It's All About The Color

Summer

2011-07-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

Not much knitting has been going on for a long time now, so I got to feeling a little guilty about that last week. I have been sewing a lot, but after all, A does need new socks now and then, so I got out a poor neglected pair that have been on the needles for about a year. I am knitting both socks at once, and I will never do that again because it is soooooo boring. It makes everything seem to take twice as long, because it does. While I am trying to resurrect the knitting mojo, I have been working in the garden. We had a long cold spring, so the garden wasn't started until late in the season, but it is coming along fine now. Today I picked a lot of summer squash, two tomatoes, and basil.

I've been trying to get a variety of poppy colors in the yard, and this is the prettiest one I have ever grown. Most of the others are orange or yellow, but there is the occasional white or red orange plant.

Stitches West II

2011-02-21T08:25:00.001-08:00

These pictures were taken without a flash, so there was plenty of light in the massively huge convention hall. I found a new book by Marion Foale, and the designs were so nice that I remembered that I have her original book from about 25 years ago. She designs classic garments with lots of textural interest. Look at this beautiful jacket which is included in the book (Ali MacGraw was about 4 feet to the right of this jacket so you can imagine her sitting there, if you wish):

When did a skein of sock yarn begin to cost $25?? I had to content myself with taking pictures of the gorgeous colors. I realized that I have to buy a better rolling carrier for the lunch and purchases, so, since the husband needs one for carrying office files to meetings, we will have to go shopping for one. The one I usually use is a little awkward and tends to trip up other people.

Naturally, it started to pour rain as soon as we left the convention center, so we had a rainy drive home.

Stitches 2011

2011-02-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

It had snowed the night before, and there was snow on the foothills on the way to San Jose. We had already purchased our tickets online, but the rest of the knitting world has also learned to do this, so the line was already long by the time we joined it, but it is always fun to talk to knitters and watch the fashion parade of handknits. My daughter was wearing one of her beautiful small shawls and people would come up to admire it. One lady reached out to touch the shawl and explained to us that that is 'the knitter's handshake'.

As usual, we attended the market for two days. It starts to get really crowded around lunchtime, and I detest being crushed in crowds of oblivious women, even if they are wearing pretty sweaters. We get there early to snag a parking place and wait in line for the doors to open. We have developed our technique to avoid the crowd for most of the morning, and we leave when it gets bad. We had lots of fun, and there was even a celebrity sighting, since Ali MacGraw was there signing books for some charity or other involving animals.
I took a picture through the doorway before they allowed us to enter the marketplace. It is a huge venue with many, many booths from all over the country. It is yarn shop heaven, is what it is.

They had relaxed the rules about picture taking, so I'll show some more pictures of the yarn and garments tomorrow.

On To The Future

2011-02-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

My posts have been very skimpy the last while, because I was helping take care of a relative whose health was failing. The inevitable has happened, and I now find myself with time to do all the things I have been missing. I know that I am more of a product person than a process person, and I find finishing up projects helps a lot in sad times by giving my spirits a lift. I have several sweaters started with the ribbings ready to go on the machine, so I am making an effort to straighten up the sewing/craft room so that I can use the machine again.

Spring comes early in California, and the almond trees are blooming. Just yesterday I saw yellow daffodils in someone's front yard. Of course, a storm is moving in today, but the brief glimpse of warm weather gave us time to go for a ride in the country where I took the photo above. My goals this week are to get at least one sweater section on the machine, and to find that walkabout seed catalog so I can get my order in.

Christmas Shopping Blitz

2010-12-13T16:06:00.000-08:00

I was getting a little nervous about time passing swiftly as we rush towards Christmas, because I have done nothing to get ready. The spouse suggested a quick trip Friday night to The Container Store to look over their stocking-stuffer specials. We left the house at 6:48, drove to the next town, did our shopping, and drove back into our driveway at 7:20. This is a record, even for us. There was little to no traffic during the dinner hour but even I was surprised at our speed. Now that both families have a name draw and a $10 limit, Christmas is not nearly the hassle it used to be.

My daughter is doing the Christmas baking, and I did a lot of the family present buying online, so I think I am about done with the shopping. I have a lot of house cleaning to do, though. I just wish the weather would brighten up, but I should be grateful we are not up to our necks in snow like a lot of the country. We are just whining about a little drizzle and overcast.

Black Friday

2010-11-26T10:37:00.001-08:00

This post isn't about knitting at all, but this week has been full of scary adventures, and I am now hoping for some nice boring days. I never do the shopping thing on the day after Thanksgiving because I have worked in department stores on that day, and hoped to avoid being in any store on that day for the rest of my entire life. However, I saw on the Joann sale circular that the flannel was on sale today for $1.29/yd, and who can resist that?? One of my daughters had an accident last night and had to go to the emergency room (she is fine now), so I decided I needed to do something fun for a change as an antidote to drama. I was in the line at the Joann a few minutes before six this morning. When the people surged into the store, I headed right for the flannels and grabbed nine different prints. Then I went right to the cutting table, got my number ticket, and lo, I was number 1! The mob was already forming around the cutting table, so I was feeling really triumphant to be at the head of the line. In addition to the flannels, which are destined to be made into pajamas for the daughters and myself, I got a couple of apron patterns, a flexible ruler, and a free pair of scissors they were handing out at the door.

When I was waiting in line before the store opened, I got to talking to a nice lady ahead of me in line, and she told me that she had already been to several stores. I guess some were opening at 4 am. She had been to the orange home supply store where mobs of people were buying the 99 cent poinsettias. She told me that some people had carts full of the potted poinsettia plants. I don't think I would get up at 4 am to buy poinsettias.

Back To The Weave-It

2010-11-02T14:26:00.001-07:00

Knitting is handy when you need a carry-along project for those times in life when you do a lot of waiting around. I have been spending lots of time with an ailing relative lately, sitting in doctor's offices or waiting around the house, so I have several sock projects in a tote bag along with some paperback books. That way I will never be horribly bored which is something I totally hate. I have also picked up the Weave-It again because I can make squares while I am watching TV. The colored squares will eventually be a scarf, and are made with sock yarn. I decided to experiment with a slightly heavier yarn, so I tried out Baby Soft from Lion Brand. I'm trying to decide how to sew them together.
This is how they look when they have single crochet all around, then sewn together like afghan squares. The downside of this method is that there are extra ends to sew in, and it takes a lot longer. I'm also not sure I like the contrast of the lightweight fabric and the heavier crochet.
I'm loving the sock yarn squares, though. The yarn cycles through different colors, so you never know what color the square is going to be until you are done with it.

Knitting Again

2010-10-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

I can almost feel the knitting mojo coming back. I have been sewing for months and months with no real desire to knit much, but now that the weather is finally cooling off I am looking at the knitting machine with interest again. In the meantime, I did finish another pair of socks for A.

This yarn is Berroco Sox in Color 1477. The photo shows the colors almost exactly as they are, and I did manage to match the socks to each other pretty well. I used a size 2 needle and 64 stitches for a plain sock, but if I were to start over again, I would use a size 1 and 72 stitches for a firmer sock fabric.

I had put aside the aqua sweater I was making because I was too busy sewing, but now I am gathering up the various pieces and thinking about hanging them on the machine and finishing that sweater. I had knit the body and sleeve borders in a lace pattern.

My birthday was this month, and my daughter, M, is knitting me a shawlette in the most beautiful orangey/yellow yarn, so I am looking forward to using that this winter.

Never Forget

2010-09-11T12:14:00.001-07:00

This flag was issued the day after 9-11, and hung in our window for years afterwards. It only came down when we had the windows replaced. It may be old and faded, but we still remember.

New Socks

2010-09-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got started on some toe-up socks using some sock yarn from my daughter. She recently had creative differences with her stash and got rid of some of her sock yarn. I knit a lot of socks for the other daughter, so I added her rejects to my stash. Here's my freebie yarn:

I am using the Wendy Knits book for the pattern for these socks. I decided to learn new things so tried Judy's Magic Cast-On. I really couldn't figure out the instructions in the book so I looked on the internet, and there are several places where you can see a video showing how to do it. It took three tries before I could get the stitches the way I wanted them to be, but now I am almost to the heel.This Yarn is Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks in Color 1767. I'm using size 1 needles with a sock circumference of 72 stitches. I'm not really a fan of the short-row heel so am going to try one of the other kinds. When I use a new kind of sock yarn that I haven't tried before, I keep a record of the number of stitches cast on, size of needles, and number of rows to heel and toe. This way, when I use the yarn again in the future, I have an idea of what works and what doesn't.

A Completed Knitting Project!

2010-08-20T16:44:00.001-07:00

I finally finished those Deborah Norville Serenity socks. For some reason these just dragged on and on, but they are done at last. This is the color 'Sapphire'. I liked the feel of this yarn, but I guess my knitting mojo has been gone for a long while now and I had to force myself to finish these up. I think I am just soooo tired of knitting socks from the top to the toe, so I am going to get started right away on a toe-up pair. I have both Wendy Knits books so I just have to choose a pattern and get started.

