Retro Baby Knit Tuesday!

Back to the Nomotta Baby Book from the sixties, probably. The first design is a hooded cardigan knit in worsted weight on size 5 needles. The textured design is made with cable stitches which would give a weight and thickness to the fabric. I like the tab with the button at the neck.

Most knitting books with garments for infants and children from the 40's and 50's showed knitted snow suits. I've always wondered how warm a knitted snow suit would be, even in wool. It would have to be only one of many layers of clothing. The following snow suit has a cabled cardigan, pants, hat, and mittens and is knit of 'Germantown Zephyr' at 5 sts/inch. I think that if I was knitting a suit for my toddler to wear in the snow, I would make it bright red so you could spot the child when he falls into a drift.

These are well-designed, classic-looking coats in a pattern stitch and tweed stitch with matching hats. Though I don't know what good it did to bundle up your child and leave them bare to way above the knees. The very short child garment was common beginning in the thirties, I think.

The sleeping sack below is called a 'nightie', so it must be to keep the child warm when the covers are kicked off in the night. It is crocheted in baby wool.

The little two-color jacket and bonnet have textured stripes in a contrasting color. The picot edging gives it a feminine look, and it would be very cute in pink and white. It's knit from the bottom up in baby wool at 8 sts/inch.


I am still working away on the blue socks and have just turned the heel. The yarn is very soft, having bamboo in it (Deborah Norville Serenity), but I am using size 1 needles and the going is slow.

Cold Winter

We haven't had a winter this cold in years. The last time this happened, all my freesias bit the dust. It was 26 degrees outside this morning, which is not much for other places but very cold for California at sea level. A storm passed through and there is a lot of snow on the mountain, well, more than usual:


The spouse says it is a very good thing we finished off the window replacement or it would be even colder in the house. I am enjoying not having to wipe the condensation off the windows and window sills every cold morning all winter long. Free at last.

Here's a view across town on a cold evening.
I have finally started working on the cafe cardigan again, sewing in all the ends. I hope to have the buttons sewn on by the end of the week. Perhaps.

Happy Thanksgiving

One Thanksgiving down, one to go. I am turning the heel on the Deborah Norville sock between bouts of activity in the sewing room. We still have lots of stuff in the storage unit, mostly yarn, that has to come home, but I am gradually getting the room back in order after the window replacement. The old room had ancient draperies in the window, but the workers installed the window blinds that have been waiting patiently in their box in the garage (for almost 15 years) for us to clean out the sewing room and make their installation possible. It is much lighter and more cheerful in the room now. I do have the knitting machines back in position and can start knitting again. In the meantime, here are some fall scenes from our house:
A surprise November rose!

Retro Baby Knits

This great booklet has a lot of useful baby items, the kind that never go out of style. There is no date on the booklet, but it does say Petaluma, California and Milford, Massachusetts, and has zip codes for each city. A quick google tells me that zip codes were introduced in 1963, so the booklet was printed after that date. It is very possible that the designs were created in the 50's since they have the fifties look about them, and companies often reprinted designs.

The first photo shows a helmet and mittens done in a broken rib pattern with knitting worsted. The pattern is written for 6-month, 1-year, and 2-to-3 year sizes. I like the way the mittens have a long cuff and a snug fit at the wrist. The hat shown at the bottom is a beret also knitted from knitting worsted.
I love yoked baby sweaters, and this is a very nice one. It is knitted sideways on size 2 needles at 8 sts/inch. The description says the yoke and cuffs are knitted in Quaker Stitch, which I have never heard of before, but which is as follows:

Row 1: (wrong side) Knit across
Row 2: Purl across
Row 3: Knit across
repeat these 3 rows for the rib pattern.
The booklet also has some cute bootie patterns:

Another yoked baby sweater, this time a pullover. They call it a Baby Sacque.
As I have often thought to myself, I should have a supply of baby items all knitted and ready to go so that there is no rush knitting when a baby arrives. But do I have this wonderful stash of knitted baby items? No, I still do not.

