Out and about in my London

Last week I was feeling more myself again, and the relief that came with it made me get off my butt and go out dancing on Monday, and to Spitalfields market on Thursday. (Let's not talk about this week).

Monday is Balboa night here in London, at least in my London. Swing at the Blueberry is run by amazing Balboa teachers - Natasha Hall and Paul Crook. I, and many others long to emulate their smooth, cool, understated style. On Monday Natasha was alone, as Paul was taken ill at the last minute, (probably that dreaded lurgy)! Natasha switched between male leading and female follower steps effortlessly, and taught us some sweet variations on the basic moves, which I have been practising a bit since. It felt so good to be out and dancing, (and having a couple of beers didn't hurt my mood either).

On Thursday I ventured to Spitalfields market, as it was antique day. I say ventured, it is only a short train ride away, I'm just quite lazy. I got there around 10am, and saw lots of stall holders still setting up, then realized they were the traders selling new goods, so I toodled over to the other side, where the seasoned antique dealers were already sipping coffee and chatting to each other amiably, having already set up their wares. It is thanks to the Sunny Stitcher that I remembered about the antiques on a Thursday, and I'm pleased to report that it was quite a fruitful trip. I needed some buttons for a couple of jumpers, and found some 1930s ones.

Spurred on by my find, I even managed to finish this jumper, that had been languishing patiently in a drawer. I'm glad I didn't just use any old buttons.

It is from volume 2 of A Stitch in Time, Quick Work In Thick Wool. I have to say it was pretty quick, even though I cast on about 3 years ago!

I used Drops Nepal, a wool and alpaca blend.

When I think of the knitting designs of the 1930s, I immediately think of 3 ply wool, not aran, which is used in the above design, and never chunky weight. That is until I found this design from a 1936 edition of Home Notes magazine.

Knit on No.1 needles, (old English), 7.5mm metric. I used 7mm which gave me the reqiured 3 sts to the inch. Called 'Jumper in Thick Wool', it was indeed a very quick knit. I started it the middle of last week, and I'm sewing it up now. I don't think I will knit the belt, but use a leather one instead, to cut down on the bulkiness. I will follow up with the finished garment in my next post.

Here are the rest of the goodies I found. The buttons are for the jumper above, with the magazine it is from beneath it. (That wasn't found at Spitalfields). A couple of patterns for tea cozies, and two late 40s jumper patterns.

You can just see In Retrospect magazine poking out underneath them all, the new vintage magazine by Matt Keller. It's the second issue, and I was happy to see an article on vintage knitting in it. Let's hope there will be more of those in the future!

I had a bit of a splurge in Collectif, while I was in Spitalfields, but I felt I deserved it after being ill for so long. And they are for dancing. I've been wanting to try on some Miss L-Fire shoes for a while, as friends had been raving about them. They were in the sale, otherwise I wouldn't have entertained them. I have some very similar, from Topshop years ago, but they have a stiletto heel, so completely different.

I have at last photographed my Starring Stripes jumper. I wore it when I to Spitalfields, with my cream knitted turban, but failed to get a photo of me wearing either.

The colours aren't quite as they are in real life, but I couldn't seem to get the right setting on my camera. They are an almost perfect match to the original colours of the model in the pattern though, which I am very pleased about.

Thanks again to Liz from zilredloh for sharing this wonderful pattern with us.

Back to my sewing up!

Theodora.

We're Gonna Hang Out The Washing On The Knitted Line - Part 1

I haven't had a chance to photograph many knits recently, I've been trying to finish a few designs. One is almost ready to share, and I did get my brother and my long suffering husband to take some shots of it. I'm now in the process of uploading it to Ravelry, which seems to be much more complicated than it should be, but then I am no expert on these things - I'm still finding my way around this laptop. Here is the song this post is based on if you want to have a listen:

We're Gonna Hang Out the Washing On The Seigfried Line

I wanted to try some more outdoor shots, so these were taken in the morning in my garden. I was constantly trying to outrun the sun, but this is a bunch of knits old and new - all vintage patterns, of course, except the hats, which are my original designs. Naturally I want them to look vintage, but the proof is in the wearing.

Some of you might recognise this - it's Starring Stripes from the wonderful Zilredloh's blog. Finished at last - I only started it in March! I am so pleased with the colours, I got an almost perfect match to the original. It did come out slightly big, but I thought it might, with my use of a 'sportweight' wool, (which I think is equivalent to a heavy 4 ply? Please correct me if I am wrong). The main natural shade is 3 ply but the rest are all 4 ply. So it does make a difference. Luckily the jumper is worn with a little ease, so I can get away with it. Next to it you will see a hat to match. I couldn't resist, I had just enough yarn left. It is one of my new patterns called 'Hat With A Tilted Brim'.