I have been busy with the harvesting and putting by for the winter. So far I have made pickle relish, jams, applesauce, and hot pepper jellies. The garden did, and is still doing, great this year:

A forest of volunteer zinnias came up in the middle of one garden patch, hiding the beets and carrots, but I just left them there. The butterflies love our yard and so far we've seen tiger swallowtails, monarchs, and of course, those blasted white cabbage butterflies. We planted extra this year because it is such a bad economy, and our daughter was out of work, and other family members were feeling the pinch. The good news is that our daughter found another job, as did my nephew and his wife, so we are feeling very thankful. I wasn't sure how those hot pepper jellies would taste since I tried some new varieties, but I took several jars to my brother's birthday party last Saturday, served them over cream cheese in the usual way with crackers, and since there were only empty serving plates left in a short time, I would have to say they were acceptable. I made regular green hot pepper jelly, apricot/cranberry/jalapeno jello, and pineapple jalapeno jelly.

Here's an August view of 'The Back Forty' which has changed quite a bit since last month. There are very many winter squashes hiding under those leaves. It's amazing how much you can grow in a small suburban yard.

I know that most of the eastern and middle portions of the country are having a blazing hot summer, but here in the west we had a mild summer with only a few patches of really hot weather. Most of the time the nights have been nice and cool. We got a really late start on the yardwork this year because we had to go back to the Midwest in May for my inlaw's anniversary party, so that set us back weeks (though it was well worth it). I was surprised how fast the garden got with the program and started producing. Makes me wonder if the effort of trying to start the seeds in the cold spring is necessary.

Right after we got back from the trip, I found a new stash of vintage knitting pamphlets, so I'll have to get started again with Retro Knit Friday. Just not today.

Garden Progress

2010-07-05T15:29:00.000-07:00

We are well and truly into the hot weather now, and the plants are growing. Sometimes they grow several inches overnight. The beans are climbing the trellis, and the apples are already falling from the tree, which means I will be in the kitchen putting up applesauce pretty soon. I already put up the golden plums, and will get the puree out of the freezer and make jam when the weather is cooler.Here's a view of what the spouse calls 'The Back Forty'. It was an unused area in back of the playhouse that used to have a woodpile on it. It gets a lot of sun so we are growing winter squashes back there. I am trying tomatoes in a new location, right up against the white wall of the playhouse, and so far they are doing fine:

We went to the fireworks in Benicia last night and it was great fun. We asked the policeman if it was ok to set up our chairs right on the sidewalk next to the Bay, and it was. We soon found out why there weren't many people in that location yet : the wind off the Bay was freezing and included spray. Oh well, we endured and enjoyed it. The fireworks were right over our head, really huge bursts of fabulous color. I love sitting right under the blast, because the sparks fall down around you and it is like that scene inside the alien ship in Independence Day - a big empty sphere with sparkles all around. The crowd was friendly and funny. After one particularly huge fireball of firework beauty, some guy in a group of young people next to us shouted, "Up yours, England!!" Ah, the Glorious 4th!

Busy Summer

2010-07-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

I have finished all the hand knitting lace parts of the aqua sweater and need to hang it on the machine. Other than that, we have been busy working in the garden and harvesting the unexpectedly early crop of golden plums. I remember back to when I was a kid and we had to sit at a table chopping fruit up by hand for jams, but now we just cut the fruit away from the seeds and throw it into the food processor. I package the prepared fruit up and freeze it to make into jam later, because nobody wants to be slaving over a stove canning when it is 104 degrees out there.

This seems to be a slow year for knitting so far, but at least I am sewing a lot.

Victory Garden

2010-06-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

The photo above shows our garden at this time last year. Below is our garden this year:

This year the spring was long, cold, and rainy and we got a very late start. Things are shaping up, though. I always wanted to have a fall garden because you are supposed to escape most of the trouble with bugs, but what I thought would happen was that I would harvest the spring stuff and then plant another crop for fall. This year we are only getting the fall part, but that's OK. We aren't growing a wide variety of stuff, just the old regulars: beets, carrots, radishes, onions, chard, beans, cucumbers, squashes (winter and summer), and basil. I did buy a few tomato plants to try, but I usually don't have much luck with those because of some disease in the soil, but hope springs eternal in the garden.

In knitting news, I am still working on the aqua sweater in fits and starts, and just need to finish the lace edging on the sleeves before I hang it on the machine and do the stockinette part.

Lily

2010-05-26T06:47:00.001-07:00

I just got this lily at Lowe's. I didn't even know lilies came in this color. I hope it thrives because it is the prettiest lily I have ever seen, all red orange and glowing in the rain. Rain in May, what a weird year.

Thrifting and Crocheting

2010-05-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

This Saturday we went to Sebastopol again because we had some crafty stuff to donate to the Legacy Thrift Shop (which carries only craft items). My daughter had a huge box of yarn to donate so that she could make room in her closet for what else, more yarn. I love that shop and found some great lace and trims for some lingerie I plan to sew in the near future. In the meantime, I have been working on the aqua sweater and trying my hand at hairpin lace crochet. I made a hairpin device out of a paperclip and made some lengths of small-loop hairpin lace. To this I added some edgings and produced the top two edgings shown below.

It was lots easier for me to crochet into the hairpin lace than into a starting chain since I hate having to work with the skinny chain which twists around. These trims will be used on some Mexican Peasant Blouses which I plan to make for the daughters this summer.

Spring is late in arriving, and it is still cold at night here. The spouse is just getting the vegetable bed dug up and I have just begun to start the seed sprouting. When we had the semi-rotten deck replaced last year, the workmen really tore up the area around the deck, so I was afraid that the poppies would not come back this year. I was wrong:

I even have one pink poppy which I hope seeds itself all around.

This row of flower plants survived the winter and surprised us with blooms this month.

Weave-It

2010-03-27T14:41:00.001-07:00

I have been practicing with the Weave-It Loom using the Poems Socks yarn I got at Stitches. This particular yarn has large color repeats which make it perfect for using on the little loom. The color repeats seem to be the perfect size so that each square comes out a different color, yet they all blend together nicely. As a first project I am making a scarf. I expect this yarn to felt up a little so I am going to make the scarf four squares across and as long as necessary, yarn permitting. I only have one ball of yarn so it will be interesting to see how many squares it will make. Each square doesn't really seem to take much yarn to complete.

Invasion

2010-03-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

In the continuing big dog saga, those new dogs next door have stopped jumping up and scaring me when I hang the clothes. However, I discovered yesterday that they have dug big holes under the fence and are running all over my yard leaving their calling cards. Since I object to that, I spent yesterday hauling any big rocks, bricks, or cement slabs I could find and temporarily filling in the holes they had dug. After that, I was too tired to knit.

A Lucky Day

2010-03-24T13:52:00.001-07:00

I found two Weave-It looms at the thrift store yesterday! They are in great condition and the instructions were still in the box. I paid 25 cents each. I started trying it out for the first time this morning using worsted weight. I think I should have started out with a thinner yarn, but the weaving is not hard to learn. I would like to use sock yarn in pretty colors to make a scarf. This Weave-It is the classic 4" square.

Meanwhile, we are having a bright and sunny week, and the bulbs are blooming:

Thrift Store Finds

2010-03-19T07:02:00.000-07:00

I like plastic knitting needles from earlier decades. I like the silky smooth surface and pretty colors. I found these in a drawer at the thrift shop and was especially interested in the aqua pair because I have never seen that color before. It was a common color for interior decor in the 50's but I had never seen needles in that color before. The needles are obviously not in the original packaging since they are definitely not aluminum, but they are size 9.
I think the shop charged me about 50 cents for a pair of knitting needles.

I finished the pattern knitting for the back of my new sweater and am working on the front. It is going faster than I expected for pattern knitting.

Back Handknitting Finished

2010-03-05T14:27:00.001-08:00

The pattern portion on the back is finished and taken off the needles onto a length of yarn. Now I need to hang it onto the machine and finish up the stockinette portion, but first I will knit the pattern portions of the fronts and sleeves.

In the meantime, the neighbor has acquired two humongous new dogs (maybe a new roommate with dogs?) who are scary at best. They are excitable and leap up into the air trying to get over the fence to gnaw my bones. Since this is about 5 feet from where I stand to hang the clothes on the line, it is annoying. My dad advised me to have a hose on hand to squirt the dog, especially that huge Rottweiler, as it tries to clamber over the fence. I tried it this morning, and it worked like a charm. The dogs are more wary and respectful. I will have to keep this up for awhile to train them, but I think things will work out. Here he is, watching me from a safe distance:

New Sweater Started

2010-02-11T17:08:00.000-08:00

I love the color of this yarn, a very cheerful aqua. The color is called 'Aruba Sea' which brings to mind shallow warm, beautiful water washing up on a sunny Caribbean beach. Here's my design sketch:
I am going to knit the pattern by hand then hang it on the machine and finish up the stockinette portion quickly.

February

2010-02-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

This is the primo month for knitters in our area with Stitches coming up in a few weeks. I usually save up my money for months ahead of time and my sisters and I go to the convention for a fun day while my husband stays home and works in the yard. I try to buy one big item and then just shop around. A recent Stitches purchase was the Jumbo yarn winder which is really wonderful, and I use it all the time. I don't know what I am going to get this year, but I am sure to think of something.

