February Lady Sweater Finished At Last

We are having a grey rainy day, so I am surprised this picture came out as well as it did, though the sweater looks a little lopsided due to my inexpert picture taking. I tried it on, and boy it looks mondo stupid on me. However, it looks cute on its intended recipient and that is what counts. At least this teaches me that this style is not for me.
Next up, now that this albatross is no longer around my neck, will be some more cardigans and some socks for various people. But first, to get us in the mood for the holiday, we plan to indulge in some greasy cheese fries and maybe a burger or two (the husband declared a cholesterol holiday). Before that happens, though, I have to make a chocolate pie and knit on some socks.

Another Needle Holder

Here's my old needle holder, crocheted from scrap yarn and holding a few sock needles with sewing needles and pins all over the outer surface. I like it, but I just needed one that was bigger and less likely to result in injury to myself and with less snagging on everything in the knitting bag. Today I hunted in the sewing room for decorator fabric scraps and an extra leftover gauge swatch.

Here's the finished project. It opens like a book and has a velcro'd flap at the top so that needles won't fall out. There is velcro on the lower corner and an attached elastic strap to keep it closed.

Inside view: On the right are the pockets for needles, crochet hooks and scissors, and on the left is a black surface of knitting (stockinette stitch knitting swatch). I keep all my yarn needles, safety pins for row counting, my cable needle and a few pins stuck through the knitting.

Here's the opened outside view showing the attached elastic strap for holding the 'book' closed.

Now I feel like I accomplished something today. Cost to make: absolutely nothing.

Retro Knit Friday!

We are still traveling back to 1964 at the time of the World's Fair. The first outfit is a sleeveless dress with I-cord belt and roll collar. It is worn with a bulky jacket that doesn't show too well in the photo, but has sleeves set into dropped shoulders. The dress is knit of knitting worsted at 5 sts/inch. The middle outfit is a three-piece suit. The jacket is trimmed with stockinette bands, and the blouse is color blocked with contrast-trimmed tabs. On the right are two classically-styled cardigans, one with a large fair isle pattern and one with stripes.

This page shows a crocheted coat which the directions say is navy blue with a red piping (backward crochet) trim. The description says it has "twin pockets and toggle buttons for ultra smartness". The interesting part of this pattern is that the toggle buttons are crocheted around a 'button mold'. I have seen forms for making covered buttons, but never one for a toggle button. The cute cardigan with cable trim shown on the same page also seems to have covered buttons, and the bands are crochet.

The next page is devoted to the color green. The first item is a side-vented, two-piece suit. The edges of the jacket are trimmed with 'lattice design embroidery'. The green mohair coat has color bands around the collar, sleeve cuffs, and pockets in a darker green shade. In the lower right is a striped mohair shell in pretty subtle colors. Hard to see in the upper right is my favorite item on this page, a little shrug/jacket with cable borders, pattern stitch on the body of the garment, and 3/4 sleeves.

The gold dress, while rather plain in the front, has a neckline that comes to a V in the back, and an I-cord belt that matches the trim on collar and cuffs. The classic set on the right has a slim skirt paired with a striped shell.

In the circle is a V-neck jacket knit of a loopy yarn. Notice that the buttons are covered in crochet of the white loopy yarn. In the upper right is a jacket/cardigan made in a combination of mohair and ribbon yarns. It looks like the borders are crocheted in the ribbon yarn. In the lower right is a crocheted shell with "colorful ball trim". The pullover in the lower left has deep fringe trim on the lower edge. This type of sweater is called a "rib hugger" and was worn with slacks. The pullover in the upper left is knit by the intarsia method and has dropped shoulders and a boat neck.

Still plenty of patterns left to show in this booklet because you really got your 60 cent's worth in 1964.

Today I am busy knitting some socks for the spouse and sewing a handbag. I am also roasting a turkey, the biggest one I have ever cooked, so that we will be sure and have plenty for sandwiches and casseroles. I am usually the rolls and vegetable person at Thanksgiving, so I have to be reminded to make a turkey for us. This year I didn't have room in the refrigerator to store a frozen bird while it thawed, so I was glad to find a fresh economical bird at the Costco that I could bring right home and roast right away. Smells great in here.

