It's metallic

It's finally sweater season here, which means that I'm actually wearing some of my past creations. The 1900s and the 1920s sweaters have both gone to work a few times, but it hasn't been cold enough yet for the 1910s. I envision that particular sweater coming in handy for watching hockey games or going on winter walks. It's no lightweight.

Meanwhile, I'm knee-deep in the 1930s. I have a fair number of 1930s pattern booklets and, boy, do I love them. Check out the two pictured above. A friend found the "Crocheted Dresses" book out on the street (yep, like trash!) with a stack of other vintage patterns and very kindly rescued it for me. I adore the styles and patterns, but the idea of making an entire dress out of crochet just fills me an intense feeling of foot-dragging reluctance. Also, I think I'd incur some pretty serious tendinitis. I think I get too tense and nervous when I'm crocheting and so my hand and wrist hurt after a while. In any event, the dresses are fabulous, but not for this project. The mittens are also wonderfully sharp and crisp in their classic black and white designs, but the deal here is sweaters. Maybe I'll make some mitts after I complete my century.

In addition to the two booklets above, I have a couple issues of "Home Arts Needlecraft" magazine from the '30s. I like these magazines because they provide good illustrations in a large format and a mix of articles about knitting and needlework plus pieces on contemporary fashion, cooking, and home design.  The "News Flashes--From a Needle-Minded New Yorker" columns are especially informative (two-fabric frocks! checks! vests! stripes! tatting! rick rack!).

Plus, the magazine was published right here in Maine (Augusta, to be exact). I have the November 1937 and February 1938 issues, which contain a few knitting patterns: one for adorable Scottie dog mitts and the two designs pictured below. Forgive my blurry image; I'm getting used to a new camera and now it's too dark to do re-takes. I came very close to selecting the lower sweater for my project, but had some concerns about that angled surplice-style front fitting correctly.

 

And that all brings us to this book from 1939, which you met several posts ago, following a little jaunt to some antique malls.

The great thing about this booklet is that it's got all of your fashion needs and situations covered. Heading out on a bike ride and looking for a cute wool top? Check.

Need something smart to wear to the Easter parade? Check.

Looking for that perfect knit item to complement the sweeping full-length skirt that you'll wear to the year's swankiest soiree? Check.

This is "Cocktail Jacket no. 124" and it's the one I chose, with some help from my husband. I liked the fitted look of it with the puffed sleeves and yoke and it's significantly different from my first three sweaters. It was hard to figure out the stitch pattern from the photo, so I read through the instructions several times. I couldn't quite picture what was going on, so I grabbed some needles and started swatching. Turns out, it's almost a smocked design: you knit a garter ridge to start, then several rows in stockinette, then another garter ridge, and then you knit back down into the first garter ridge to create a series of scallops or scales.

The best part, though? The original pattern calls for two types of yarn. One is " Fleisher's, Bear Brand, or Bucilla Angel Crepe," which, as far as I can tell, was a wool/rayon blend. The other is "Fleisher's or Bucilla Metal Thread." Yep. METAL THREAD. The pattern is worked with the two held together for the smocking sections and just the Angel Crepe for the stockinette sections, which means that the sweater has a super cool '30s metallic sheen to it.

And, in a near-miraculous stroke of stashing luck, I just happened to have a large cone of silver metallic yarn and a giant skein of steely gray yarn of indeterminate composition. I believe I purchased both at a deep discount. The gray skein was in the "seconds" section at a dye house as it has just a few areas where the color is slightly inconsistent, but, fortunately, these become invisible within the stitch pattern. It took a little while to achieve a workable gauge and I'm sure I'll be doing some math all the way through the project, but I think it will all work out.

The scalloped metallic design is fabulous. And time consuming. But mostly fabulous. I'm just about halfway through the back. Stay tuned.

Summer Break

After finishing off my 1920s sweater last month, I pulled out my '30s patterns, looked through them all at least twice, considered my options, and thought about which yarns to swatch. And then I took a break. Not just a break from knitting, but an actual vacation away from home and away from work. That hasn't happened for my husband and me for quite a little while. We spent a week camping on the shores of Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula with extended family. It was great. I swam a lot, ate pasties, sampled local beer, hiked for miles and miles, sat around the campfire, marveled at the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, explored nearby towns, and just generally enjoyed my family's company for the week.

But, I didn't knit a stitch. I didn't even bring knitting on the trip. I did, however, stop by the Knitter's Niche in Marquette, where I met the supremely friendly and welcoming owner Trisha as well as Rose, the woman who raised the sheep that provided the wool for the squishy-soft, cozy-dense, oatmeal-colored skein of Shetland/CVM that I brought home. The sheep's names are Anna, Aurora, and Milik. It's a beautiful skein of wool. I see some cozy winter accessories in my future.

Speaking of winter accessories, that's about all I've made in the last several weeks. Once I've finished all my current projects and had a little break, it always seems to take some time to get a project going again. A friend was really excited about the new issue of Twist Collective, especially the Svartifoss pattern, which looks so temptingly different. We agreed on a knit along, but I'm pretty sure I started and finished without her. I opted for the Svartifoss mittens:

They're up on my Ravelry page with the knitting details and play-by-play. I found an error in the lace chart, so please check my project page for the fix before you get too far in making them yourself. I do love them. Although they are incredibly warm, they will be strictly dress mittens. No walking the dog or shoveling snow in these beauties.

Next up is a sweater for my little nephew and two pairs of custom Chucks and then I'll dive back into the 1930s. I have two new pattern booklets (gifts from a fellow knitter) to share soon, too.

