Such a Pretty Pair

Good morning from a very sunny Suffolk!  It’s just beautiful out there this morning; spring has definitely sprung.  I hope those of you who celebrated had a wonderful Easter.  Ours was spent at home with family where everyone (bar the vegetarians!) stuffed themselves silly on roast lamb with all the trimmings, followed by lemon cheesecake and then Easter eggs; perfick!  

Although it is still school holidays, the Mr has gone in for today to do extra work with some of the students, so my girls and I have a busy day of gardening planned, and then a trip to the cinema to see Cinderella this evening, I’ve heard great things about the costumes so can’t wait to see it!  Before I get planting, I’ve managed to grab half an hour to myself, while the girls are digging for worms, to share with you two rather pretty woollies that have found a new home overseas.

The pretty pair was commissioned by a thoroughly charming lady in New Zealand.  She chose gorgeous patterns and opted for two seriously scrumptious shades of wool and I truly enjoyed working with her to create her vintage inspired pieces.

First up is a pattern that you may have seen before on my blog as I knitted it back in 2014.  It’s a Bestway pattern from the very early 1940’s and is for a close fitting jumper with a neat little collar in a mock smock design; try saying that after you've had a tipple or two!

It was knitted in King Cole Merino Blend 4 ply in a shade called fern.  I’ve used King Cole in the past and haven’t been overly impressed with the quality, especially their big value range, but I was pleasantly surprised with the Merino Blend and it was beautiful to work with.  The colour range is great, the wool doesn’t split, and it is so super soft to the touch, and not at all itchy.

When this one is knitted, the pattern doesn’t really show.  The pieces come out really rather small and it isn’t until you block and press it that the design can be seen in all its glory. 

Wool - King Cole Merino Blend 4 Ply
Weight used - 240g
Time taken - 79 days
Size - 32" bust

The second was knitted from a pattern from the Wearing History range, which I bought on Etsy.  Called Wood Violet, the pattern has been reformatted from the original and all the instructions have been retyped into 1 neat A4 page.

This one was knitted in the King Cole Merino Blend 4 ply as well, but this time in a gorgeous shade called damson.  I’m a little bit in love with this shade.  It is so divine, a real rich purple with a beautiful depth of colour.  For some reason, King Cole has apparently done away with this shade, so if you like it and see it anywhere, snap it up quickly, because you may not get another chance.  I have added a few balls to my stash for future use!!

The main body of this jumper was worked in stocking stitch, so knitted up super quickly, but the yoke was an entirely different affair!  I like to be honest when I’ve had problems with patterns, and I have to admit that this one reduced me to tears of sheer frustration! 

A fellow blogger said, when I asked for her help in working out the pattern, that the instructions were like an algebra equation!  I got in a pickle when the pattern said “p1, 0, p1…….p two 0’s together” because nowhere in the pattern did it tell me what “0” actually was!  By a process of trial and error, I got there in the end and my finished yoke looked like the picture on the pattern, so I was happy with the end result.

Unable to find vintage buttons in the exact shade of purple, I opted for original 1940’s buttons in black.

Wool - King Cole Merino Blend 4 Ply
Weight used - 220g
Time taken -
Size - 32" bust

I posted the jumpers off just 11 days ago, and by the powers of tracked and signed for delivery (it’s always worth paying the extra postage), the woollies have been safely received by their new owner who, thankfully, is over the moon with them. 

If you fancy giving either of the patterns a go yourself, they are both for sale on Etsy.  The Bestway pattern can be found in my Etsy shop here, and the Wearing History pattern can be found here.

xx

Sirdar 1140 - 1940s Striped Jumper

Mr Y has been a star this morning, and has taken the girls off for an early morning swim.  We walked them through the streets of Cambridge for hours yesterday, and they were weary little lovelies when we got home, but a restorative sleep meant they were raring to go this morning, ready and out of the door by 7am!  It's another chilly day out there, and snuggled up indoors with the heating on, I think I'm in the better place!  

It’s another woolly post today, a quick knit that took just 12 days to complete.  I’m sure it’ll come as no surprise that the pattern is from the 1940’s, this time a Sirdar pattern, from the middle or era.

I always have an easy knit on the go to stop my hands being idle when we’re travelling, or while the girls are working.  It’s surprising how quickly a jumper can come together when you do a few rows here, a few rows there.  I didn’t time how many hours this one took, but I started it on the 21^st January, and put it on the dummy on the 2^nd February, so not bad going.

