Retro Knit Sunday and Air Show!

The spouse got tickets to the air show in Salinas through the office so off we went. The only other time we have been to an air show was in Virginia many years ago, and we left that one right after we arrived because it was too hot and muggy. This air show in Salinas was terrific, and I think I am now a fan of air shows. It was exciting, loud, scary, and I got an autograph. I was sitting in a tent next to an empty table, and the table then filled up with pilot types surrounded by their adoring fans. I got a calendar for my nephew and the famous pilot signed it for me. I had never heard of him before, but apparently he is a big deal in aviation land. That's him flying the red plane in the photo. My nephew should be thrilled.
I took a sock to knit on, but you spend most of time with your head looking upwards, so not much knitting was done.

Now, back to Bear Brand/Bucilla Volume 314 from 1940. The first photo shows a slipover in fine-gauge knitting. They call this texture pattern a 'herringbone' pattern, and it gets the herringbone look from slipped stitches and lifted loops. There is a small collar and a small front placket buttoned with round, silver buttons. The sleeves have the fullness gathered in at the top.

The tweed suit is called 'Campus-Love'. The contrast plaid is both knit in and embroidered. The horizontal lines are knit, and the vertical lines are woven in later, over and under a certain number of rows. The suit jacket has a bit of the era's mannish look with squared off shoulders and the neckline has V shaping. It is knit on size 3 needles at 6 1/2 sts/inch. What is that thing she is holding? Is it one of those portable seats you stick in the ground and then sit upon?

'Cadet' is a two-piece suit. The close-fitting jacket is trimmed with braids that match the skirt. It is knit of dress yarn on size 2 needles at 7 1/2 sts/inch.

This little cardigan with the shawl collar has 10 buttons down the front, and an interesting texture pattern with a woven look. The front bands are single crochet. The description says, 'Choose this semi-tailored cardigan for active or spectator sports'.

This sweater, a fine-gauge pullover, has 14 buttons! At least you wouldn't have to make that many buttonholes because they are decorative only. The high-necked sweater has a zipper at the center back neck opening. Zippers were not called 'zippers' at this time, they are referred to as 'slide fasteners'.

Now I am off to knit a little on the February Lady Sweater and to cook Sunday dinner. Though not at the same time.

Knitting and Inventing

Here's where I'm at with the February Lady Sweater. It's been a long time since I knit a sweater by hand from the top down, and I can't say that I am really enjoying the long long rows around the whole body. It will, however, make the sleeves seem easy. I like this lace pattern, the only lace pattern I have ever been able to memorize since it only has two pattern rows.

The book I am going to show today is an old book for the Brother knitting machine user, from the 60's I think, that I picked up in an antique store in Martinez. The store owner was astounded that someone actually wanted the book, and it only cost me a few dollars. The reason I show this is to point out what a treasure trove of stitch patterns these books are. Sure, they are for the machine, but every pattern has a chart next to it that is totally useful for hand knitting. This particular version of the Brother book has a chapter towards the back with motifs and lace edgings, too.

Here is a page showing some of the patterns and the charts. The lefthand chart is for the punchcard system on these old machines, but the long skinny chart next to it shows the pattern with handknitting symbols. These use the Japanese symbol system but there is a chart in the book telling you what they mean, and they are very similar to ours anyway. There are also nice full-color sections near the front of the book.

So if you see an old knitting machine book at a thrift store or antique store, don't assume that it is not for you just because you are a hand knitter. They contain all kinds of stitch patterns that don't appear in regular books. There are texture patterns, lace patterns, slipped stitches patterns, etc, etc.

I had a somewhat brilliant idea for churning out hats for the rescue mission on the machine. Instead of knitting them one at a time, I can cast on once and knit the hat bodies one after another in a long string with waste yarn between the sections (or ravel cord). Think of the casting on time this would save. I am going to get started on that today or tomorrow. Winter is approaching fast.

Retro Knit Saturday!

