Retro Knit Sunday!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good Day at the Thrift Shop

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

A Little Bit Of Knitting Still Happening

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

Retro Knit Friday!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Retro Knit Friday!

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

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

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

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

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

Retro Knit Friday!

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

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

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

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

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

Retro Knit Sunday!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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