The economy makes spending a lot of money on yarn for sweaters very difficult for a lot of people so I would like to put in another plug for Red Heart Supersaver. I know lots of yarn snobs look down on Red Heart yarns, but I love it. I could never afford to spend $100 on a sweater that would inevitably shrink, pill, or be eaten by some insect or other. I love being able to wear the sweater while I am cooking or working in the yard, then to throw it into the washer and dryer. I have heard people say that the yarn is harsh, but science has marched on folks, and my sweaters, after washing, are lovely, drapey, and soft to the touch. I like the wide variety of colors. The yarn is perfect for sweaters for children, and Red Heart also makes other yarns that are full of pep and color for children (like RH Kids). I use the Supersaver on a bulky knitting machine, but I knit all the ribbings and some special features by hand.

Here are some sweaters made of Red Heart Supersaver:

The chest of drawers that I used to store my sweaters went away with one of my daughters when she moved into her new apartment several years ago. I recently got an Anaboda chest from IKEA to store them in, but now I have to assemble it. Today I am off to the hardware store to buy myself a ratchet screwdriver.

Beginning a New Year

2010-01-08T10:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I won't kid you, last year was hard. My knitting mojo died off and I spent the second half of the year mostly sewing. I think I feel the urge to knit returning, though, and I will start off by making something smallish, like a hat. A girl can't have too many brightly colored hats, so I will have to start looking around for beret-like hat patterns. I don't like a hat that smooshes down your hair since my hair needs all the help it can get.

Most of my yarn is still in the storage unit. Here's the deal - after the window replacement and having to empty out the sewing/knitting room, we decided to replace the haphazard storage with a nice Expedit unit from IKEA. However, now we have to take down the current shelves and the stuff that is on them before we start putting the unit together. Oh yes, we have to buy the unit first, too. It has cubbyholes that will hold a lot of yarn. My daughter M has a black one stuffed full of beautiful sock yarn, but I am getting a white unit. I also have a bunch of pretty fabric storage cubes to put on top of the wood shelves. This is so that the avalance that will probably occur during the next quake will be somewhat soft on the head. Only after this is all in place can my yarn come home. On the bright side, the spouse has finally found the extra key to the storage unit and told me the secret code, so I can now go visit my yarn if necessary.

In other hat news, my daughter gave me two lovely handmade hats for Christmas, so I will try to take photos this weekend and show them off.

A Finished Object At Last

2010-01-04T12:03:00.000-08:00

The cafe cardigan is finally all finished. It is a semi-fitted, set-in-sleeve, lowered-neck cardigan with 3/4-length sleeves. All it needs now is a toss in the washer and dryer to soften it up. The buttons are the same color as the yarn, they are just gleaming in the light. It has been so cold this winter that I have been wearing all of my cardigans a lot. Next on the knitting list will be a turqoise-colored cardigan for me, and the Liesl cardigan (http://ysolda.com/store/sweaters/liesl/) for my younger daughter. And who knows, I may suddenly decide to finish the Must Have Cardigan.

Retro Baby Knit Tuesday!

2009-12-15T13:06:00.001-08:00

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

2009-12-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-16T14:36:00.001-08:00

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

2009-11-09T11:42:00.001-08:00

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

2009-10-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-18T07:09:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-01T13:24:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-31T07:35:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-19T22:56:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

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.

The Slow Green Sock

2009-07-06T09:18:00.001-07:00

I am discovering that following a chart is not my favorite way to knit, but this sock is so pretty that I keep working at it. The book is Knitting On The Road, and I decided to put ribbing at the top of the sock instead of the edging shown in the photo.

In garden news, here's how the center garden bed looked a week ago. The beans have since reached the top of the trellis, and we are picking dozens of cucumbers, beets, and sugar snap peas. This week we are picking the apples, hoping to save most of them from the squirrels. These apples ripen in the summer instead of in the fall, so it looks like I will be putting up applesauce this week.

Happy Birthday Shopping

2009-06-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

My daughter, M, has a birthday coming up this week, and she requested a present from KnitPicks. It was fun ordering a bunch of knitting stuff, and the order arrived in plenty of time for the birthday. Part of the fun of ordering online is that you don't have to drive all over creation trying to find something, and this was an easy and pleasant way to buy a birthday present. Buying knitting supplies is always fun, even if it is for someone else.

Eureka Getaway

2009-06-25T15:29:00.001-07:00

We had a short break in our usual activities since the spouse needed to leave the stresses of the office behind for a few days. We headed up to the north coast to the same small towns where we spent our honeymoon years ago. One of our first stops was in Ferndale, a town which still has a lot of its original Victorian charm. The picture above was taken as we walked around in the crisp air remarking on how the town looks even prettier than when we were there decades ago.

We went to the beach in Trinidad, a small town on the coast, and I climbed up on the rocks to take this picture of the tide coming in. In addition to the pretty beaches, mostly empty, the towns are surrounded by pretty farmland, and we were lucky to be there when the wild flowers were in bloom.

I visited a few small yarn shops and bought one skein of sock yarn as a thank-you gift for my daughter who was babysitting my young plants. Now I have to find the sock I was knitting on before we left and try to remember where I was in the pattern. I finished up the Red Heart socks about a week ago and did not get around to taking a picture of them, but I am sure my daughter will post a picture when she thinks of it.

Retro Knit Sunday!

2009-06-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

Not much knitting is going on here, just a little on the green socks. We have been working hard on the victory garden and chasing squirrels. In the meantime, I will show some more of the fashions from the Spinnerin Volume 132 from 1955. The sheath below was made to be worn with whichever neckline was preferred in the front. The pattern stitch is done in two colors and uses slipped stitches and lifted stitches.

The description for the following dress reads, "You can watch TV while you knit this sheath in two straight panels or on a circular needle...there's no shaping to worry about." The neckband is a crocheted band of interlocking rings that is sewn to the top of the dress. The dress is knit of a textured yarn at 7 sts/inch.

The following two pictures show a dress and matching jacket. The description says that the jacket is a 'drawstring' jacket, but the model's pose prevents us from seeing the bottom except for the hanging tie. The dress is a sheath with interesting rib details and contrast bands on the sleeves and neckline. It is knit of a dress yarn with ribbon yarn used for the contrast borders. At 8 sts/inch, this would have been a lengthy project.

My goals for this next week are to finish up those green socks and to start assembling the cafe cardigan, but then I say that every week.

Vintage Knit Friday!

2009-06-05T15:06:00.001-07:00

There are some really gorgeous outfits in this Spinnerin Volume 132 from 1955. The women look very elegant and pulled together. The popular charm bracelet makes several appearances. A charm bracelet must have been a fun accessory, and owning one meant that people did not have to puzzle over what gift to get the bracelet owner for birthdays and/or Christmas. The charms were used to reflect the wearer's personality and to commemorate different life events. In the first dress below, not only is the model wearing a charm bracelet, but also a wedding or engagement ring. Sign of the times. The description of the dress says, "The front panel of this one-piece knitted dress continues around the neck to form a dramatic neckline". The dress has kimono sleeves and an interesting texture pattern on the front panel. It is knit of a dress yarn called 'Coquette' at 7 sts/inch on size 2 needles.
The model below wears a collared stole that is knit with a triple strand of yarn in two colors on size 11 needles. The piece is finished with an edging of single crochet. She is also wearing a simple crocheted beret made with a double strand of yarn.

I love this knitted suit. It is detailed and feminine, and very 'Fifties'. It is knit of the Coquette dress yarn in moss stitch for the jacket and a rib pattern for the skirt. The double-breasted jacket has faux pockets. The decorative edging is crocheted in ribbon yarn. That almost looks like a knitting needle case she is carrying.

At first glance, I thought this dress below was crocheted, but the description reads, "Gold-glinted yarn creates a brocade effect that knits up quickly on large needles to make this demure dress". By large needles, they mean size 8. The dress has a very Audrey Hepburn look to it. It also calls for tulle to be gathered up for a petticoat and sewn inside the skirt with most of the fullness towards the back.

The outfit below is really a jacket over a V-neck dress. It is described as a 'Mile-a-minute' dress, though it calls for needle sizes 3 and 6 and is made of a lace pattern, so that doesn't sound like a quick project. The garments have crocheted borders, and the jacket has yarn-covered buttons.

I think I am a little tired of grafting toes for the time being, and the next socks I make will be toe-up socks after I finish the green lace socks.

Red Heart Sock

2009-06-01T14:07:00.000-07:00

We went to the Peninsula on Saturday and bought some sock yarn, so I am trying to finish up the socks I am working on so that I can start some new ones. This is my first sock using the new Red Heart Heart & Sole sock yarn, and so far I really like it. This sock is knitting up much prettier than I expected. Doesn't look like I have done much more on this sock since the last time I photographed it.

Of the three or four yarn stores we visited on Saturday, we liked Cottage Yarns the best. It was stuffed full of yarn and the people there were very friendly and helpful. They had some varieties of sock yarn that I haven't seen in other shops, and all in all, well worth the drive. It's in South San Francisco at 607 W. Orange Ave. and was very easy to find. Since it isn't too far from where my younger daughter lives, I know we will be sure to go back there.

The only knitting related activity that I have accomplished today is to find various bags of yarn, especially sock yarn, that were in odd places, sort the yarn out and put it away in the proper bins.

Retro Knit Friday!

2009-05-29T07:48:00.001-07:00

I can't remember where I found this booklet, probably in an antique mall in Monterey. It dates to 1955, and for a purchase price of 60 cents, gave the knitter 18 different fashions to make. It is Spinnerin Volume 132.