The pattern is feather and fan, a popular pattern throughout the 1940’s, and still popular now.  The design is worked on a 4 row pattern repeat.  Three rows are stocking stitch, the fourth is the pattern row and it’s this easy pattern row that gives the design the wavy effect.  

I've knitted it before; I've actually knitted it a couple of times but changed the sleeve design and stripe order.  It’s a great pattern for using up those oddments of wool, and if you’re a fan of Goodnight Sweetheart, you may have noticed that Phoebe wore a similar jumper in a real rainbow of colours, which she teamed with a green skirt. Although the pattern shows a very definite stripe pattern, you could, if you wanted to, work in more colours or varying stripe thickness, to create a different look.  

The wool I used was Adriafil Azzurra, which is fast becoming a favourite of mine.  The main body of the jumper has been worked in brick red, with emerald green, dark brown and yellow stripes.  

Worked as per the pattern, the jumper was meant to come out at a 35” bust, but although my tension was spot on for the sleeves, the finished woolly ended up being for a 40”/42” bust.  It would be easy enough make it smaller by going down a needle size, it would also be possible to recalculate the actual number of stitches, but as there is a 12 stitch pattern repeat, it would take some very careful calculations.  

For the first time ever, I used a circular needle.  I thought it might speed up the knitting, but it actually slowed me down.  I'm a tight knitter, so struggled with the stitches getting caught where the wire met the needle.  Making the jumper up was quicker; fewer fiddly colours to run in and no joins, but I’m happier working on the traditional 2 needles.

I really love how this jumper knits up, and the colour possibilities really are endless.  It has already found a new home with a vintage loving lady, and I’ve just dug out the version I started back in 2013, worked in heather, grey, cream and mint, so will be completing that before moving onto the next pattern, well, maybe ;-) x

There were no quirks in the pattern, it knitted up exactly as it should have done, and came together well.  There is no neck opening on this one, but you could easily leave the left shoulder part open and add a couple of buttons and crocheted button loops.  The pattern is for sale in my Etsy shop, which you can find here.

Wool - Adriafil Azzurra
Weight used - 130g brick red, 64g emerald green, 24g dark brown, 17g yellow
Time taken - 12 days
Size - 40”-42” bust

Bluebells in Spring Jumper - Free 1940's Knitting Pattern

Every now and again, we step outside the knitting comfort zone and attempt a pattern that is more intricate than our normal offerings. 

As soon as I bought this pattern, I knew it had to be attempted.

One of my favourite Spring flowers is the bluebell, so what better shade to choose for a jumper covered in said flowers than to opt for a springtime shade of blue?  Ordinarily, I’m not actually a fan of blue, and favour autumnal shades instead, oh, and green of course, you can’t beat a bit of green, especially that scrumptious 1930’s green!  :o)

Anyway, getting good 4 ply, which isn’t wool, in a shade other than your very basic colours, can prove troublesome, especially with blue, which is often offered up in baby blue, or dark navy, neither of which took my fancy.  However, good old Stylecraft came up trumps again, with a divine shade called aster. 

When knitting a complicated pattern, I always want the stitch detail to show up.  I mean, what is the point in spending so much time knitting in a colour which is so dark that you can’t see the intricacy of the pattern until you are 12” in front of it??

Aster proved to be the perfect shade, showing up the little clusters of bluebells perfectly.  And what’s more, it was incredibly economical to knit, using just 190g of wool, which works out at roughly £6.00 for the materials.  Not bad, hey?! 

The finished design is so pretty, a definite eye catcher, even from afar ;-)  The only slight downside is that it is a fairly open work design, so you would need to wear a little camisole underneath. 

For anyone wanting to give this pattern a go, you can print off a copy of the pattern for free by clicking HERE.

Although I wouldn’t want to put anyone off from having a go at this jumper, I think it’s only fair to say that it isn’t really for a beginner.  It is an intricate pattern, with a pattern repeat of some 36 rows, and really does take maximum concentration.  I wouldn’t be confident sizing this jumper up by adding stitches, but you could go up or down a needle size to give a bigger/smaller woolly.  You may also want to look at the neck opening.  I found that it came up really small, so I adapted the pattern slightly, and added a buttoned neck opening to the left shoulder instead.

On a Roll!!