The February Lady Sweater is coming along very nicely. I am ready to start the lace portion. I like the way the buttonholes are finished at the very beginning of the sweater. There is a row of many increases at the end of the garter section and the instructions are pretty vague, telling you to increase 38 sts evenly across the 280 or so stitches. I tried it once and goofed it up, ending up with 5 too many stitches, so I cut some scrap yarn into 38 pieces and looped it along the row, trying to space it evenly. Then, when I came to a piece of yarn, I made an increase. This was so easy that I will have to try this method again, its main benefit being no math involved.


Today I am making tortillas using the recipe in Rancho Cooking. Right now the dough is resting but soon I will be shaping the many little balls of future tortilla dough. My daughter is coming for the weekend and she will help me roll them out and fry them up.

While I wait for the dough to rest, we will look at this 1940 volume of Bear Brand/Bucilla Smart Styles. The cover garment is a shorty jacket called "Fair and Square". The description says it is 'a distinctive windbreaker style with a smart roll collar knitted of the new CURLICUE.' That is a great name for a yarn with lots of loops and texture. As the shadow of the coming war loomed on the horizon, many sweater patterns had a larger gauge than before. The wartime knitter had less time for very fine gauge knitting since she was usually in the service or had war work, commercial or volunteer. England was already at war when this was published. The gauge of this jacket is 4 1/2 sts/inch on size 6 needles.

'Fieldster' is another larger gauge jacket knit at 3 1/2 sts/inch. The texture pattern uses wrapped stitches to give a woven look. Edges are finished with single crochet, and shoulder pads are used to give the jacket its shape. The booklet contains a page of instructions for making your own shoulder pads.

'Tuck-In' was to be used as a blouse. The description says that it can be worn with a suit tucked in or out. The back has extended shoulders that are buttoned over the bound-off stitches on the front bodice, and the front is decorated with purl ridges, which also decorate the top of the sleeves. It is knit of a dress yarn at 6 sts/inch.

'Smart Note' has "new fitted feminine lines in suave TRICOLAINE". It is knit at about 6 1/2 sts/inch and has a lovely cable pattern. The puffed sleeves give a hint of the big 40's shoulders that were only a few years away.

This week was my FIL's 86th birthday. We had a nice dinner out at a restaurant, then went back to their place to eat the birthday cake I made for him. I made a chiffon cake, and a layer of meringue. I filled the cake with a raspberry whipped cream and frosted it with lots of plain, sweetened whipped cream. The cake barely fit in the cake-taker container. I had to wedge the top down, and I told myself I would patch up the sides when I opened it up. When I did take the top off, the top half of the cake came with it. I held the top over the poor beheaded cake, gave it a shake, and the top half of the cake fell onto the bottom with perfect accuracy. I smoothed the cream around the sides, and you would never know anything had happened to it. It was delicious.

Retro Knit Friday!

Here's the start of a new sweater: the February Lady Sweater. The color is a dark sage green, very dark. I have always liked the sturdy nature of garter stitch and use it for bands a lot, but this will be the first time I have made a sweater with a whole section of garter. Also in its infancy is another new cardigan. I was going to make a yellow one but couldn't find the yellow yarn. Naturally, I found the yarn as soon as I had finished the ribbings for the periwinkle blue. I am not sure yet what design features to put on this blue 3/4-length sleeve cardigan, but I am sure I will think of something. I am waiting for my knitting books to come back from storage so I can use them for ideas.

We are down to the last few pages of the Bear Brand 1949 booklet. The striped vest is knit at 6 sts/inch of knitting worsted. It is very fitted and the biggest size, an 18, only measures 36 inches through the bust of the finished garment with the front buttoned. The edges are finished with single crochet.

This blouse really appeals to me. Wait, I am having a memory flash, and I think I like it so much because it reminds me of a my mother's best dress. This dress was made in the mid-fifties of wool jersey in brown with reverse applique yellow trim. There is something about the contrast trim on this blouse that brings the dress to mind. The edges of this blouse are finished with knitted hems, and the collar is knitted separately and sewn on.

