New Year - New Knit

A new vintage knit, from the May 1935 edition of Stitchcraft. 

Called Square Yoke, Flared Sleeves.

I was so eager to photograph it I took a pic before sewing on the buttons.

I went for simple mother of pearl ones.

The wool used for the original was Paton's Super Brindle, which I had never heard of before. It was a little tricky to work out how to substitute. The needles used were 3mm, 3.25mm, 3.75mm and 4 mm. Tension required was one pattern repeat (9 sts), to 1.5 inches. It didn't look like a dk wool in the photograph, but more like a 4 ply. I did my tension swatch with Jamieson & Smith's 2 ply jumper wool, which I find knits to a true vintage 4 ply. It worked well, so I cast on and got going.

It knit up pretty quickly, and was a simple, but still interesting enough pattern to keep me from getting bored. It was knitted straight without any armhole shaping, the yoke left on a holder and worked after shoulders were joined. The sleeves are sewn on flat before any other sewing up is done. Lots of steam and pressing, especially the lace part of the sleeves, to get that flare. The only really annoying part was the decreasing on the yoke, which is not symmetrical. (The reason the buttons were added?)

As you may have noticed, I took these photos myself, in the mirror, so they leave a lot to be desired.

I have realised another reason I love to knit these vintage jumpers is the detective work that goes into it. Trying to find the perfect yarn, the perfect tension, the perfect length. Mine has turned out shorter than the original, but it sits on my natural waist, so it is fine. I think it is actually a teensy bit snug, and that is because I didn't go up to the 4mm needles, but stuck with the 3.75mm ones, as these are what gave me the correct tension. That would explain why I only needed 6 ounces! Still, better than horribly baggy.

Theodora.

Free Pattern Friday and a year of blogging

The end of April marked a year of consistent blogging for me. I actually started this blog in 2011, and managed four posts before I let it slide. I still don't really know what my blog is about, but the consistent theme seems to be vintage knitting, interspersed with the fun things I get up to.

Sometimes, I combine the two, like on a day out with the kiddies in coordinating colours. Here's another look at my Victory Jumper, this time with shoulder pads. They just finish it off. I'm so happy with the length of the sleeves, too, just above the elbow. This was a very popular length in the 1940s, as it made it a very wool-saving alternative to long sleeves when wool was in short supply.

The free pattern this month is from the 1950s, and it's a twinset. A longish polo-neck jumper paired with a dolman-sleeved bolero.

I just love her pose on the cover, and the bold blonde highlights at the front of her tousled, bobbed hair. Quite fancy the skirt and chunky bracelet, too!

It is a larger size than usual: 35-37 inch bust. Worked in 3 ply at a tension of 7.5 sts to the inch, it would be easy to substitute a 4 ply for a slightly larger size.

It will be on the Free Vintage Patterns page, too.

I went to another International Club at the end of April, with my friend Simone. We met for dinner, and headed over for an evening of 78s and a live band. There was a vintage photo booth set up in the basement by Hanson Leatherby, a rather marvelous photographer, who specializes in vintage-style photography. I haven't seen any of the shots from that night yet, but everyone had a great time doing it, so I'm sure they will be amusing.

Simone promised vintage knitwear, and she did not disappoint. Here, she's wearing the Miss Marple coat from A Stitch In Time Vol 2, in a very sensible brown shade.

Her jumper is from a 1930s edition of Stitchcraft magazine, in D.K weight wool. She describes the shade as Sea Green, which sounds very 30s to me. She was very kind and gave me some 3 ply wool, in the same sea green shade, and some in cream. I will give it a very good home. I'm still trying to decide what pattern to knit with it. I'm wearing Embroidered With Tiny Flowers from A Stitch In Time Vol 1. I love the enormous balloon sleeves.

We had some fun in the restored pub where the night is held.

Simones' long-suffering pal Gordon took these pics of us clowning around.

On to the next night of frivolity. I'm still wearing pink, and my hair is still curly. Just fast-forward fifty years.

Mixtape was all about the Yacht Rock last month, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to wear a turquoise jumpsuit and my 'Stevie Nicks' sparkly kimono blouse.

My hair got some serious scrunching action, and I wore it to one side with a hair-comb and copious amounts of hairspray to keep it there.

My partner in crime was Magnum P.I. (see what I did there). The 'tache was pretty impressive.

There was dancing and white wine spritzers were sipped langorously.