The cover dress is a special occasions dress made of two different yarns. The basic sheath is knit with a stockinette background with a purl ridge every 12 rows. The purl ridges are the foundations for the scallop crochet, done is a sparkle yarn. The crocheting is done after the dress is finished and assembled. The dress is knit on size 2 needles at 8 sts/inch.

Here's the description for this lovely dress: "A swirl of a dress, light and lacy, a breeze to knit, it is made with a double strand of yarn and big, fat needles. . . . belt it with a rope of multi-colored beads." It is knit on size 10 1/2 needles with a blackberry stitch at hem and wide neckline. The instructions start with 'cast on 475 sts' which is much less than you would expect of a dress with such a full skirt. The dress above is a two-piece dress with a very fitted top that is trimmed with a two-color cabled trim. The skirt is a variation on the knitted-in pleat skirt with the wide portions knitted in reverse stockinette and the narrow bands in stockinette. The directions in this booklet for assembly and finishing are really skimpy since the knitter of the time was expected to have those skills.

The very fitted, feminine dress above is crocheted. Black velvet ribbon is threaded through the single crochet beading strips at neckline and hip. The materials list calls for 2 yards of Nylon tulle which is used to make a petticoat. The tulle is gathered and sewn to the inside skirt top and the edge is covered with seam binding.

The black sheath dress is knitted in a lace pattern. The description says, "Sophisticated as a siren song: a knitted Satinette Ribbon sheath knee-deep in fringe". It is hard to tell even in the large booklet photograph, but there is very long (25") fringe starting several inches above the knee.

Today is supposed to be a little cooler than the rest of the week was, so I am going to go out and plant some beans and onions and see if any seeds have sprouted.

Spring Is A Lot Of Work

2009-05-26T12:23:00.001-07:00

Because the spouse wants to have a large and productive vegetable garden this year to help with the budget, I have had to do less knitting and lots more gardening. My favorite part of gardening, besides eating the produce, is starting the seeds and taking care of the baby plants. Over the years I have accumulated the right equipment, like heating coils to put under the flats, lots of pots and containers (I have trained all the relatives to give me their 'empties'), and the usual garden tools. Sometimes I make my own tools, like two table knives I got at the Goodwill and bent into the right shape to lift out the soil cubes. Here's the scene inside the coldframe this morning. I am going to try and raise lots of lettuce in the coldframe to keep it away from the earwigs and slugs.

The next picture shows the middle garden bed with things just getting started. There are lots of cucumbers (30 or 40 plants), sugar snap peas, shallots, carrots, and beets. I still have lots more onions to set out.

And here is a picture of my arch enemy, one of a gang of marauding squirrels who dig up the lawn and garden and knock my fruit out of the trees. I need to get a Super Shooter (a toy that squirts water) and fill it with a pepper solution to spray up into the trees as a deterent. Notice how he is looking at me so insolently.

Started Some New Socks

2009-05-25T16:09:00.001-07:00

We just went through a very busy two or three weeks, during which time I did very little knitting except starting two new pairs of socks. The first pair is for A in a solid color, using the New England pattern from Nancy Bush's Knitting On The Road. As you can see, I haven't gotten very far.

The next pair is a plain stockinette sock on size two needles, 64 sts, using the new Red Heart sock yarn. This is color 3940, Green Envy, and I really like the colors in this yarn. I am trying out my first Eye of Partridge heel, and it seems to go well with the jacquard patterning. Looks like it would be comfortable, too.

I still have that cafe cardigan sitting in the background, making me feel guilty for not sewing it together yet, so one of these days I am just going to have to pick it up and finish it.

Retro Knit Sequins!

2009-05-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

I have never knit with sequins, or really, done much of anything with sequins. This booklet, still Spinnerin Volume 181 from the sixties, has a few paragraphs at the beginning of the booklet to teach how to work with sequins. I always wondered how people strung all those sequins onto the yarn, thinking as I did that the sequins were purchased in a box or bag. According to the instructions, the sequins of that time came on a string, and the user tied the end of the string to the yarn and slid all the sequins onto the strand of yarn. Here's how the sequin was worked into the knitting:
"K1, *insert right needle in back loop of next st, slide sequin close to work, K st drawing sequin thru st to front of work (1 sequin worked), K1"

This first top is rather nice, with classic styling. Worn with black velvet slacks or skirt, it would still be fashionable today.

I can't really see what use anyone would have for a sequined tennis sweater, though.
Sequin suit, also nice. I love the color, but I wonder how sequins would hold up to the wear of being constantly sat upon.

Sequin sailor top, strange, but I like it.

I finished the Sockotta socks, finally. This is color # 15.

In honor of the event this weekend that we are looking forward to the most, I say, "Live long and prosper!"

Springtime

2009-05-06T07:52:00.001-07:00

The poppies are blooming all around the deck. One year I threw out a packet of seeds, and now they come back every year with no effort on my part.

We are enlarging the vegetable garden this year in spite of the drought talk. Here's the view inside my coldframe with the beginnings of the season growing fast. This year I am going to try growing lettuce in pots inside the frame after all the other starts are planted out. So far I have started cucumbers, winter and summer squash, lettuce, collards, swiss chard, beets, shallots, and sugar snap peas. I try to start something every day. Each flat holds 50 starts.
I am trying to finish up the second sockotta sock this week so I can send it off to A, so I'd better go start a movie and get knitting.

Retro Knit Friday!

2009-05-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

Here are some more fashions from the Spinnerin Volume 181, undated but obviously from the 1960's. The ponchos shown are a little on the wild side, but I had a poncho back in the day, and it was very comfortable and flattering to wear. Or, at least I thought so then. The ponchos all have the same general instructions, and they are varied by changing the yarn color, some fairisle patterning, or the application of 'daisy loom' flowers which are sewn on after knitting. The yarns used are mostly knitting worsted weight or bulky weight at 3 sts/inch on size 11 needles.

One of the nice features of the old Spinnerin booklets was that the instructions were often written for three weights of yarn. The following dress and jacket combo could be knitted in fingering weight, sport weight, or knitting worsted weight.

Photographed in a ski lodge (as I recall, skiing was popular during the sixties, and the reason I am currently in one piece is that I never tried it), the three outfits below consist of knitted skirts and matching jackets. Though I have seen a lot of these outfits in old knitting booklets, I don't think I ever saw anyone actually wearing a knitted suit in real life.

I would have to put the next suit in the 'ugly' catagory. The shape is fine, but the contrasting sleeves, the plaid, and the color scheme make me cringe. Pink and brown is not my favorite combo for some reason.

I was out buying some sale Vogue patterns today, and the young salesgirl expressed anxiety about serving the public during an epidemic. This shows that the media has succeeded in freaking out just about everyone, but I have been through these epidemic scares a time or six and will wait and see what happens. Before he died more than 30 years ago, my grandfather made some audio tapes, talking about his life history. One of the things he talked about was the time right after the War (WWI) in 1918 when he was in a demob camp in France waiting for the boat home and the flu struck the camp. His descriptions of his friends dying around him and his surprise at escaping infection make the current hysteria seem a trifle overblown. I have prepared, of course, have my masks and supplies ready, but I am not going to fret too much. Time to relax and knit some socks.

Back To The Knitting

2009-04-23T11:06:00.001-07:00

Both the husband and I caught that bad cold/virus that was going around, the one that plagues you for over two weeks. I am finally better and starting to work on my projects. The picture above shows the almost completed Sockotta sock that just needs the toe grafting, the start of the second sock, and the cafe cardigan that needs seaming. Being sick through Easter meant that I didn't get to wear the lavender cardigan as I planned to, but at least I finished it on time.

The next cardigan I start will be the royal blue plain cardigan. I still haven't wound up the yarn, so that's next. I feel more in a royal blue mood than a red one so the red jacket will have to wait.

Retro Knit Sunday!

2009-04-05T10:45:00.001-07:00

I finally, after about 8 months, finished up the Monkey socks and gave them away to M before I remembered to take a photo. I finally managed to memorize the pattern on the very last repeat, which is lame but amusing. I have started knitting a pair of plain Sockotta socks for A and am already down to the first heel. I need to start assembling the cafe cardigan and to hang another cardigan from the machine.

The booklet we are going to see today is undated, but seems to be from the sixties. It is Spinnerin Volume 181. The first outfits are classic suits. The green suit on the left is crocheted of knitting worsted, and the 3-piece suit on the right has contrast banding and a very tailored look. I've never had a handknit skirt so don't know how they held up. I imagine you could reblock it if it got stretched out in the seat. Here's another cardigan suit, and I really like this jacket with its bright color and lace banding on the body and sleeves. The yarn used for this outfit is a sportweight and the gauge is 7 sts to an inch.
Notice how the basic shape of all these garments is very similar. The jackets are straight sided and boxy and the skirts are all slim or straight skirts (today called a pencil skirt). The suit below follows the same pattern but is crocheted from sportweight yarn. Notice the giant thumb that is trying to climb up the black couch.

The two dresses show the trend toward 'mod' fashion that followed the Beatles to America. They are mini dresses worn with tights. This type of dress was very comfortable to wear except that you had to be very careful how you sat if you wished to have any modesty at all.

This weekend I decided to dig out my old yogurt maker and try it out. I was shocked to see a container of yogurt at the grocery store for nearly $4, so decided to make my own. I also mixed up some Herman starter, which I have always wanted to try. Making yogurt and bread and knitting socks, I am practically in a time machine back to the sixties myself.