Retro Knit Friday!

There are still a lot of fashions to see from the 1964 issue of Modern Needlecraft (site of the recent dinosaur attack). The first photo is an ad for Diamond Yarn Co. The green coat has a removable scarf collar. The grey outfit is a 'Tunic Suit', a term I have never heard before. According to the ad, the fashion colors for that season were muted. Since the whole mod revolution was just around the corner, that wouldn't last long.

The next picture also shows an ad for Diamond Yarn. There is no description of the outfits, both suits, but only a list of available leaflets the company was offering. The cost for a knitting book/pamphlet at that time was about 75 cents.

This next picture brings back memories of a very charming lady who used to knit with me when I was a knitting instructor right out of college. Harby was a real character, a maiden lady who had stayed in the large family home to care for her mother and had missed her chance at a family of her own. She was full of fun and was an excellent knitter. She made this V-neck sweater for herself. I remember one time when a little boy wandered into the yarn department, and Harby said, "What's your name?" The small boy told her to guess. "Kevin?" she says. The boy was astounded and gasped, "How did you know?" but she just laughed. The boy's mom came and took him away, and I asked Harby how she knew his name. "He just looked like a Kevin to me," she said.

Here are two suits, one crocheted of light yarn with darker trim, and one knit in a houndstooth pattern. The white suit shows the influence of the elegant Jackie Kennedy. The patterned suit has an 'easy action jacket closure', a term that mystifies me, and turn back cuffs. Both are posed in front of the globe sculpture from the World's Fair.

We are having beautiful weather here, warm and gorgeous with the fall color at its peak. I have already done most of the onerous chores I was going to do this weekend, so I hope to finish that FLS sleeve and move on to other things.

Change of Pace

I found my stash of old crochet booklets from the early years of the last century and decided to try out some filet crochet. I want to make some insertion for a Mexican top, and also a wide edging for a pillowcase. The insertion is a 'spider' lace. I really like this type of lace, and it is certainly easier to crochet a straight insertion than an edging with scallops. Every once in awhile I go through a period of white crochet work, and it is small and convenient to carry around. There is a box full of yards of laces I have crocheted over the years languishing in the sewing room, so I should go excavate it and actually use those trims.

Retro Knit Friday!

I found this booklet, undated but probably from the early sixties, in a sale bin at a yarn shop in Los Gatos. The whole booklet contains instructions for sweaters using the yarn, Firenze, which the description states is 'a colorfully flecked and textured yarn imported from Italy'. All of the sweaters have a gauge of 3 to 3 1/2 stitches per inch depending on the pattern stitch.

The cover shows a V-neck jacket trimmed with leather buttons and leather trim on the collar that matches the belt. The belt is threaded through slits in the side seams so that the back hangs free. No clue on how to sew leather to a knit, the instructions just say to face the lapels with leather. The pullover on the right has a deep opening in the front which is filled in by a separate dickey.

The raglan-sleeved pullover is trimmed with a large cable on the front and down each sleeve. These sweaters would have been a very quick knit at such a large gauge.

This pullover is of simple design except for the stange 'plastic leather' trim on the neckline and false pockets.

Some of these sweaters combine the Firenze yarn with knitting worsted, as in this pullover. The worsted yarn is knit in a texture pattern that involves knitting a stitch in the row below. These bulkly pullovers were usually worn with stirrup pants or straight skirts.

The instructions for these pullovers are very confusing because the sweaters have 'inserts' that can be knit in the heavier yarn or worsted. They don't show the back, so there is no clue as to how it looks, but I think the sweaters are all one piece with a faux vest.

Not much knitting done this week since I was trying to crochet a white filet crochet trim for some curtains for the girls' room or for an apron. I am working on the second sleeve of the FLS still and ignoring the Monkey socks.