I hope this photo thing doesn't mess with your head, my phone did it automatically.

Last month wasn't all fun and games. We had to say goodbye to our beloved puss, Mr Tibbs. He'd been with us since 2006, wandering into our garden as a stray, and becoming a very willing house cat. He was an ace mouser, too.

I'm glad I got some pictures of him before he was put to sleep. He was very ill by the end, so skinny.

He lost that eye quite recently, as a result of an infection made worse by the FIV he had. He was such a loving cat, but he shared a house with two female cats who never took to him, so there was always tension. He had a good life though, I think.

Theodora.

Free Pattern Friday - Herringbone Lace Turban

I'm changing my name to Chesty LaRue. I'm still fighting this chest infection with the help of yet more penicillin. I'm not knocking it. I'm not anti antibiotics, like so many people, but they have probably never really needed them to like, you know, save their actual lives. There, rant over. I have a story about how antibiotics did actually save my life once, but I'll bore you with that another time. (It does have a knitting connection - a major one).

This post is about knitting, as it should be. A knitted turban to be precise. After seeing a pattern for a vintage 1940s turban on The Vintage Pattern Files, and knitting it, I thought I would do another in a lacy stitch. As I didn't do a free pattern for February - (did I tell you I was ill?) - it is a bit overdue.

Photograph by Shanthi Sivanesan

The yarn I used is called Semilla, by BC Garn. I picked it up at Nest a while ago, for no particular project in mind, I just couldn't resist the shade. It only took two balls, as the meterage is very generous for a DK weight at 160m to 50g. I think it was under a fiver too. It is 100% organic wool, and has a good firm twist to it. Any DK weight yarn would work though. The original vintage turban pattern is done in 3 ply, but I just couldn't face all that knitting, and actually knit the vintage one in aran weight wool, which was a super quick knit. This one took a little longer, but still a lot quicker than with 3 or 4 ply.

I am very happy with it, as it goes with my 1940s dress and Copleys cable knit jumper. The pattern has a lot of stretch width-wise which is what I wanted, to cover my ears on a cold day.

Photograph by Shanthi Sivanesan

The photos were taken by my good friend, Shanthi, whom I've known since I was 18. She's always had a keen eye when it comes to taking a good pic, so I went over to her place, and we went out in the garden, It was cold sunny day, perfect weather.

She captured the colours perfectly.

Photograph by Shanthi Sivanesan

I have put the pattern on a new page, called 'Free knitting patterns'. You can find it under the banner at the top of the page, or here.

Photograph by Shanthi Sivanesan

Photograph by Shanthi Sivanesan

Photograph by Shanthi Sivanesan

We had a bit of fun with the styling.

I found my old Doc Martens recently, in the loft at my mum and dad's, so I've been living in them. I've always loved clashing colours and fabrics, so teaming my 40s dress with a faux leopard print jacket felt right. I have to admit I get slightly bored of dressing vintage head to toe, (sorry)! It's good to grunge it up a bit.

I have been listening to a lot of music from the 90s again, as my husband and I have just launched a night at our local here in Walthamstow. It's called Mixtape, and we play a mix of 80s and 90s stuff. This probably explains my fashion choices right now.

I really enjoyed rummaging in the loft for my old clothes from back then. I even found a hand knitted cardigan, in acrylic, (originally from a charity shop, in the days before I could knit).

You can just about see it here, with lace panels down the front. I'm with my good pal Nese, we grew up near each other in Norf' London. Nese is convinced she, (and I), invented the selfie, in 1992, before it even had a name. But Shanthi has confirmed that it was in fact Madonna, back in '85. And of course with that Polaroid in Desperately Seeking Susan. These are the issues that matter to us.

Can't beat a bit of red vinyl!

Theodora.

Joan Fontaine

This is a design I recently finished, using Drops Alpaca and  Rowan's Kidsilk Haze. The colour match is almost perfect considering the yarns are from different suppliers. I really like the ribbing, it's good to do something other than K1, P1 ribbing. These photographs were taken by my brother Michael, who has been taking pictures for just over a year now, mostly wildlife, so I had to practically beg him to take a few of me in this jumper. I'm very pleased with them though. I have very high standards now that I have been photographed by Susan Crawford for A Stitch In Time, Volume 1 & Volume 2! (Not that it's made me vain or anything.) I can't wait for A Stitch In time Volume 2 to hit the shelves. It'll be such a treat to see it complete, as I haven't seen many of the pics so far.