Japanese Stitch Dictionaries

2009-03-30T11:39:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-27T11:10:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-03-21T09:02:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-03T08:16:00.001-08:00

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.

Retro Knit Friday!

2009-02-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

Looking through my boxes of old knitting pamphlets, I found this Capes and Stoles, Book No. 514 from 1957. The cover cape is knit of knitting worsted in a seed stitch, requiring about 20 ounces for the large size. The edges are trimmed with black cord braid and the collar is trimmed with "applique braid". It is knit from the bottom up, and there are side seams and darts sewn in the front top bodice to give it shape.

This green cape below is knit in a puff stitch on size 10 needles. This cape is the same general shape as the cover cape but is knit from the top down and is shorter.

The shawl shown below has crocheted motifs added to a fabric base. The instructions give directions for cutting the tubular jersey for the shawl base to which the motifs and a fringe are added. The motifs and fringe are made of fingering yarn and Knit-Cro-Sheen metallic thread.
The turquoise stole is made from hairpin lace and has an attractively tied fringe.

I have been knitting a lot this week, working on the periwinkle blue cardigan. I made the fronts in one morning and have knit the back already this morning. I hope to finish the sleeves today, too.
The panels were quick to knit by hand. I discovered that it is better to have the second stitch from the inside edge be a knit stitch rather than part of the purl background, because that helps keep the fabric from curling under after seaming.

I have also started in on the next cardigan, knitting the ribbings of a lovely cocoa brown. I think the brown cardigan will be mostly plain with just a few narrow cables up the front like I did on the fuschia cardigan.

Yellow Cardigan Finished

2009-02-18T13:40:00.000-08:00

I sewed the buttons on and got all the ends sewn in, and my new yellow cardigan is ready to wear. The first picture is taken in natural light and doesn't show the cornmeal color at all accurately, and the second photo is taken with a flash. The sweater has a lowered front neckline and 3/4 sleeves and is a bit fitted at the sides.

Here's a closeup of the front panels, a lace panel bordered by two-stitch cables. The band needed a little stability added to it, so I made an edging of backwards crochet.

Now that the yellow sweater is done, I have already started the next one, a periwinkle blue. The ribbings are finished and ready to hang on the machine, but I wanted to make small decorative panels up the front edges by hand. This picture shows the start of the panel which has an extra stitch cast on at the inside edge for seaming.

The instructions for this half-diamond cable design came from 'A Treasury Of Knitting Patterns" by Barbara Walker, p. 270, and is called Two-Texture Rib. The instructions did not include directions for the reversed version, so I am just reading the line of instruction backwards and substituting front crosses for back crosses, etc.

My goal with all these cardigans is to upgrade my 'mom' wardrobe of pants and sweatshirts to a more tailored look of pants and colorful 3/4-length sleeve sweaters for wearing around the house. I have been watching 'What Not To Wear', and the hosts frown on the worn-out sweatshirt look, however comfortable and practical it may be. I have finished four sweaters and have 8 more to make.

Yellow Lace Panel Cardigan

2009-02-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

I finished up the cardigan today, sewing on the last buttons a few hours ago. I will try to take a picture of it tomorrow, since tomorrow is supposed to be a pause in the storms we have been having. This must be the wettest drought in history. I really think the papers should wait until the entire rainy season is over before they declare a horrible drought.

Retro Knit Thursday!

2009-02-12T07:38:00.000-08:00

Well, so far this has been the wettest drought I can ever remember. It has been raining off and on since the papers were full of gloom and doom about the water prospects for the coming year. Today is supposed to be a break in the showers. Spring has already begun here in California, and the almond trees are blooming, and you can now see daffodils opening up in yards around town.

Today I am going to show the rest of the fashions from the 1940 Chadwick's Red Heart booklet, 'So You're Going To Knit A Sweater'. There are several patterns in this booklet for the popular little boxy jacket seen in so many pattern books from the period. WW II was already in progress in some parts of the world, and these little jackets were quick knits and practical for a world where the women worked in factories and had to make do with shortages of supplies for making garments. This first sweater has the square 40's shoulders and is knit with knitting worsted held double on size 13 needles.
The next jacket is also knit of knitting worsted, this time with a single strand, in a checkerboard pattern of knits and purls. This jacket has front pockets, though neither jacket has any front fasteners. The description says: 'Casual chunky cardigans are the big news of the year! Whether they're straight and boxy or whether they button snugly, you'll find them grand sports companions. Knit one to wear over slacks, knee length skirts, tailored dresses, or with gay accessories for winter sports.'

Winter sports sweaters appeared with regularity in booklets from the 40's. This ensemble contains the cardigan, a hood, hat, and gloves. It is knit of knitting worsted weight yarn in reverse stockinette with horseshoe cables. The cables are decorated with embroidery when the knitting is completed.

The next page shows two pullovers. The top one is knit of sweater wool at 7 sts/inch in a basketweave stitch. The description says that the sweater has well-set shoulders and 'that long-stemmed lean look that's so new'. The bottom pullover is knit in ribbing with a 'beautifully finished hemmed neckline'. The instructions only give a row gauge for the knitting, perhaps because it is in ribbing.

The description of the last sweater says, 'Little girl smocking is a charming touch on this slim sweater that fits like wallpaper! The smockin's worked in while knitting...easy, too.' Instead of embroidering the smocking later, it is formed by using wrap stitches over the rib pattern. The sweater is knit of sports weight yarn .

I finished knitting the yellow cardigan and have to start the assembly of the pieces. Meanwhile, I have pulled out the long-suffering Must Have Cardigan and am actually knitting on it. Maybe this will be the year I finish it.

One Sleeve To Do

2009-02-09T10:53:00.001-08:00

I have made the back and one sleeve of the yellow cardigan. I don't make step bindoffs on the top of the sleeves but do short rows instead. When the short rows are finished, I do a row across them all, then I take the stitches off onto a knitting needle and bind the cap off neatly but sort of loosely so that the stitches do not pull in. The shoulders are also short rowed and will be seamed with a double needle bindoff. It took me about 2 hours to knit both pieces, but I wasn't working on it steadily.

I hear it was snowing many inches up in the Sierras. Maybe we will not have so bad a drought after all...

Both Fronts Done

2009-02-07T14:26:00.001-08:00

Both fronts are now done, and the plain sleeves and back will go a lot faster. The lace pattern and cables are knit by hand selection of needles and transferring of stitches. This is why I like machine knitting - two mornings of work while listening to a book-on-tape, and the finicky part is all done. I think it is interesting how the center front edge is all stretched out when you finish knitting the piece, but it all snaps into place so easily and well when you put the band on.

The rich yellow color looks washed out in the photo because we are having overcast and rainy weather (hooray!).

Yellow Cardigan In Progress

2009-02-06T08:43:00.000-08:00

Finally got a new cardigan onto the needles. This will be a 3/4-length sleeve cardigan with a lace and cable panel up the front center. I already have knit the bottom ribbings by hand and have started knitting the left front. So far I have had a series of goofs like forgetting to turn the cables and having to drop the stitches and latch them back up, cabling as I went. This was a hassle, but I listened to a book-on-tape mystery while knitting so the time went by faster.
I found the pattern for the lace panel in an old book of mine, though in the book it is presented as an all-over pattern stitch, and I redrafted it as a panel:
Here's my chart for the lace panel. I bordered the panel with purl stitches and a two-stitch cable turned every 10 rows. It is easier to remember to turn the cables if you turn them when the row counter says 5 or 10 or multiples thereof, unless you forget them altogether like I did.

In weather news, it is actually raining out there, and it is, hopefully, snowing in the mountains.

Brown Woolease Socks

2009-01-27T12:41:00.000-08:00

Finally finished the woolease plain socks for the spouse. He should still get some use out of them this season as the nights are near freezing still.

For my next project, I am working on the Monkey socks I set aside when the husband's feet got cold. I am halfway through the heel on the first sock.

Retro Knit Monday!

2009-01-26T13:05:00.001-08:00

Still working on the toe of the second brown Woolease sock. I keep goofing it up by trying to watch Hayao Miyazaki movies while knitting. Reading subtitles and knitting does not work well for me.

The booklet I am going to show today is one of those that I got at the fundraiser booksale last week. It is in excellent condition and dates to 1940, shortly before WWII. The inside cover makes the case for sweaters in every woman's wardrobe: 'Wherever you go...whatever you do... you can do it in a sweater, for it's a sweater world whether you're a stay-at-home or on the wing! These Chadwick's Red Heart Sweaters consider the comprehensive sweater needs of the smart American woman...casual little affairs (quite a different meaning in 1940)...honest-to-goodness sports types...classic designs...and sophisticated sweater-blouses for town.'

The cover sweater is a cute blouse-type cardigan. The instructions just call for Sweater Wool, which the inside cover explains was a new type of soft, fluffy thick wool. The needles called for are Casein Knitting Pins, which were made from a biopolymer plastic invented in the last years of the 19th century (1899 or thereabouts). The plastic was made from the proteins from skim milk, and produced needles that were firm but flexible and good for arthritic hands. They supposedly produced much less static in the yarn when in use.