So, we’re almost at the end of the month!  Hasn’t January flown by?  The festivities of last month seem but a distant memory.  I don’t mind though, for as much as I love the winter, I am always pleased to welcome in the New Year and see the daylight hours increasing.  A fresh month stretched out before me brings an enthusiasm to push forwards and get things done!

Despite my best intentions, 2013 was an epic fail in terms of number of garments sewn.  I can clearly remember sitting down at the beginning of the year to map out a plan of all that would be achieved.  I listed how many pieces of sewing and knitting I would get done, and the number of corsages and turbans that would be finished, but when December came, I had achieved very little in the sewing stakes.

I don’t know whether any of you crafty folk have the same problem, but, from a making perspective, I can be a bit of a butterfly.  One day I wake with an eagerness to sew corsages, the next day I can be hankering after cutting out a garment.  I forever want to start something new.  With a jumper, once I’ve knitted the back and the sleeves, I really have to push myself to get the front finished, and often things get left languishing in a heap, never to see the light of day again. 

Well, this year I have decided to try to finish off those unloved projects, before moving onto something new.  It’s a hard task, I can tell you.  Mr Y got me some seriously scrumptious patterns last month and I’m itching to get at them, but, for now at least, I’m determined to stay on track!

So, without further waffling, the first item to see the light of day in 2014 was a neat little bolero, from this Bestway pattern.

It was started last year when I was going through a stash busting phase, trying to use up some of the copious amounts of double knit yarn that seems to breed under my bed! 

Green being my favourite colour, I couldn’t pass up the chance to see my favourite Stylecraft DK shade of meadow be used for such a pretty project.  Sadly, I should probably have taken more care with my calculations because, yet again, I ran out of wool! 

It took weeks to find more wool from the same dye lot, and by the time it was found, I’d moved onto my next project, and the bolero was consigned to the cupboard.  

The task of completing it wasn’t too daunting, as it was only the one sleeve to get finished.  Here it is in all its green glory!

 

I posted a picture of it on Facebook and was astounded by peoples’ reaction.  When it was listed on Etsy, it sold within 10 minutes!  The new owner is none other than the lovely Fleur De Guere, I think she wears it well :o)

Because of how popular it is, I’ve already cast on another one, this time in a pretty blue shade that reminds me of spring.

Next to be pulled from the cupboard was a blouse, made from an original 1940’s New York pattern.  The only finishing it required was bound buttonholes!  Oh, how I hate doing bound buttonholes.

It has been made from original 1940’s novelty print fabric that I bought from America, and was stung for import tax on; don’t you just love an £8.00 handling fee?!!  Anyway, the fabric is pure cotton, in a sort of spring green, with the sweetest stylised telephone design!

It’s quite a blousy kind of blouse, low fastening, with just two buttons.   It’s definitely a statement piece and not one for the modest.  It has been finished with 1940’s black Bakelite buttons, and is currently for sale in my Etsy shop, which can be found here.

Last, but by no means least, is a dress made from an American Hollywood pattern from the 1940’s.

The fabric was originally bought to make a blind for the kitchen, but when it arrived, it wasn’t the modern cotton that I expected, but was actually a piece of original 1940’s heavy cotton rayon mix. 

It was a squeeze getting the dress out of the narrow 35” by 2 7/8yds piece that I had, but, because it had no nap, I was able to follow the pattern, just, but it meant I didn’t have enough fabric left for ruffles. 

I decided to do self covered buttons, because they looked best, and to keep it as authentic as possible, I fitted a vintage metal zip.  It's a simple dress, but I love it, especially the little bit of gathering in the front. 

It’s a fairly decent size, measuring a 36" bust, but it just won’t squeeze onto Doris the dummy, so I’m afraid we’ll have to make do with a rubbish hanger shot! 

  

I still have a few more projects to finish off, a couple of jumpers, and another dress, but they are waiting in the wings while I frantically try to get my Knit For Victory piece finished. 

   

I’m getting there, and I’m sure my dad will be pleased with it, but I still have half of the back and then the neck and armholes to finish, so I’m sure you can guess what I’m going to be doing for the next few evenings :o) 

Third Time Lucky - 1940's Jumper Without a Mistake!!

I hope this post finds you well.  I’m so pleased it’s almost the weekend, and a bank holiday weekend no less!!

Today’s post is all about the knitting!! 

If you saw my previous posts about the two most recent jumpers that hadn’t gone entirely to plan, then I’m sure you’ll understand why I’d somewhat lost my enthusiasm for knitting. 

