Retro Knit Saturday!

This has been a week with absolutely no knitting. Wait a minute......I just ran and knit 5 stitches on the rescue mission hat, so there, I did knit this week. I did go to the Yarn Boutique and cash in my gift certificate for Mother's Day though. I got two patterns, one for a sweater and one for a really cute shrug, three sweater clasps, some Addi lace needles, and some cable needles. I really wanted to get some sock yarn, but the girls made me promise to get stuff for myself and not sock yarn for their socks.


Now we will finish up the fashions from the Minerva 1939 booklet. You really got a lot of patterns for your 25 cents back then, but even in the fifties you could buy a pound of hamburger for under a quarter, so I guess it was a lot more money then than it seems now. The little girl's outfit was written in size 10. All three pieces are knit at 8 sts/inch. There is a pullover blouse, a cardigan, and a suspender skirt. The materials list says that the blouse is white, the skirt is colonial blue, and the sweater is scarlet. Both the skirt and blouse have a ribbed pattern. Look at all those buttons on the cardigan - a dozen of them.


The cropped cardigan blouse uses the striped pattern to add fashion interest with the stripes changing direction on the yoke. The description calls it a 'dressmaker sweater' and says that the use of three colors gives that 'straight shoulder, slim waist appearance.' The sweater was knit of three possible yarns, Velveen (love that name, so descriptive), Woolgora, or Featherdown. There are three possible color schemes listed, and it is fun to see what was considered a hip color scheme 50 years ago. The first is White, American Beauty (red or rose?), Lime, and Imperial Blue. The second is Sea Green, Larkspur (a blue), White, and Rose Red. The third is White, Lime, Fuchsia, and Regina Blue.

This bold striped pullover is knit at 6 1/2 sts/inch in White, Turquoise, and Lagoon Green. The contrast placket, collar and pockets are knit in Navy.




A fairly simple fitted cardigan with lots of buttons. Even the pockets have two buttons. They certainly liked their necklines high and small in those days. Notice also how high the cut of the armhole is. From the chart it looks like only a 7-inch armhole depth.

Instead of my usual knitting, I have been sewing summer Mexican blouses and summer jumpers for me. Last year I used my old denim jumper so much, especially in Las Vegas, that I decided I needed a few more. I have a beautiful overdyed denim, a cocoa brown denim, and a floral linen to make jumpers from. I am almost done with the brown jumper.