The sweater at top left in the photo below has ribbed sleeves and what is described as a 'spongy' front. The biggest size included in the instructions in this booklet was a size 20. The finished bust measurement for this size was about 40". Notice that these two sweaters are much longer than the sweater shown on the cover. During this time, the 'long-bodied line' was in style, and the ribbed sweater at the bottom of the page is a good example of this type. The instructions for the ribbed cardigan call for 'penny buttons' up the front. I have never heard this term before and wonder if it refers to how the buttons look or how much they cost at the time.

The sweater set below, knit in sports yarn, has a pretty, staggered cable design with moss stitch in the center of the fat part of the cables.

Zippers were just starting to be used in men's trousers in the late 30's, having previously been used in boots and things like that. They first started to appear in women's clothing around the time of this booklet or a little before. In some quarters, zippers were considered risque because they allowed women to disrobe faster. However, with the invention of zippers that could open at both ends (separating zipper), their usefulness in jackets and cardigans made them more popular. The lacy cardigan below, with the zipper front closing, has bands of color in the yoke section that create a scalloped design because of the stitch pattern. The white pullover has waist-cinching higher ribbing, puffed sleeves, and a pretty stitch pattern that looks like fagotting.
The pullover below is called 'Campus Belle' and is knit in sports weight yarn. I like the entwined cables. The pin she is wearing on her sweater is kind of peculiar and I can't figure out what it is supposed to be. This sweater uses 'Phantom Knitting Pins which I think were made of aluminum.

It is still really cold here, but the days are bright and sunny, and I saw a tulip tree in bloom yesterday, so maybe Spring is on the way.

Fabulous Day At The Booksale

2009-01-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

I went to the fundraiser booksale this last Friday, and I hit the jackpot for retro knitting and crochet books. They had a bin full of them in the main sales area, and then, when I went to the back room they use for better books, I spotted a magazine holder full of them stuffed sideways into an empty shelf on a book cart in the corner. I fished it out and asked the saleslady if it was sold as one item or many, and she told me that if I would just take it, I could have them all for free!! Most were old crochet pamphlets, one dating to 1917, but there were some knitting gems in there too. The condition was not the best, but I take them home and clean them up and iron them out, and presto, they are great. My daughter was impressed with my booklet score and said that I can spot a hidden knitting booklet from half a mile away. The picture only shows the few I have cleaned up, and there is a big stack of them waiting off camera.

In honor of this wonderful find, the booklet I'm going to show today is a full-color Star booklet from 1951. The ladies on the cover look so elegant with their hairpin lace stoles, and although the hairpin lace is rather plain in these designs, it does give the stole a fluffy, feminine appeal.
The introduction says that stoles and shawls are 'comfortable wool fashion accessories to wear to the movies, church suppers, Grange meetings, the theater, and the senior prom.' The stole on the left below is crocheted of sock yarn in straight panels of hairpin lace. The right side shows a crocheted stole in knitting worsted. 'Nob Hill' and 'Park Avenue' shown below are knitted stoles. I would never have thought of wearing a stole with a daytime suit, but the model looks very nice. Her stole is knit in a feather and fan stitch in rows of Buttercup, Sand, and Wood Brown. The stole she is holding is knit entirely in garter stitch in rows of Jockey Green, National Blue, Scarlet, White, and Maize and is finished up with a row of sc all around the edge.

The lacy white stole is crocheted of crochet cotton in the knot stitch. Not much warmth to be had there (the model looks cold), but it certainly is very pretty. The shrug is knit as a rectangle for about 51 inches in sport yarn, then changes to ribbing after a decrease row. The ends are then seamed up for about 6 inches and the ribbed collar/edge is picked up and knit around, I guess, but the instructions forgot to put in the part about the collar.
The yellow stole below is knit in baby yarn in blackberry stitch, and the red stole is crocheted in knitting worsted. The yellow stole is about 64 inches long.
I love this next photo. Look at the fabulous dress the model is wearing with a skirt that took yards and yards and yards of fabric. The shawl is called 'La Louisian' and is crocheted in 'crimp-set nylon' which seems to have been a sport weight.

Today I am going to finish up another husband sock and start the next one.

4-Day Socks

2009-01-15T11:54:00.001-08:00

Finished these socks in 4 days. They are made of Woolease with some Wooly Nylon in the toes and heels (Wooly Nylon is a nylon serger thread sold in fabric stores in the thread department). These socks were knit on Size 4 Needles on 52 stitches. The top ribbing is 14 rows of K1 P1, and the leg portion and top of foot are K2 P2. Here's the pattern for the size that fits the spouse:

Woolease Socks For Cold-Footed Spouse

Shoe Size: M 8.5
Style: Cuff to Toe
Gauge: 6 sts/in, 8 rws/in
Needles: 4 dp Size 4
Yarn Estimate:
Estimated Ydg: 328. I used about 1 1/2 skeins, maybe a little more

Cast On:
Cast on 52 sts loosely.
Divide sts on 3 dp needles as follows:
N1: 13 heel sts.
N2: 26 instep sts.
N3: 13 heel sts.
Join. BOR

Leg:
Work in pat st for 88 rnds. [11" or length desired] I make the top about 8 1/2 " long including the ribbing. That is about 14 rows of ribbing to start and 48 to 50 rows of pattern depending on your row gauge. I find the gauge varies with the color of the yarn and whether you are knitting stockinette or ribbing.
Complete sts on N2.

Heel:
Slip N3 sts onto N1. [26 sts]
With RS facing, work back and forth as
follows:
Rw 1: *Sl 1 purlwise, k1. Repeat from * to
end.
Rw 2: Sl 1 purlwise, p to end.
Repeat these 2 rows until 26 rws are
complete. [ 3.3"]

Turn Heel:
Note: Sl 1 = sl 1 purlwise
Round Heel
Rw 1: (RS) K15, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 2: Sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1. Turn.
Rw 3: Sl 1, k6, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 4: Sl 1, p7, p2tog, p1. Turn.
Rw 5: Sl 1, k8, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 6: Sl 1, p9, p2tog, p1. Turn.
Rw 7: Sl 1, k10, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 8: Sl 1, p11, p2tog, p1. Turn.
Rw 9: Sl 1, k12, ssk, k1. Turn.
Rw 10: Sl 1, p13, p2tog, p1. Turn.
Work 8 sts. BOR

Heel Gusset:
With free needle and right side facing, k
second half of the heel sts. [N1]
Continuing with the same needle, pick up 13
sts along the side of the heel.
Pick up and knit st from the row below the
first instep st to prevent a hole. [N1: 22 sts
total]
With another needle, work across the 26
instep sts. [N2]
With free needle, pick up and knit st from the
row below the first heel st to prevent a hole.
Pick up 13 sts along the side of the heel
and work across the remaining heel sts.
[N3: 22 sts total]

Shape Gusset:
Dec. Rnd
N1: Work to 3 sts from end, k2tog, k1.
N2: (instep) Work even.
N3: k1, ssk, work to end.

Next Rnd: Work even.
Repeat these two rnds until there are
52 sts remaining.

Foot:
Continue working in rounds until foot
measures 8.2" or about 2" less than you want the foot to measure. For me, this means about 51 rows after the heel.
Complete sts on N3.

Shape Toe:
Classic Toe
Rnd 1:
N1:(heel) Work to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
N2:(instep) K1, ssk, work to last 3 sts,
k2tog, k1.
N3:(heel) K1, ssk, complete round.
Rnd 2: Work even.
Repeat these two rnds until 28 sts
remain. [12 rnds]
Work Rnd 1 only until 12 sts remain.

Finishing:
Work sts on N1 and N3.
Holding N1 and N2 together, graft sts
together using Kitchener st.
Weave in ends on inside of sock.

Work Second Sock

This pattern was generated by the Sock Wizard program. My husband has been having good luck with these socks, since they keep his feet warm without making them sweaty. They are also wearing very well, but the spouse works in an office and doesn't put in miles of walking in them.

First Finished Object of 2009

2009-01-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

Switching to the bamboo needles really made the knitting a lot faster. These socks were made with Opal, Color 1261. I used a #1 needle and cast on 72 stitches. The spouse wears an 8 1/2 shoe so the foot is about 10" long in total.

Here's my working chart, as generated by Sock Wizard.

Now I am about to cast on for a grey pair of Woolease socks.

Retro Knit Friday!

2009-01-09T08:53:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over, and I didn't make a single knitted gift this year. I did finish one of the husband socks, and am working on the toe decreases on the second sock. I had a lot of trouble with these socks because the Knitpicks needles just weren't right for the yarn and were always falling out. I swapped them out for bamboo needles and now am galloping along with the end in sight. When I finish these socks I am going to start a pair of man socks in grey Woolease as a nice change from the fine gauge Opal. Also have to get started on a new cardigan.

There are just a few more fashions to show from the Modern Needlecraft from 1963 - 64. The first picture shows two fair isle sweaters done in knitting worsted weight. The man's pullover has bands of uncomplicated colorwork on a simple dropped-shoulder shape with a boat neck. The description says that it is meant to be worn over a 'thermo turtleneck' while skiing. I don't recall ever hearing of a thermo turtleneck before. The cardigan reminds me of one I knitted for my sister for Christmas many years ago. It was cream with the colorwork in shades of vibrant orange. I remember that I didn't finish it in time, and when she opened up the present and lifted it out, it fell into the separate, unsewn-together pieces. I did finish it up later though.

