Japanese Stitch Dictionaries

Here are the magazines that caused my saved-up Stitches money to fly out of my wallet:

I especially like the one on the right, titled 'Aran' something or other 100' (don't know those kanji). It has pages and pages of fabulous cable patterns and the stitch charts that go with them.

The booklet on the left below is the one I bought a year or so ago and the one on the right is new. These books are not cheap, they run about $25 to $30 apiece, but even a cheapskate like me has to admit that they are totally worth it.

My daughter, M, is thinking of using some of the patterns in the '300' book to design some socks. Because, when we were at Kinokuniya, I just had to point the booklets out to her and encourage her to buy them too, because I am a knitting enabler.

Monkey

Still trudging through the Monkey socks, but at least I finished one. This yarn is Jarbo Garn Mini Raggi, and if farg means color, it is color 68017. I can't remember where I got this yarn, but probably in Carmel-By-The-Sea.

I am feeling the need to be knitting a plain sock, or one I can just mindlessly knit without having to look at a chart, but I have to finish one more monkey first. In the meantime, A brought home a pair of socks I knit for her a few years ago. She had worn through the sole of the foot up near the toe , and the sole was thin on the other sock, too. She mostly wears these socks around the house without shoes, so I could go ahead and repair them with duplicate stitch without worrying that it would make them feel too thick in shoes. I duplicate stitched a large area at the heels and the toes, and left the instep, which was in good shape, for another day.

The picture below shows the sole of the foot with the duplicate stitch completed. Luckily, I had the leftover yarn in the stash. I think this yarn is Softee Baby, purchased at Michaels.

I used to darn socks a lot as a kid, especially a pair of wool slippers I had that were darned over and over in whatever color I could find, resulting in grey slippers with rainbow soles.

Retro Knitting Bag Friday!

Finished up the Lavender Cardigan and just have to block it a little so that the lace panels are flatter and show off the pattern better and the sleeve seams flatten out. Now that this Easter sweater is done, I am going to start assembling the cafe cardigan. I have some pretty royal blue yarn in the stash that would make a good plain cardigan, since I think the color is too bright to show off a pattern panel. Oh, wait, I was going to make the red jacket next.

Today's retro offering will be some totes and bags to carry knitting projects. The first two bags come from a Spool Cotton booklet from 1944. The bag shown below is knitted from crochet cord in three colors and then lined in fabric. After the lining is attached, the bag is sewn to the wooden bag handles, making a sturdy and useful bag "to hold your handwork and all those numerous little things we women find so necessary."

The bag shown below is basically the same design except that it is crocheted in two colors of crochet cotton.

The next bag is more of a shopping tote, since your knitting needles would fall right through it unless it was lined. It is crocheted in an openwork pattern.

The idea of a tall thin knitting bag obviously follows from the long thin nature of knitting needles, but, having owned one that shape, I know it is hard to stuff a large project (like a sweater back) into one. The bag shown, from a 1947 book, is knit and attached to embroidery hoops with crochet stitches to form the rigid circles at the top and bottom.

The last bag is knit of cotton yarn in a fairisle pattern with I-cord on the sides and forming the handle.

It would be nice to have an attractive knitting tote, but in real life I just use bags from Trader Joe's to carry around my various projects.

Retro Knit Saturday!

Here are the last few fashions from the Capes and Stoles pamphlet from 1957. The first stole measures 28" by 79" and is knit in 'Nylon & Wool' on size 8 needles. This is a very long stole, and the instructions say to knit it in the lace pattern and then sew on the sequins and beads individually. I do believe that that would take you forever and a day. I think the stole is just as pretty without the bling, however.

The cute little jacket is knit in a bulky yarn at 3 sts/inch and trimmed with contrast buttons and wide grosgrain ribbon.

The following garment is called a 'cape bolero'. It is crocheted in fingering weight yarn and trimmed with wide velvet ribbon. I think it looks very nice with the fitted 50's sheath dress and the ubiquitous pearls.

The white Evening Cape Stole is neither knitted nor crocheted, but is cut out of something called 'rayonet scrim' which resembles a lighter version of rug canvas. The yarn is then attached to the base with a latchet hook forming a little, shaped, wearable rug. The entire garment is then lined, and the strands of yarn are combed with a fine tooth comb to give a furry appearance.

