Shawl collar vintage sweater

If you've been following this blog for a while, you might recognize this vintage placket neck sweater that I talked about last Spring. Well, I'm happy to report that it's finally finished!


I chose a tan color Cascade 220 wool, and knitted it in a size that would allow a somewhat slouchy fit. I think I was inspired in part by the granny-chic look that seems to be everywhere in indie fashion these days.


The collar can be worn up or down. I think I prefer the look of it down, but having it popped up will certainly keep the chill away in the cold. Overall, it's a really warm and cozy sweater--and I can see why Cascade 220 is so popular. The downside to the sweater is that I feel a bit frumpy in it--if I were to do it over, I would have chosen a more vibrant color to balance the plainness of the design.


I think if I had a better sense of how to style clothing, I'd be able to pull this sweater off a little better--but that's nothing new! Despite that, I'm sure I will appreciate the warmth of this new sweater when I head back home to the Midwest for the holidays.

Sewing book recommendations?

Hi there,

I've been working on resizing some vintage patterns for a better fit, but I feel that my instincts for doing so are fairly limited. Do any of you have a good book to recommend that would teach me how to properly adjust patterns for fit?

Thanks!
Meghan

A bit of crafting

Although I don't have much to show for it on the blog lately, I actually have been spending a fair amount of time on creative projects. Perhaps not as much as I would like--between my return to the working world, and my frequent weekend trips out of town--but I'm still plugging away.

I've been knitting a placket neck pullover from a 1950s pattern, that just so happens to match my couch. Never mind putting away my knitting, I've now trained it to camouflage into its surroundings.


I've also been sewing. Having unpacked my fabric stash, I'm a bit unhappy with how large it has become--the same goes with my pattern stash. So I'm weeding things out, and have come up with a plan to sew through several things in the upcoming months. I tried out the following two patterns this week, but both ended up as failures-- for the time being.

I started to make this Cynthia Rowley top out of some gingham I bought for super cheap in Thailand. When I bought it, I was pretty sure it was 100% cotton, but now that I looked at it again, it was clearly a synthetic blend--probably like the poly/cotton gingham they sell at Joann. I'm terrible at working with synthetics at this point (and knits, too, for that matter). I just don't have the skill or patience to deal with things that unravel or change shape. So, this top didn't work out this time, but I still plan on making it again in a natural fiber.

I then finally broke out the famous 'walkaway' Butterick dress. I had 5+ yards of uninspiring quilting fabric that I bought for about a $1 at an estate sale. I remembered that I don't like Butterick since they don't print any of the finished garment measurements on the package. And, because of the unique construction of this dress, I found it difficult to determine exactly how I could cut/alter it to get the best fit. After making up most of the dress (which was super easy), I determined that I wasn't going to get a great fit without a lot of tinkering, and quickly decided that I wasn't excited enough about the dress or the fabric to continue.

While it might sound disappointing, this is all progress! I was able to say goodbye to two stash fabrics, and one pattern. On to the next!

Knitting obsessively

I finished my second shawl of the summer--just in time for the thermometer to reach 100 degrees. This is the fantastic textured shawl by Dark Trico, which is available for free through Ravelry. I knit it using a soft green hue of Ultra Alpaca, which I had originally used for my first garment project several years ago. I'm really happy with the way this turned out, and I can see myself loving this during winter visits back to Chicago. [Ravelry link]

I've also cast on for 2.5 other sweaters (the .5 is still a swatch, but will be my traveling project this summer). Above is Anais by Nora Gaughan, which I'm knitting from a large cone of sport weight alpaca I bought for $10 at a yarn sale. It's a really deep eggplant color. I'm thinking of trying to make long sleeves ('cause what good is an alpaca tank top?), and am also thinking of modifying the neck line a la Carrieoke. Although I realize that the lace inserts are the whole idea behind this pattern, I do think it makes quite a nice shape without them. We'll see.

The final project is that second vintage sweater from one of my previous posts--the one with the placket neck. I was nearly finished with the back of that a couple nights ago. I started winding a second skein of yarn when I realized that a colony of mites (insects) had decided to hatch their babies in the box of yarn. If this sounds gross, let me tell you, it was. The yarn got put in zip lock bags and was banished to the freezer for 3 days. It's currently defrosting (to give the remaining eggs a chance to hatch, if they haven't died yet) and will then go back into the freezer for several more days. After that, I'll vacuum the dead insects off, and try to forget about what happened as I knit up the rest. This freezing procedure is similar to what we do in museums when there are infestations (a fairly common occurrence). I've never heard of wool-eating mites, so I'm thinking they just liked the dark cozy yarn-in-shipping-box environment. Blech.

Help me choose

Ok, so I'm doing a bit of overseas travel this summer, and I think I need a sizeable yet mindless knitting project to keep my hands busy. I do have a couple design projects I'd really love to work on, but I think both will be too tricky to manage while on the road. This evening I thumbed through my stack of vintage knitting magazines and found a few candidates. Any thoughts?

Adorable striped cardigan. The dark stripes are seed stitch, while the light ones are stockinette. I love this in the two shades of gray.
From Fleisher Hand-Knit Favorites vol. 37 from 1967

This placket neck sweater might be the leader at the moment. I'm seeing it in a soft fawn brown color, but not mohair like the original.
From The Mohair Book by Bernat, 1961.

This bulky cardigan is so great with the collar and cables. It reminds me a bit of that really popular Drops cardigan. I'm seeing this in a rich navy blue. Bonus for this pattern is that it calls for Fleishers 'gigantic' yarn on size 15 needles. It looses points for the same reason though, as it would take up more space in the luggage.
From Modern Needlecraft No. 42 Fall Winter, 1963

EDIT: Thanks for the great suggestions so far, guys! I should note that I will be abroad for 8 weeks, and I will be nowhere near a yarn shop (or any other shop, for that matter). The length of my trip (and my flights) and the lack of opportunity to buy new yarn is why I was thinking of going with a bigger project.