Please excuse the camera phone pic. 

Didn't quite outrun the sunshine here... The yellow 'blouse' is from The Lux Book, 1940 I think. Knitted it years ago, it's a teensy bit snug now. My good pal Wozza shot it for me back in 2008.

In the glamorous location of Cannes - sorry, Cafe Rouge in Southgate.

This wool is from a cone, 3 ply or finer, turned out too short for Long Torso T, but great with vintage sailor pants.

Here it is being worn with a flying baby. At a 78 record fair, obviously.

Back to my washing line. On the left is another knit from A Stitch In Time Vol 1 - 'Such a Debonair Little Jumper'. Knit in a fine alpaca, it is super soft. On the far left, you can just see a grey hat with a jaunty bow, and in the middle another hat in Fenella, in shade Chalk. These are two more of my 'Hat With A Tilted Brim'.

Here is 'Such a Debonair Little Jumper' with ribbons threaded through (left), or accessorised with vintage dress clips and a baby Gladstone. (Right).
 

           



I'll leave you with me cheesing it up at The Blitz Party after a few too many Gin & Its. This little magenta beauty is from a 1940 Copleys leaflet. I know it is from 1940 because the original owner pencilled it at the top in very neat handwriting - Feb 29th 1940.

I'll show you the rest of my washing line in my next post, and a bit more about this Copley's creation.

Theodora.

What's on my Needles Pt 2 and a New Crochet Course

Just sewing up my Starring Stripes now, then I will pick up around the neckline and do the last of the ribbing to finish off. I ran out of the main colour, green, but picked it up at Loop on Saturday after work. I got there just 5 mins before they closed, which was probably fortuitous, as they were having a 10% off sale, so I didn't get the chance to be weak in a wool shop.

I just hope it fits, it measures between 17.5 and 18ins unstretched, so if I just steam it very lightly it should be OK.

Matching the stripes isn't too tricky, I'm using mattress stitch, which is what I use for side seams too. I just can't seem to get on with back stitch, it seems bulky and I like sewing on the right side of the work, so I can make sure I'm not messing up.

I will post more pics when it's finished. Hopefully not crappy ones taken with my phone. I do like my new tablecloth though, an oilcloth from good old Walthamstow Market.

In other news, I signed up to a five week crochet course with Claire Montgomerie, a knit and crochet designer, and editor of the best craft magazine around.

Inside Crochet is pretty much the only craft mag I buy now, as I rarely see anything that interests me in the knitting mags these days. I got a gift subscription to Mollie Makes, which also has some good projects, but there is ALWAYS something in Inside Crochet that I want to make. I think that is what re-kindled my interest in crochet. The projects are aimed at all levels, so as a beginner I was able to leap right in and make something really fun and quick! Wow, it really is SO much quicker than knitting. 

I've just had the first class, and it was great. We were told we can bring in any pattern we would like to make, so of course I have been trawling through my vintage patterns. Can't wait til next week.

What's on my needles

After a very long absence, I'm back. It's not that I haven't been knitting - in fact, I've been working on lots of jumpers, all from vintage patterns, of course.

At the moment, I am working on this - see if you can recognise the vintage pattern just from the colours.

I was very pleased that I happened to have these shades lying around.

It is Starring Stripes, from the fab zilredloh, who has kindly shared some lovely patterns on her blog. It is from Stitchcraft, one of the loveliest women's magazines of the period. I had been eyeing it up for ages, and eventually cast on a couple of months ago, right before we moved house. I think the stress of moving drove me to abandon a very time-consuming lace jumper in favour of a new and exciting knit, to take my mind off things. I love the thrill of starting a new jumper (except the ribbing).

 

It is knit sideways, another big draw for those who tire quickly of ribbing. The welt is picked up along the straight edge, so you don't get out of it, but at least it can be done at the end, when you can really see the whole jumper coming together. I have finished the back and am halfway through the front. It's a very straightforward knit, just stocking stitch and garter, with shaping for the armholes and neckline. Of course that didn't stop me forgetting where I had increased/decreased, so much ripping back was done.

The wools I'm using are:

Bairns-wear Scotch Knitting 3 ply in Fawn or Natural (vintage yarn, only 2ozs required, we'll see!)

Quince & Co Tern (a fingering? weight) in shade 144 Bouy (yellow)

Jawoll superwash 4 ply by Lang yarns in shade 198 Spring Onion (green)

Jaeger Matchmaker 4 ply in shade 758 (brown)

Nature Spun by Brown Sheep Company sportweight in Pomegranate (rust)

I am using up odd balls of wool left over from other projects, although I am slightly concerned about the different weights. The pattern gives the measurements as 33 - 35 in bust. At the moment the back measures at least 18ins, so  blocking will be interesting.