Still Here

There won't be much knitting around here for a few more weeks because the house is still all torn up with the construction. We had to completely empty out the sewing/knitting room, but we are just about ready to start putting the knitting machines and the rest of my stash back in the room. In the meantime, I finished one pair of socks and sent them over to the younger daughter, and I started another pair with that Deborah Norville sock yarn that has bamboo in it. The yarn is soft but pleasant to knit, and I am about 1/3 done with the first sock. As soon as the knitting machines go back up, I will be making some hats for the rescue mission and some scarves for another charity. This should help use up some of the yarn leftovers (that we really noticed when we had to empty out the room).

Knitting Room Under Siege

Next week and the week afterward, the contruction guys will be replacing the windows in the living room and in the sewing/knitting room. I will be glad when it is done, but I do hate having to empty out a room and then put everything back again. If you could see the sewing room, you would understand. I will have to fortify myself with sock yarn so that I do not run out while everything is in storage. Oh wait, if I run out, I'll be forced to buy some more!

In new product news, I ran across a new type of crochet thread, Aunt Lydia's Bamboo Crochet Thread. It felt nice and soft, and since I was going to use it for a lacy trim around a neckline where softness would be a plus, I decided to give it a try. I found it nice to work with and it performed well:
This is a top I made for my younger daughter so that I could practice free-motion machine embroidery. Only time will tell whether or not the bamboo thread wears well.

Retro Knit Sunday!

Still not much knitting going on here since we are having strange weather for the fall. Usually the days are sometimes warm or sometimes cool, but we very seldom have hot, sticky, humid weather like we are having this month. We are also getting ready for another round of window replacements which means that the sewing/knitting room will have to be packed up and cleared out. I am wondering what long lost treasures will turn up in the upheaval.

Today I am going to give you all a peek into the little pink British magazine shown above, a 1960 Vogue Knitting Book, Volume No. 56. The magazine measures about 7" x 9 1/2 ". In the fashion timeline, England had not yet risen to prominence in the fashion world with the advent of mod fashion, Carnaby Street, and Twiggy. Rather than being cutting edge, the fashions in this magazine are beautifully classic, useful designs.

Can't go wrong with a sheath dress! These fashions fall right in the Mad Men time frame.

The cardigan above is more sporty, a nice heavy cardigan for cold British days.
Another classy sheath dress in ribbed wool.

The sweater set above could certainly still be worn today, so classic is the styling. Interest is added with the choice of a 'Crinkle-Spun' yarn with appealing texture.

How current is the sweater above?! Fitted, gathers at the shoulder yoke, and empire seam styling.....very pretty.

I am still knitting on the languishing blue sock, but at least I am approaching the heel of the second sock. I took a break to mend one of the socks I had given to my daughter several years ago since she somehow broke the thread that grafted the toe stitches, so I had to pick up the dropped stitch and regraft the toe.

Good Day at the Thrift Shop

Three new hardbound knitting books and five vintage pamphlets, including a British Vogue magazine from the late 50's all for under $6 total!

A Little Bit Of Knitting Still Happening

At least I finished one sock. It was over 100 degrees yesterday, which doesn't usually happen this time of year, so knitting has been rare. I made sure to cast on for the second sock right away after finishing the first one. The weather guy says we are due for a dramatic cooldown, so maybe yarn will start looking more interesting soon.

Retro Knit Friday!

This summer is speeding by without much knitting going on. I did finish the first blue Opal sock yesterday and cast on for the second, but I have spent the summer sewing instead of knitting. So far I have made curtains for the back bath window, a large drapery to hide the MBR closet, several blouses for the younger daughter, three tops for myself, and lots of mending. I haven't even sewn the buttons on the cafe cardigan. Fall is on the way, though, and maybe cooler weather will spark the urge to knit. Somehow I don't feel like having yarn in my lap when it is 110 degrees out there.