After my previous failures, I was uninspired by the knitting patterns in my own collection and decided I needed something new.  Turning to Etsy, as you do, I stumbled across Bex’s rather fine collection of PDF patterns. 

There are some beautiful patterns in Bex’s Etsy shop but in the end, I went for a simple jumper which was predominantly stocking stitch, but that had the iconic 1940’s style.

 

I’m trying to be sensible and use up some of the 20+ Kgs of wool that is threatening to break out of the various suitcases under my bed.  Although I would have loved to have gone shopping for some pretty wool for the new woolly, I instead went to my stash and picked out some Stylecraft 4 ply in cardinal, which is a lovely rich red.

The jumper was easy to knit and came along quite quickly.  The loop detail across the front was really simple and the instructions were nice a clear, which isn’t always the case with vintage patterns.  I made an alteration to the pattern which was to change the ties across the front from knitted ties to satin ribbon.  There was no collar, just a row of double crochet, the only kind of crochet I can manage, round the neckline.  Simple black buttons and a snapper closed the back and voila, the jumper was done!

I did a happy dance when I slipped it onto Doris, for a photo shoot in the sunny garden, and found that is was all as it was meant to be!  No mistakes this time!

The jumper was sewn up just in time to be taken along to the 1940’s weekend at Ramsey and I’m pleased to say it found a new home.  Ramsey was brilliant this year, lots of displays and stalls.  I have added some pictures to my Facebook page which you can see here :o)

Back to the knitting!  I find knitting a real pleasure; you’ve probably already guessed that by the number of posts about my woollies that you’ll find on this old blog.  However, recently, I’ve found that knitting for other people puts me under great pressure.  In my very busy little life, homeschooling my little ladies etc, etc, etc, something’s gotta give and after great thought, I have decided to stop offering commission pieces.  I’ll still be knitting, of course I will, just try and stop me, and my jumpers will still be offered for sale either at the various events and fairs I go to or on my Facebook page, but the pressure will be off and a weight lifted :o) 

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny 1940's Style...............

Jumper!!  Yes, I know that doesn’t rhyme but that was the song that popped into my head when I was stitching up this jumper of most minute proportions and I bet you’ll soon find yourself humming that song too! :o)

This is my most recently stitched up jumper, a rather stylish 1940’s number knitted from a Lavenda pattern.  Don’t know about you, but I think this pretty model might just be wearing a hair piece!! ;o)

I’d wanted to knit the pattern for a long time having seen some other people knit it in the rather popular red, white and blue colour way, but tracking down the pattern had proved difficult.  After much lurking on eBay, I managed to get a seriously tatty copy for just a couple of pounds!  A bargain in my book when you consider a good copy of the same pattern went for over £10!  

Anyway, the jumper should have a base colour and 5 contrasts but with 4 ply colours being somewhat limited, I couldn’t find 6 colours that went well together and so ended up with just 4 instead, opting for cardinal, fern, silver and cobalt.  They might seem like an odd batch of colours to mix up but I’ve used them before for the waffle jumper and they have been very popular.  

It’s such an easy pattern to knit but the end result makes it look far more complicated than it really is – always a plus point :o)  Once the K1, P1 rib is done, it’s simply a case of working in stocking stitch with every 4^th stitch carried as a slipped stitch over 3 rows. 

  
Sewing up is a different matter though with a grand total of over 150+ ends to sew together/run in but the final result is definitely worth the extra time taken in sewing it up properly.

Button wise, I didn’t have any which were just the right shade.  I don’t know about you, but I find reds are one of the hardest shades to match up.  Instead, I went for my "go to" button, the little faceted plastic ones.  I think we have over 2000 of these which were picked up at a car boot sale a couple of years ago for just £5.00!  Bargain! :o)

When knitting straight from a pattern i.e. not making any size adjustments at all, I find that the jumpers come out pretty close to the original size, give or take an inch.  In my enthusiasm to get it knitted, I didn’t think to look at the pattern size.  I should have checked though because the original was for a petite 32”-34” bust! 

True to the pattern, and proof that using modern 4 ply on a vintage pattern that states 3 ply is ok, this jumper has come up at the 32”-34” bust it was meant to.  I just managed to wriggle it on to the well travelled “Doris”, but it is very much “sausage in a skin” like and needs to be on a much smaller model. 