The next picture is from a Columbia Minerva ad. The sweaters were offered in a kit that provided the yarn with instructions for all four sweaters, and you could choose which one to make. These sweaters were called 'Blazers' and had lapels and several styles of front closure. The kit was called the Quartette, and sold for $4.29 at department stores and yarn shops.

The pink V-neck sweater also appears in a Columbia Minerva ad. This raglan-sleeved sweater has the classic styling seen so often in the early sixties. The V neckline has a double band that is turned to the outside and stitched down. The mohair sweater is trimmed with embroidery and beading. It was also offered as a kit and sold for $11.95, quite a bit more than the previous kit.

Knitting magazines from this period had a lot of references to skiing and fashions for this sport. When I was a kid, lots of my friends used to go skiing with their families, driving up to the Sierras in the winter. This was way too pricey an activity for my family, though. I never missed it, since several of my friends came back with broken legs, and since I wasn't all that athletic, that would surely have been my fate. The man's pullover, knit in worsted weight, is a simple two-color fair isle with a nice balance between the dark and light colors. The lady's cardigan is done in double knitting, zips up the front, and has matching mittens.
This winter has made me very glad I am a knitter since it is the coldest, foggiest winter I can remember. I am really using all of my cardigans.

New Needlecase

2008-12-27T10:53:00.000-08:00

I made another sock needle travel case for my daughter, M, and it turned out even better than the one I made for myself. I used a leftover knitting gauge swatch that happened to be purple and found a pair of purple-handled scissors to put in the implement pockets. I drew out the template for the case on the heavy interfacing using rulers and a bread plate for the curve of the flap. I used this as a pattern for the decorator fabric and the lining.

There is a circle of elastic to hold the "book" closed along with velcro on the flap and at the lower righthand corner. The flap is to keep the sock needles from falling out. The case opens up to show two rows of pockets on the right, and a knitted surface on the left that used to be a gauge swatch to keep the yarn needles, safety pins for row counting, cable needles and a few pins stuck through the knitting.

You can see how much I have improved over the prototype that I made for myself:
Right now I am trying to finish up the husband socks that didn't make the finish line for Christmas. My younger daughter was wearing a really cute sweater this week so she let me take it and take the measurements off of it to reproduce at a later date, so I need to write up a pattern for that. A whole new year of knitting is about to start!

Frosty Day

2008-12-20T09:21:00.001-08:00

This is about as cold as it ever looks in our neck of the woods. I think the lowest ever temperature I can remember here was in the low 20's, and today it is in the low 30's with frost on the ground. Life is so tough in the Golden State, well at our elevation anyway.

I am finished with all of my Christmas crafting which is so unusual to be done ahead of time that I don't quite know how to fill the rest of the time until Christmas. Today I am cooking up a pot of vegetable soup and considering making some Christmas cookies.

Retro Knit Saturday!

2008-12-13T10:30:00.001-08:00

Here we are back in the World's Fair issue of Modern Needlecraft, Fall Winter 1964. This magazine sometimes had up to four or five fashions on a single page, and it is not a large magazine. The first photo below shows two pullovers and a cardigan. The cardigan is knit of a fuzzy yarn with the yarn held double so that the gauge is about 4 1/2 sts/inch. It is a classic man's collared cardigan with cable trim up the fronts and at the raglan seams. The bulky weight boat-neck pullover is knit in turquoise for the background color and 'oxford' (maybe a dark grey?) for the contrast color. It has dropped sleeves and is knit at 3 sts/inch. The 3/4-length sleeve pullover is knit of knitting worsted at 4 sts/inch. It has a ribbed yoke and sleeves and a cabled body.The cardigan on the left in the next picture below is a raglan-sleeved crocheted cardigan. The texture pattern is created by crocheting one row of sc and the next row of slip stitch. The sweater is made from the top down. The sweater on the right, a roll-collar pullover in knitting-worsted-weight yarn, was a style considered to be popular for college girls and campus life. The argyle plaid pullover has kimono sleeves and a boat neck and is knit in stockinette stitch.

Another page packed with fashions! The suit on the left is knit of mohair. The classic cardigan in blue at the bottom is knit with a double strand of knitting worsted from the bottom up. The simple red coat has raglan sleeves and a V neckline, and the classic shift dress has a pattern stitch made with 'double purl stitches', has a crocheted neckband, 3/4 sleeves and a belt made from yarn twisted on itself.

The outfits below were made on knitting machines. You have to love that hat is all I have to say about that. The left outfit consists of a coat, shell, skirt, jacket and hat. The coat and hat are lined/trimmed with fake fur fabric. The outfit on the right is a sheath dress with matching cape knit on the Passap Duomatic.

Here's the description for the center dress on the next page: 'Framed in center circle, this page, is wonderfully packable, lightweight shift that can be worn beltless if desired. Combining light toast and beige tones, checked shift is made of Reynolds' mohair yarn." Upper right shows another cardigan with embossed leaves marching up the front, but this one also has leaves on the collar. I couldn't think at first what the dolman sweater in bottom right reminded me of, crawling up the neck the way it does and with those short stubby sleeves, but then I realized that it looks like a lot of dog sweaters I have seen. It is supposed to be a French-inspired design.

Today I am going to start turning the heels on the husband's Christmas socks. I was looking for some decent color of Woolease to make him some more winter socks, but they only had 'girly' colors at the Michaels. The navy they had was much too bright, not a glum man color at all.

Butterflies

2008-12-11T10:28:00.001-08:00

What a gorgeous day yesterday was! The spouse had yet another meeting down in Carmel, so I went along for the ride. I dropped him off at the office and then drove to Pacific Grove. This is the view towards the ocean through my windshield, and you can see the ocean and the fog bank behind it.I walked around a bit, investigating several antique shops, then I went into the (free!) natural history museum. While there, I went into the museum shop and bought small gifts for the girls and began a conversation with the nice lady behind the counter. She told me that this is the time of year that the monarchs come back to the area. Somehow I always thought that would be in the spring, not at Christmastime. She told me where the butterfly sanctuary was so I decided to try to find it. I promptly got lost, well, as lost as you can get in a small town, and turned in at the municipal golf course. I asked the cute guy at the golf shop where the butterfly sanctuary was, and he gave me excellent directions. I had only overdriven by about two blocks. I found the location and parked next to the adult school. Monarchs were flying around over my head and hovering over the ivy wall.

Access to the grove is a pathway between two lots.

My goodness, what a beautiful day it was. It is a little sad that butterflies are so hard to photograph unless you are a professional like these two guys with the biggest cameras I have ever seen (not only as big as their head, but as big as their head and an arm too). The following picture shows a flock of butterflies feeding on the grass.

The grove had pathways to walk on, and as you walked the lovely orange butterflies would buzz your head and swirl around you. They would land in the trees.

The lady park ranger person was holding a butterfly that she was trying to warm up by blowing on it, so she posed it for me on the ground:

What a lovely experience. Now that I know what time of year to go there, I will have to take the spouse with me next year.

After that, I drove down Lighthouse Avenue and went to Olio, my favorite store in the area. She had a very good selection of vintage sewing stuff. I may have purchased some items, including a wonderful pattern for a man's sport shirt from the late 40's in just the right size for the spouse. I see some Hawaiian shirts in his future.

Retro Knit Friday!

2008-12-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

Here's the last few fashions shown in the Columbia Minerva booklet from the early sixties. The sweaters are worn with slacks, straight skirts, and the sheath dress, which seems to be back in style.
The first sweater is a jacket trimmed with wide ribbon. The ribbon is threaded through gaps in the knitting and trims the sleeves and neckline. The gaps are formed by tying on new balls of yarn for every separate section of knitting, then joining all the sections together. All of these sweaters are made with the yarn called 'Firenze' which knit up at about 3 sts/inch.

The suit has a short jacket and a straight skirt. The sleeves of the jacket are cast onto the body, and all the edges are finished with knitted facings. The jacket closes with applied leather tabs.

This is a nice classic little jacket with cable-trimmed front edges and 3/4 set-in sleeves. It looks great over a sheath dress. The pattern is written in four sizes, from 12 to 18. The size 18 was for a body bust measurement of around 39 inches.

Boy, this pullover has Super Texture - a ridged pattern in the bulky yarn. You would really have to be slim to escape the weight-adding properties of this sporty sweater.

My husband is reporting to me that he loves the Woolease socks that he got for Christmas last year. It hasn't been cold enough to wear them before this fall. He says they are very warm and comfortable and are wearing well so far.

December Projects

2008-12-01T09:08:00.001-08:00

I got tired of little finicky crochet so hauled out my afghan to work on. I have already made 10 or 11 new squares. I think I am going to do a black border to mimic the look of Spanish wrought iron work, since this afghan is Latin themed.

I am also trying something I have never done with socks before: knitting both socks at the same time. I am not sure I like it yet, since it seems like you are on the same part of the sock forever and ever.

Now it is the spouse's turn to use the computer so I am going to go dig through the yarn stash to remind myself what is in there.

February Lady Sweater Finished At Last

2008-11-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-24T13:53:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-21T12:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-11-08T07:10:00.000-08:00

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.

Retro Knit Dinosaur Attack!