Since the weather is still very hot, we will keep looking over the designs from the 1939 booklet, Cotton Flash. The two tops below are both crocheted. The top on the left uses small crochet hooks (sizes 8 and 10) and size 20 crochet thread. It is a simple, close-fitting kimono-sleeved top in white or ecru worked in 'knot stitch', and trimmed at the neck with crocheted flowers in yellow, blue, and green. The blouse on the right is crocheted from Pearl Cotton in a shell stitch. The instructions are for only one size, a size 16. There isn't any chart or info on sizing in the whole booklet to explain what a size 16 is, but there are blocking measurements for each design.

A crocheted evening gown! Here's the description: 'As romantic as the new moon- this lacy frock with moulded bodice and a skirt that swings out to yards of waltzing width. The shoulder-line drops demurely to reveal a glimpse of shoulders.' It is crocheted of Knit-Cro-Sheen and trimmed with velvet ribbon.

The dress (called a 'frock') below has an openwork crocheted pattern with diagonal lines. The description says that this outfit 'has a classic chic that will see you smartly through the day.' The neckline has a cord drawstring that ties in a bow in the front.

Two more tops are shown below. The top on the left has the typical late-30's look of fitted bodice and pleated-top sleeves. The sleeves are a precursor of the big 40's shoulders yet to appear. It is crocheted of Knit-Cro-Sheen. The top on the right is very stylish with a draped, cowl neckline, an openwork stitch, and solid bands at the arms and lower edge. The bottom band has an interesting line of openwork to add interest.

I worked on the second blue sock last night while watching the new Survivor season start. This time there is an evil manipulator among the contestants, which makes the whole thing more fun.

Retro Knit Friday!

Been pretty busy this summer, working on the Victory garden and sewing. I have been sewing tops for the youngest daughter, and my knitting dwindled to a few pairs of socks I am working on. The spouse and I did go to an antique fair in a nearby town, and I did find lots of vintage patterns and needlework pamphlets to spend my birthday money stash on. My stash is now gone, but I did have fun spending it.

This pamphlet is in perfect condition and dates back to 1939. The idea behind this publication is stated on the inside front cover: "We feel that too long the crocheted dress has been a step-child in a wardrobe - beautifully and painstakingly made, perhaps, but often dowdy in design and fit. So we called in our staff of fashion experts and this original collection is the result.....Our fashion experts and designers got busy, treated crochet like fabric and we were as excited over the results as we know you are!" The cover shows a two-piece suit with a beautifully-fitted top crocheted in a striped pattern which is paired with a solid gored skirt. Very classy.
The bolero is shown on the inside front cover and on page 11, giving us two views of this useful garment. The description reads: "The smart bulky-above-the-waist look of a bolero cuts inches off your hips, and padded shoulders further the slenderizing illusion." These garments are crocheted with Knit-Cro-Sheen, a cotton thread that has been around a long time.

The dress below is called 'Leading Lady'. 'A star in your wardrobe - for this casual dress is at home both in city streets or on country club porches. As neat as a pin, with decorative zipper, high placed pockets, and wide belt'. Zippers were still a novelty design feature at this time and were featured prominantly in some garments.

All the instructions in this booklet were written for size 16, and the user was supposed to adjust them to fit. They did not give any advice on how to do this though.

My grandmother was always crocheting something. She often told me that all she had to do was look at a finished crocheted object in order to 'take the pattern' from it. She made lots of tablecloths, and I can't remember her crocheting anything out of yarn, since she mostly worked with cotton threads. I can imagine that lots of handwork went on in the evenings before TV was invented as ladies sat in front of the radio listening to their favorite shows.

Retro Knit Friday!

The cafe cardigan is very nearly done. I have to sew in the ends, block it, and sew on the buttons. The next cardigan will be royal blue, but first I have to start knitting some hats for the rescue mission.

This week's vintage offering is a needlework catalog from, I think, the late 40's. This mailorder company carried supplies for all kinds of needlework, including embroidery, knitting, crochet, rugmaking, and quilting. It is fun to see what kinds of things ladies were working on 60 years ago and what they paid for their supplies. The cover shows a jacket that was available in several fabrics such as linen, linene, and wool felt, which could be purchased with a collar or without. The jackets were plain and were meant to be decorated with applique and/or embroidery. They came in several colors, and the prices ranged from $1.98 to $4.50.