I have finished the sewing on the lavender cardigan and have knit the neckband. I am now working on the front bands. I may actually finish this before Easter!

Lavender

Both sleeves are now knitted, and I am ready to start the assembly. Of course, I still have to sew together the cafe cardigan, too. Looks like I might have this lavender sweater done by Easter, which would be a great way to guarantee that the weather will warm up, and it will be too hot to wear it. I'm not sure what color to wear with lavender - I have seen it with gray, but that's a bit glum, and M, my fashion advisor, tells me that it looks great with jeans (true). I'm branching out into a color I haven't really worn much.

And as long as we are talking about lavender, here is a sweater I would really like to make. I like the curved V neckline, the 3/4 sleeves, and the texture stitch. I also love the garter borders. This pattern is in the Manos Del Uruguay Cotton Collection 1 booklet.

Hmm, look at that, the model is wearing lavender (though a darker one) with tan-colored slacks. That could be OK, I'll have to try that out.

Springtime Lavender

Here is the panel I chose for the lavender cardigan fronts from a 1990 issue of Zaza magazine.

This was the most complicated chart that I have used to hand select the needles on the knitting machine, and the first front took a long time to knit. It was slow to work but not tedious, and I only had to fix two or three errors. I love the border pattern with the meandering line formed by YO's.

Here's how the panel looks on the completed front:

Now I am going to go hang the other front on the machine. I traced out a mirror image of the lace chart to work the other side. I finished up the knitting on the cafe cardigan the other day, but I haven't started the finishing work yet.

Cafe Cardigan in Progress

I started the new cardigan expecting the fronts to take a long time and be tedious, but they went surprisingly fast. In two days I did both fronts and the back.

The idea for the interesting cable spacing came from one of the new Japanese stitch dictionaries. Tomorrow I am going to do the sleeves, then start putting it together.

I have reached the toe on the first Monkey sock. I will be glad to finish this pair of socks and get started on some socks for A.

Retro Knit Whatever Day It Is Today!

Here are some more wraps from the Coats & Clark's Book No. 514, printed in 1957. The first one is different from any I have ever seen before, consisting of a knot stitch cape attached to a narrow solidly crocheted scarf. In the picture below, the model has wrapped the ends of the scarf around to the back and fastened the narrow ends with hooks and eyes. The scarf crosses over itself in the front. It is crocheted of super fingering yarn.
The evening shrug below is very feminine and pretty over the strapless dress. It is crocheted of 'Crochet Wool', and transparent iridescent pailletes are crocheted into the fabric.

The description of this generous stole says that the long length is a new fashion feature. Knitted of knitting worsted on size 10 needles, it measures 24 inches by 72 inches (not counting the fringe).
The following stole is my favorite in this booklet, so lacy and pretty. It is crocheted of fingering yarn and measures 22 inches by 76 inches.

The red stole, knit in a diagonal texture stitch, is trimmed with 'jersey' which is used for the pocket flaps and the collar. The entire front edge is faced with 1 1/2 " wide grosgrain ribbon. It measures 18" by 60". The model has belted it, and it looks like a blouse or jacket.
I have three new cardigans in progress, a red garter-bordered jacket, a cafe-colored cardigan, and I am just starting a lavender one. I'm not sure what I am going to do with the lavender, but probably another lace panel down the fronts.

Periwinkle Cardigan Completed

I sewed the buttons on the sweater last Friday, having spent more money on the buttons than on the yarn. I really should have read the JoAnn sales circulars, because a few days later the buttons were on sale for half off. This sweater is made of Red Heart yarn that I had in the stash. It is very warm and cozy to wear and softens up nicely with washing. I love being able to throw the sweater in the washer and dryer. The sweater used about 3 1/2 skeins of the Red Heart Supersaver at a cost of about $8 total for the sweater, not counting the buttons. I am a big fan of Red Heart yarn and am totally impervious to yarn snobbery.
I guess I never took a picture of the apple green cardigan all finished with the buttons on, so here it is: This sweater has been through the washer and dryer a dozen times already and is nice and soft to wear.

I have finished the ribbings for the cafe cardigan and plan to put narrow cables up the front.