Retro Knit Friday!

I finished up the Sockotta socks and gave them to M, but I forgot to take a picture of them. She says she will send me one. I started those socks on a Friday, and finished them on a Tuesday, so that is pretty swift for sock knitting, for me a least. I started up a new pair in Trekking and have hit several snags. I tried to pull the yarn out from the center of the ball and ended up with an unholy mess so had to rewind the whole ball. During the winding, I noticed that the ball of yarn contains TWO knots which is pretty bad.

This week I am showing the sweaters from Bear Brand Hand Knit Fashions, published in 1949. The book, according to the stamp on the cover, was originally purchased from the Medallion Shop on Haight Street in the City. The color cover shows a dressy sweater called 'Angel Wings' that calls for fingering weight yarn knitted at 8 1/2 sts/inch. The collar, whose points stick up at the shoulders, is knit in a k1, P3 rib and then smocked afterward with crystal beads.

I really like the next dress, called 'Corsage' for obvious reasons. It is knit in a dress yarn with interesting texture and has cap sleeves and a ribbed skirt. The flower design is knit by the intarsia method using six-strand embroidery floss wound on bobbins. The booklet provides a nice big chart for the design.

'Triangle' looks very comfortable with lots of roominess under the arms. It is knit in a dress yarn called Tricolaine at 8 1/2 sts/inch. The V-shaped bodice design is highlighted by a design in metal thread.

The two-piece outfit has a Mandarin collar and 3/4 sleeves with turn-back cuffs. The design element on the yoke gives the outfit its name: On The Square.

'Streamliner', another two-piece dress, has stripes on the bodice front and three peculiar curved things on her right bodice side. OK, the instructions say to knit three pocket backs, so those must be pocket openings. All of these dresses are knit at 8 1/2 sts/inch. Like a lot of the older booklets, there is not very much color photography except for the two covers, but this booklet does not mention suggested colors for the outfits.

The windows are done, but now the spouse has to paint the window walls. This means that my books are still all packed up at the storage place, but at least I can now get to my yarn stash. It is amazing to us how much cooler the house is with the 60-year-old windows replaced by modern double panes. Quieter, too.