2008-10-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

This week we will travel back in time to 1964. I couldn't figure out why the models are posed in front of vicious dinosaurs, but it turns out that the World's Fair in New York was still going on and the photo shoot was done at the Sinclair's Dinosaurs exhibit. The front cover shows a sphere from the fair, too, and a shift dress knitted in Loop Mohair at 4 sts/inch. In the fashion history timeline, this is just before the whole mod fashion, Carnaby Street, Beatles, etc., mini-skirt fashion revolution really got going.

I like the description of this garment: 'Depicting unquestioned approval, this pre-historic friend towers over modern Miss in stunning crocheted jacket with zippered closure.' He doesn't look too friendly to me. The cardigan has a textured, raised-block design at the cuffs, front closure, and neckline.

Apparently the readers of this magazine requested a pattern for a simple cardigan with textured detail, and this is what the magazine provided. It is shown with a ribbed cap that is decorated with many wooden buttons.

Here are two classic designs in knitting worsted weight yarn. The girls' boatneck pullover is knit in a diamond fairisle design with the sleeves cast on to the body. The V-neck pullover has raglan sleeves and panels of a twisted knit design.

These pullovers and vest are also knit of worsted weight yarn.

I have never been to a World's Fair, though both my dad and my father-in-law traveled to the fair in San Francisco back in the 30's when they were kids.

I think summer is on the way out, though we have had a very warm and lovely October. Today I should knit a few token rows on the Monkey socks and maybe I will get enthusiastic about them again.

Field Trip

2008-10-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

The husband was going to be away all day today at a work-related function, so I decided to go to San Jose to visit Kinokuniya. M wanted to go, too, so we looked up the addresses of several yarn shops to visit while we were in the area. I have mentioned Kinokuniya several times but thought it would be nice to show what it actually looks like inside. The store is on Saratoga Avenue right off the freeway and is next to the Mitsuwa Marketplace (also an interesting stop). The store is bright, cheerful, and clean, and has those wonderful Japanese publications and also lovely gift items and stationery items. If you are lucky, like we were today, the store will be full of families with beautiful and chattering babies and toddlers to admire. My Japanese is very minimal, so I am forced to pull out all the volumes to see what they are, but that is part of the fun.

Here is a picture of the magazines in the craft section. There are magazines on knitting, crochet, sewing, beading, toymaking, and lots more.

After we made our purchases, we went to Commuknity on the Alameda where M bought some yarn and I did not, and then on to yarndogs in Los Gatos, where M bought some yarn and I did not. I did, however, find two old vintage knitting pamphlets in a bin by the front door. The sign on the bin said that you could pay whatever you wanted for the items (there were balls of yarn and lots of magazines) and put the money in a jar on the counter to be donated to some cause.
Now it is back to the February Lady Sweater and its very slowly growing sleeves.

Design in Progress

2008-10-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

The sleeve of the February Lady Sweater seems to grow ever so slowly. I was hoping that it would just speed along, but I guess I haven't been knitting on it very diligently. I have been thinking about the next knitting machine project using the completed blue ribbings. I need to decide on a panel to go up the fronts of the cardigan and I decided to pick something out of the beautiful Japanese book.

Here are some of my preliminary choices:

I love this leafy almost cable-like design.

This one is peculiar and a little spooky with the almost face peering out of the diamond.

This one is different and pretty.

I am going to try something I haven't done on a cardigan before, though I did use this technique on the grey pullover with the viking design cable up the front. I can knit the sweater pieces but leave the stitches for the panel on a holder, then go back and knit the panel up by hand. This is a fun technique because all the boring stockinette is done by the machine and all that is left is the fun and interesting part for hand knitting.

And, of course, it wouldn't hurt to knit up a few more hats for the mission.

Retro Knit Friday!

2008-10-17T08:50:00.001-07:00

At last I have finished the lace portion of the body of the February Lady Sweater and am knitting the border. Hallelujah! The sleeves should be a breeze after the endless drudgery of the body. Should be a cute sweater for M when at last it is finished. I did make two more hats for the mission, bringing my total to a respectable dozen.

Today we are finishing up the 1940 BearBrand/Bucilla booklet. The first photo shows the back cover with an ad for Lux soap. Almost all sweaters were wool back then, so almost every soap ad had instructions on washing and blocking wool garments.

This cute little blouse/cardigan is made from a fine angora yarn at 8 1/2 sts/inch on size 2 needles. It has over a dozen buttons down the front. I can't quite make out the pattern on the front band and the collar, but it looks like it could be embossed leaves. The rest of the sweater is in garter stitch.

There seemed to be different sorts of dress categories back in the day, and this is an 'afternoon' dress. There were house dresses, cocktail dresses, formal dresses, evening dresses, etc. I guess an afternoon dress was for dressing up to go to town or a luncheon but not as formal as say, a cocktail dress. This is a one-piece dress with patterned bodice and sleeves, though the yoke and sleeve tops are plain. The skirt has pleats. The dress is knit of Angel Crepe dress yarn at 8 1/2 sts/inch.

'Sportster' is not only supposed to be worn for all outdoors, as the description says, but it is also knit of sport yarn at 7 sts/inch. It is another shorter, waist-hugging cardigan, but this one has fairisle bands on the pockets, sleeves, and collar band.

This dress in a crepe yarn is supposed to be for the career girl. The picture is so dark that I can't really see the design features of the dress except for the front pockets on the skirt and the peter pan collar edged in velvet ribbon.

This little pullover was meant to be worn under the plaid jacket we showed before. It has a high neckline and four faux pockets.

I hear that the fire season is going strong down south, but we have already burned up most of Northern California, so perhaps we will be spared this fall. We are having lovely warm weather though.

Retro Knit Tuesday!

2008-10-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

The hat count is now up to ten, and I would like to make at least two more for an even dozen. I tried out my idea of knitting them off in a string with scrap yarn in between, but it turned out to take longer to get the free stitches back on the needles for the end decreases than it would if I just cast them on singly. I am hoping to get them to the mission by the end of October.

We had a family birthday party for my brother this weekend, and since I didn't get around to Retro Knit Friday, here is the first ever Retro Knit Tuesday. These sweaters are from the 1940 Bear Brand/Bucilla Volume 314. The first garment, a fitted cardigan with quadruple pocket flaps, is called 'Fore and Aft'. It is hard to tell what weight the yarn used is because they only give the gauge for the pattern stitches, but it looks to be about sport weight. The body of the sweater has a cabled pattern and the sleeves are knit in rib stitch. The borders are crocheted.

This thicker-yarn short-sleeved cardigan is knit in a diagonal rib pattern which looks nice in the textured yarn. The sweater is meant to be worn with shoulder pads.

This classic cardigan has a knit/purl diamond pattern, stockinette button bands, and large pockets on the front described as 'super-pockets'. It is knit in a very fine yarn at 8 1/2 sts/inch out of a poetically-named yarn called Caledonian Zephyr.

This poor model in the knitted 'duotone' dress is about to be attacked by a giant squid or octopus whose tentacle can be seen behind her. At least she is stylishly dressed for the approaching nautical battle in a close-fitting dress with contrast yokes and front panel which closes up the front with a 'slide fastener'.

Obviously, the fashion emphasis was moving to the shoulders during this phase of fashion evolution. This boxy jacket in a thicker gauge has saddle shoulders. The sleeves are knitted in angora which means that the fuzz continues across the shoulders. It's hard to tell if the sweater is supposed to be dressy or sporty.

'Suburban' is knit in a sport-weight yarn at 6 1/2 sts/inch on size 3 needles. It has cable trim on the bodice and a double-breasted front closure. The pattern description says, 'cable stitched detail on the ageless, dateless tailored dress of TWEEDMOOR.'

Today I am going to try to knit up two more hats and work on the never-ending February Lady Sweater.

Retro Knit Sunday and Air Show!

2008-09-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-25T09:21:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-05T10:42:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Retro Knit Friday!

2008-08-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

We had a short stretch of very hot weather, but the weatherman just said that the temp should fall by twenty degrees this weekend. That's good, because the spouse plans to paint the kids' room, and it would be nice to open all the windows without letting in 106 degree air. I am nearing the toe on the second Trekking red sock and have set in one sleeve on the green cardigan.

Now, on to more outfits from the 1949 Bear Brand booklet. The one-piece dress with lapels is called 'Year Rounder'. It is knit of Caprice, a textured dress yarn at 8 1/2 sts/inch that blocks out to 8 sts/inch. The skirt has 8 faux gores formed by purl ribs, and it is attached to the bodice at the waist. The lapels are double thickness with sc around the edges.

'Tailored Cable' is a suit of classic shape trimmed withcables at the front button band, the pockets, and the cuffs. There is also an all-over cable pattern of short lengths of cable on a stockinette ground.

I think 'Smart Lines' is very chic looking with the smooth lines and stripe trim at bodice and pocket. Also smart are the gauntlet gloves and cute hat. Her head is turned but I think there is some kind of feather or trim on the other side of the hat. Not that that has anything to do with knitting, but the accessories make the outfit!

'Two Toner' also has a classically simple shape with contrast trim at color and tab trim on the front. Most of these outfits are knit on size 1 needles at 8 - 8 1/2 sts/inch.

'Rope Twist' is a very fitted, cropped cardigan with the cables knit in contrast colors. Judging by the accessories, this cardigan is more sporty and casual than the other garments.

The classic pullover has a texture pattern and is knit at 9 sts/inch. This is 1949, but already the little tied scarf around the neck is making its appearance.

I am already thinking about the next sweater. Will I start the yellow or blue?