This jumper is coming with me to the fair in Norwich tomorrow.  Lets hope it can find a loving new home with a petite, vintage loving lady :o)

If you fancy giving the pattern a go yourself, I have a PDF versions for sale through my Facebook page which you can find here.

Snow, Shoes & Stitchcraft!

Firstly I just wanted to say hello to my new followers - I hope you enjoy my waffling :o)

-x-

Well, what chilly weather we've been having here in the UK.  Were you one of the lucky few who escaped the blanket of white?  We had 4 inches over the course of a week and much of it is still lying about in icy blocks, waiting to send someone skidding to the ground!  The weather reports suggest more may be on the way - I hope they are wrong!

10 days since my last post - tut tut!  I had planned to write a post before now but time simply hasn't allowed.  I blame it on the snow and its hypnotic quality that has seen me wasting countless hours of my life watching the flakes fall!  

The fluffy stuff didn't keep me from a spot of sale shopping.  I've been dithering on this purchase for a while now.  They are kind of impractical for my daily life and I'm not sure how much wear I will actually get out of them, but they are SO pretty that I simply had to succumb, right?? :o)  Lovely, comfy, elegant and beautifully made Miss L Fire shoes! 



Ridiculously comfortable shoes.

   So what else have I been up to??  Well, on Sunday, Mr Y thought it would be a good idea to go and walk in the local forest.  Never one to miss an opportunity to tread upon crisp virginal snow, we hot footed it to our favourite spot. 

In the countryside, away from the warmth of the town, the snow was much deeper, lying heavily upon the branches of the towering trees.  The girls' screams of delight could be heard echoing through the forest for all the scantily clad (yes really!) orienteering runners to hear :o) I looked set for an arctic exploration (or like the Michelin man as I was kindly informed by my other half!) and the only part exposed to the elements were my eyes!  Mr Y's coat served me well and although I'm certain I looked hilarious, I was the toastiest one of all :o)

I apologise in advance for the following snowy snaps.  I'm sure you've all had enough of them on other blogs but I couldn't let the opportunity pass by.  Scroll down quickly, beyond the snow, and you'll see some knitting delights! :o)

Scamp 1 and scamp 2 :o)

Aside from striding it out in the cold, I've found myself doing a spot of shopping.  The cold snap has not been good for my purse.  Enforced indoor time has meant increased eBay time and I'm sure it's no surprise to read that I've bought some more patterns :o)   

My favourite (and silly dance inducing) arrival was the February 1940 issue of Stitchcraft in its large early war format.  Just take a look at the stunning jumper of the cover.

This elusive edition had been evading me for years but I'm pleased to say that Mr Y did a sterling job in purchasing it.  I'm not a very good eBay bidder when it comes to things I really, really, really like.  I get nervous about bidding (daft as it may seem) and instead entrust the heartbeat quickening task to him!

Along with the above, I've picked up some individual patterns, again on eBay, and surprisingly, with the exception of the "wiggly" design Bestway one, all were about £1 - not bad in my book. 

I couldn't resist the tea cosy pattern.  I'm not a tea drinker, can't stand any hot drinks actually, but my mum is and I hope to be able to knit her one for her birthday in May. 

Unsurprisingly, I've also been knitting.  While the girls have been making the most of their free time in the snow, I have much preferred watching them from the window, my chair pressed up as close to the radiator as I dare and have started another jumper. 

Now, strictly speaking, I should be knitting this pretty number;

But it's had to be shelved for a while because I have lost the cream wool.  Ridiculous I know!  It's somewhere here, it has to be, but I can't put my finger on it at the moment!  Instead, I've moved onto a late 1930's number and am using Stylecraft DK (in a desperate attempt to use up some of my wool stock) and I've gone for a jumper of many stripes! 

I don't know about you, but I find that such jumpers grow very quickly.  While knitting it, I'm always thinking about moving onto the next colour and then the next one and so on and it sort of spurs me on!  I've finished both the front and back plus the one sleeve and shall cast on the final sleeve this evening with the hope of revealing all on Sunday (maybe!).  What do you think of the colours??

January is always a busy month.  After the mass post Christmas tidy, attentions are turned to event bookings and trying to fit in all the things we hope to do this year.  My head is spinning with ideas and I'm forever scribbling things down in one of my trusty notebooks so as not to forget them.  2013 is shaping up to be a busy one!

Hope you've all been staying warm :o)