books and notions. I save up my spending money months in advance and allow myself one big purchase like this winder, a computer program, or an instructional video. Now that M is back living in California, we go together, sometimes with my sisters. Stitches used to be held in Oakland, but now they are holding it down in Santa Clara near San Jose.

Now I have to head back to the sewing machine.

Retro Knit Saturday!

The husband's big birthday was very enjoyable. He liked his new socks and hat, and ate delicious cake. I made the Barefoot Contessa cake, Beatty's Chocolate Cake, from the recipe on the Food Network site, and frosted it with chocolate whipped cream. That cake recipe is a keeper, very easy and moist, and made with no butter. It uses buttermilk, coffee and salad oil as the liquid ingredients. I think this will be my go-to chocolate cake recipe from now on.

My new mittens have not progressed much because of Christmas sewing.



This week we are going to look at the very first issue of Needle and Yarn which was published in 1963. The cover outfit is peculiar but colorful. The roll-collar blouse has a multi-color fringe trim that matches the "bon bon" stripes in the slightly A-line skirt. It is knit of Bernat Mohairlaine on size 6 and 8 needles at 5 sts/inch. I have never heard the term "bon bon stripes" before, so I wonder what that means.



The sheath dress is different from the ribbon patterns of the fifties in that the ribbon seems to be much wider or thicker. The fifties ribbon knitting was done at a much finer gauge, but this dress is made on size 10 needles at 3 1/2 sts/inch. The style is attractive and classic.




The production values in this magazine were not very high because the paper quality is poor. It is like thick newsprint paper, unlike the gorgeous paper used in Japanese magazines. The next garments are a three-quarter length coat knit in a bulky textured yarn called 'Fleisher's Nubby-Fleece' at 2 1/2 sts/inch. The picture gives the impression that it was meant to be worn with the dress shown, but the patterns appear pages apart in the magazine. The dress is an A-line coat dress knit in Bernat SunlinSpun at 5 sts/inch. It has pockets that are knit by the pocket lining method by creating a separate pocket lining that is added at the time you leave the pocket stitches on a holder when knitting the fronts.



These two pullovers use color blocking. I like the "Bib Pullover" with its V-shaped front color blocking. The other pullover is called "Argyle Stripe Pullover". It has classic styling except for the pointed tabs created at the bottom of the pattern panels that add a touch of whimsy.

And lastly, the Mother Hubbard version of a bathing suit. This is the kind of modest suit that was worn by Annette in the Beach Party movies. It is knit of Red Heart Super Fingering at 10 sts/inch on size 1 and 2 needles. I can't help but wonder if a knitted bathing suit would soak up the water, be very heavy, and sag all over the place in embarrassing and revealing ways.

We had our first good rain in ages Thursday, but now it is back to being clear and cold.