'Brief Interlude' is knit of sport-weight yarn at 7 sts/inch. The pattern stitch is an all-over pattern of cables and rib. The bands are of single crochet.

Also included in the booklet are instructions for three skirts, a straight skirt, ribbed skirt, and 8-gore skirt. All are knit of dress yarn at 8 sts/inch.

Last is the ad from the back cover. Really, it makes this yarn sound terrific - no shrinking or matting and with 'remarkable resilience'. The ad also offered free instructions for the four sweaters shown.

My FIL's birthday is coming up soon, and I have to decide on what kind of cake to make him. He is very fond of a lovely chocolate cake with whipped cream, though I am not sure of the health consequences of all that whipped cream. But then it is only once a year, right? And it seems to me that when you are turning 86 you can eat whatever cake you want.

Vintage Knit Friday! and Progress Report

Back to 1949! This first sweater blouse is knit at 8 sts/inch in 'Angel Crepe', a lovely name for a yarn. This cap-sleeved blouse has a Peter-Pan collar and is embroidered with metallic thread for the flower leaves and studded with 5 sequins for each flower. The instructions tell the knitter where to mark the garment with a short length of colored thread during the knitting process to mark the place for each motif.

The striped top has the stripes knit in a chevron pattern using bobbins of 4 different colors. The shaping seems to be minimal, just a rectangle with extra stitches cast on for the sleeves and with an opening in the back that is faced with ribbon . The bottom edge has ribbing, and the sleeve and neck edges are turned under and stitched down.

'Arrowhead' is a top of classic design with embroidery on the front yoke. The collar is knitted separately and sewn on . I like the name of the yarn used - Wonderized Ladylaine!!. The perfect yarn for Wonder Woman to use for her knitting.

The Monkey socks are nearing the heel. M wants 5 repeats to the heel because she has made them before and knows what she likes. The yarn has stopped making vertical stripes, thank goodness, and is now wrapping around in a diagonal pattern.

I have most of the strings sewn in on the cardigan and just need to sew on the buttons and block it. A cute 6-year-old girl in Joann's helped me find buttons that match pretty well.

Heirloom Laces

This Jarbo yarn is pooling in a peculiar manner, vertical stripes so far. I am into the second repeat of the Monkey pattern and am enjoying knitting patterned socks for a change. I have made one pair of lace socks and a few Blueberry Waffle socks, but most of the socks I make are plain.

We are slowly putting the bedrooms back together. We have a large IKEA chest of drawers in the girls' room, and during the recent construction activities the bottom drawer jammed in the open position. I was taking everything out of the drawer to see if I could fix it (yes, I could) when I found the big bag of linens from Grandma G that my mother-in-law gave to us. This particular batch of linens were sheets and pillowcases with handwork. The knitted lace is sewn to pillowcases and is knit of a very fine but very strong cotton thread. It is paired on the pillowcases with a band of drawn-thread work. I would say that these are around 100 years old.

Another pillowcase is trimmed with this insertion of crochet. I like this design because it is crocheted onto a length of commercially-made braid which you can see in the middle of the insertion.

These items are in such good condition that they were probably considered too good to use everyday. As a result, they just languished in storage for most of their life and turned brown on the edges of the folds. I am going to have to look up info on laundering such old linens because if they can be washed successfully, they should be used and enjoyed.

Starting New Socks

The Trekking red/black/fuchsia socks are finished. Now on to the next pair. M was over for Sunday dinner and chose this yarn, Jarbo Garn in a dark red, grey, fuchsia colorway. She wants me to knit her a pair of Monkeys. I really must be one of the few knitters on the face of the earth who hasn't yet knit some Monkeys.

The apple green cardigan is nearly finished. I have both sleeves set in, and now I have to find some buttons and do the button and buttonhole bands. There is still a whole bunch of stuff piled in front of the knitting machine, but the spouse is almost done painting the bedroom so we should be able to move the stuff out in the next day or so. I am starting to get ideas for the next sweaters I want to make. All my stuff for the rescue mission hats is sealed up in the girls' bedroom closet, so I'll have to wait a bit to continue with that project.