Vintage Pattern Thursday

Let's hear if for knitting during the warmer months:

Modern Knitting, Crochet and Needlework, 1948.

Early 1980s (?) lacy halter.

Above and below, Good Housekeeping Needlecraft from the 1960s--lots of fantastic patterns.

Book search

Does anyone have this book? I'm interested in finding some patterns for scalloped knitting as pictured on the cover. I'd like to have a number of options for a design I've been thinking about, and before I drop $50 for a used version of this hard-to-find book, I'd love to know more about its contents. Or, if anyone has any other ideas about sources for scalloped knitting patterns, I'd love to hear! I've already found a few good ones on ravelry, but I'd like to cast my net as wide as possible. I haven't checked the treasury books yet, does anyone know if one volume has these type of patterns?

Vintage Pattern Thursday

Vintage Pattern Thursday: DIY Vintage Bombshell edition.

Vintage evening gown, 1940s?
I don't know if I've posted this one before, but every time I see it I'm stuck by how gorgeous it is. I'm sure it would take 30 years to make by hand, and I wonder what kind of yarn they recommend...but regardless, you'd knock the socks off of all of your knitting friends.

Vogue Knitting, 1956

Perhaps a more updated (by a decade) version of the first dress. More streamlined, certainly more feasible to knit. I think I have a real attraction toward black and dark blue knitted lace.

Vogue gown, 1950s?

Some glamour for you sewists. Though I think to fully achieve this look, you would need to have the whole ensemble: gloves, perfect coif, and pose.

Evening dress in two lengths, 1960s
I was really struck by the lines of the gray dress--I hadn't seen anything quite like it. I imagine it would be far less dramatic on your average woman, but still eye-catching.

Minerva, 1941
For the fully DIY look, perhaps you could even make your own fancy stockings. Again, I wonder what type of yarn/thread one would use for these?

Vintage Pattern Thursday

The other day, I came across a vintage knitting pattern book that I absolutely loved. The seller says it's from 1953, which I found a bit surprising--I would have guessed they were from the 1960s. I decided to do a little search for other patterns from 1953 to see what was going on that year, and if these knitting designs fit in, or were ahead of their time. You be the judge:

Above and below, the adorable knitting patterns from Women's Day Magazine, 1953.

I love the blue striped dress above, I suppose this might be in keeping with the knitting styles. Simplicity 4341, 1953

Super fancy ball gown, Butterick 6011, 1953

Are those tiny llamas on her shirt, or have I spent too much time looking at Pre-Colombian artifacts? McCalls 9651, 1953

Finally, something that I see as typical 1950s: the shirt dress. Advance 6460, 1953

Vintage Pattern Thursday

This week, I've chosen a few vintage knitting patterns from the 1940s. It seems like shoulders were particularly important in this decade.

Columbia, 1947

Minerva 1946

Smart Knitting, 1948

Vintage Pattern Thursday

New Favorite: The Joan Bennett Collection of Bernat Fashions, designed for Miss Bennett by Mirsa of Italy, 1969.

I absolutely love that herringbone outfit!!

Vintage Pattern Thursday

In nearly every knitting pattern book--be it vintage or modern--there are invariably patterns you will love, and patterns you will hate. This week, a study in these contrasts.

For example, let's say you fell in love with this soft yellow cardigan from Reynolds Continental Collections, 1960:


Well, then you'd also be stuck with these matchy creations:


Or perhaps this lovely blouse from Fleisher's Hand Knit Fashions, 1957 is more your style:


In that case, I hope you love having your hips accentuated by big bobble-y pockets:


I suppose there is always a little something for everyone.

Vintage Pattern Thursday

In this week's edition:
Interesting closures....

Bow tied cardigan from 1934

Embellished buttons from 1936

Cutest belt ever from 1935

...and fantastic backdrops.

Elegant sailing in 1934

Vintage Pattern Thursday

I bought a whole pattern book for a sweater similar to the one above. I still haven't made it, and actually have kind of a love/hate relationship with the look of it. It's certainly compelling somehow. This particular pattern book has some very interesting styling choices.

Speaking of which, I've seen the image below several times, and it always makes me do a double take.


Apparently this coat comes in sizes both for yourself and your mini-self. Gotta love those early photoshop attempts!

Vintage Pattern Thursday

I've got my eye on knitted chevrons this week.


I love the look of that over sized blue and silver evening shell above, from 1966, and that dress below is pretty fantastic in so many ways.

Minimalist giveaway #2

I used a random number generator to choose the winner of last week's pattern giveaway, and the winner is....

Mama Gina of Associated Bag!

Thanks everyone for stopping by and entering. This week's giveaway will also feature vintage patterns, but this time for you knitters:


First up is "All Time Favorites to Knit and Crochet" a pattern book from 1967 (I had to use a Roman numeral converter to figure this out from Copyright MCMLXVII!). This booklet features a lot of coats, some dresses and sweaters, a hat and a few items for men. Some of the pictures are truly priceless. The second pattern is a pattern copy I purchased from yesterknits. It is a Patons pattern from Great Britain (hence will have British terms and needle sizes) and looks to also be from the 60s.

This giveaway will run for one week (til Saturday 17 January). Please leave a comment below to enter--one per person, and you must leave some way for me to contact you (blog, email, ravelry id, etc) or your comment will not be entered. Thanks for stopping by and good luck!