Here's the page that shows the yarn selections available then. The knitting yarns offered were Infants' Wool, Cotton Yarn, firm (for slippers, potholders, toys, etc.), Germantown knitting worsted, and Baby Pompadour. There are listings for crochet hooks, but no knitting needles. The yarn sold for about 39 cents an ounce.

The next two photos show some of the kits the knitter could buy. The baby shrug and bonnet only cost 85 cents for the pattern and the yarn.

Well, time to go knit on the lace sock for awhile. I only knit on this sock in the morning when the light comes brightly through the side window. If I try to knit on it while watching TV at night I goof up the pattern. I have had to rip it back a little but have the pattern back on track now.

Retro Knit Sunday!

It was beastly hot yesterday and today (108 degrees), but the fog is coming in tonight, so I am staying up late to keep the doors and windows opened to let the cool in. I am hoping for a nice cool morning tomorrow because we picked the apples over the weekend, and I have a lot of applesauce to put up. The spouse has a huge ladder that stands at least 10 feet tall, and I think climbing up high to pick the apples is fun. We start out with the spouse holding the ladder while I pick, and then I hold the ladder while he picks. Our patience wore thin, though, and the spouse took to shaking the tree so that the apples that were way too high for us would fall down. They did fall, on my head mostly. The picture above shows the first apples to be picked.

The retro fashions I am showing today are still from the Spinnerin Volume 132 from 1955.

This fitted, one-piece dress with the flared skirt has striped ribbing on the skirt and yoke. It is knit of dress yarn on Size 2 needles at 7 sts/inch.

The next fashion is a two-piece dress that is knit on Size 1 needles at 8 sts/inch, and it features a sparkle yarn that is used to make the yoke and fringe. The fringe is knitted into the yoke, not applied afterwards. The skirt appears to be slightly A-line, and starts off with a cast on of 544 sts for the largest size. It would take you days just to cast on for the skirt. Most skirts were started at the bottom and knitted up, decreasing at intervals.

Here's what the booklet has to say about the next two-piece garment: 'Round-the-clock knitted dress has a ribbed skirt and a two-toned top with an excellent neckline.' The top is knit in a slip stitch pattern in two colors.

The next dress is crocheted in filet crochet, and after the sections are completed, strands of yarn are woven through the lattice to create the plaid pattern. It looks as if the fabric created was on the heavy side, but the yarn used for the weaving was silk organdy ribbon.

I just checked the thermometer in the living room, and the temperature in the house has dropped at least 10 degrees, so time to go shut everything up. If it is cool enough in the morning, I am going to bake an applesauce cake for the spouse.

Vintage Book Saturday!

The cafe cardigan is now half assembled. I have one sleeve in and the neckband done. I worked on this while watching the new show, Warehouse 13, which I liked. It is very X-Filesy, but the male lead is a humorous and interesting character.

The spouse had to make a business day trip to the Monterey area again, so I rode along. After dropping him off at the office, I went to Cannery Row to visit the antique mall there. Some of the vendors there do have old knitting and crochet pamphlets available, but the prices are the highest I have ever seen anywhere so I had to pass them up. I did find the book shown below, though, at a surprisingly low price. This book is a real gem, a volume on tatting and netting from 1895.

It is a large book that measures about 8" x 11". It has clear instructions on tatting and on netting, the lost art that my grandmother taught me when I was about 10 (and which I promptly forgot). Tatting can be used to make very pretty laces to trim just about anything.

My grandmother used to use the netting technique to make net shopping bags. I remember it being easy to do, so I will have to use this book to replenish my memory of how to do this old craft. Netting was used for large items like fishnets and bags, but was also done with fine threads to make the base for needlewoven lace. I can't remember what netting tool my grandmother taught me to use, because I certainly did not have the double-eyed needle shown on the page below.

Out in the garden, we are picking so many cucumbers now that I have already made the pickle relish for next year and have given away dozens of them. It looks like we should have green beans in a week or two. It is amazing how much produce you can get out of a small backyard.