1921: In the Books

 

 

Another decade completed! I used this cool, cloudy, showery July Sunday to its fullest knitterly potential and spent most of the day completing the final details and finishing my 1920s sweater. For appropriate period atmosphere, I did all this work while watching more than a couple episodes of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. It seemed only right. 

 

With its short sleeves, worsted-weight-gauge, and comparatively minimal finishing, this project was a breeze. And the pattern was very good, too: I found no errors and made only one modification throughout the course of the project. It was a simple one: I decided to crochet rather than knit on the top border along the front checkerboard. Easy!

As with my 1910s sweater, this one was knit in one piece, sleeves and all. I picked up stitches along the neckline and sleeves to add the garter-stitch checkerboard pattern, which was a little fiddly on the wrong side as the colors had to be carried in front and moved to the back to work the knit stitches. The portion along the neck was fairly time-consuming and done in two sections, but I really like the results. I was worried that the sleeves would be too tight once bound off, so I opted for Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off. It ended up creating a rather pleasing flare.

Overall, I really like the completed garment. I think it will be quite wearable across the seasons and I like the way it looks and fits. I'm not even sure that it looks like it's a nearly 100 year old design. Does it?

 

I'm looking forward to working on the 1930s next! 

 

Specs

Yarn: Cascade 220 in navy blue and white

Amounts: 3.75 skeins of navy and < 1 skein of white

Needles: size 8

Crochet hook: G/6/4.25mm

Started: 3 July 2016

Finished: 31 July 2016

Quick as a bunny

In case you missed it, here's my pattern-choosing-process for the 1920s. I ended up picking the creatively-named "Knitted Sweater" from the 1921 Columbia Book of Yarns. It's a sweet little short-sleeved sweater that will be perfect for July knitting, plus it has a very intriguing knit-on neck treatment in a very pleasing checkerboard design. The shape is a bit more forgiving than the long, lean, straight lines of many other sweaters of the era and yet the high contrast geometry of the borders nevertheless seems to capitalize on the new trends in '20s fashion.

In reading through the pattern (a mere 4 paragraphs long), I noticed that the construction of this piece is very much like my last knit. The body and sleeves are made as one piece from the bottom hem of the back, up around the shoulders and sleeves, and down the fronts. There are two bands of 2x2 ribbing at the lower edge, but everything else is done in garter stitch, just like my 1919 sweater. Although no gauge is listed in the pattern, I estimated that a similar gauge to that previous sweater (4.5 stitches per inch) would produce the desired fit, which made my yarn choice very easy. I'm going with Cascade 220 once again. I purchased 5 skeins of navy blue and have 1 nearly full skein of white in my stash. I don't believe I'll have to make any modifications to the pattern (fingers crossed).

I started knitting last Sunday; garter stitch and short sleeves are already making this project feel lightning fast! I'm also enjoying that this sweater has:

1. No sash
2. No skirt
3. No double layer cuffs
4. No wide collar
5. No crochet edging

 There's a lot to like here!

Women's hockey, knitwear, and the 1920s

We've made it to the Roaring '20s! I've been looking forward to exploring the knitwear of the 1920s for a while now: longer, leaner silhouettes with modern, graphic sensibilities. Faux fur trims, luxurious fibers, matching hats and parasols, sporting ensembles, swim suits: the '20s have it all.

Again, my personal collection is somewhat lacking in 1920s patterns, with just a few designs that very much recall the 1910s. I really wanted to pick a pattern that made a distinct change from the first few sweaters I've made, so I browsed around online for a while. There are quite a few '20s pattern books available as reproductions. The Antique Pattern Library offers the 1922 Corticelli Yarn Book by Mrs. L. Addie Crandall Smith, which features some lovely, colorful designs with bright stripes and geometric patterns. I highly recommend a browse! There is also a nice selection of 1922 patterns on "A Good Yarn." You'll see tuxedo jackets, accessory sets, and activewear there. And then there's the Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions, which has loads of '20s pattern books available as reproductions, including this Columbia Yarns booklet from 1921. If you scroll down to the fifth picture, you'll see a pattern that particularly struck me. It's a trim crocheted suit with a matching hat, but the model appears to be carrying a hockey stick! This is very different from the usual golf club or tennis racket. I was intrigued.

As a lifelong hockey player myself (I started playing goalie for my local girls' team at age 13 and am still playing 23 years later), this image immediately sent me down the delightful rabbit hole that exists at the intersection of women's hockey and knitwear. Of course, I knew that today's hockey jerseys started life as sweaters and that if you're playing hockey outside on a frozen pond good knitwear is essential. But I did not really know the early history of organized women's ice hockey, which dates back to the 1890s in Canada and rose in popularity through the '20s and '30s. In the US, we see it taking hold in the 1910's and '20s. I love photos of these early-twentieth-century teams, like the one below of the Gore Bay, Ontario team in 1921. Their boldly striped sweaters, toques, and socks are fabulous and I love seeing pictures of these female athletes with their teammates. The camaraderie that I know from my teams over the years is so palpable here, in this group of women, standing elbow to elbow with their sticks and skates nearly 100 years ago.

Credit: Library and Archives Canada/PA-074583

There are so many more pictures like this. A Google image search will provide plenty of pictures of knit-clad women on the ice through the years.

But, I digress. I did eventually find my chosen sweater pattern for the 1920s, with my husband's kind assistance. There's an album of photos and patterns from the 1921 Columbia Book of Yarns, 22nd edition, volume 2 freely available on the Vintage Knitting Crochet Needlework Patterns Dazespast Facebook page. I picked this one:

Visit the Facebook album for more pictures from this volume!

I'm off to buy yarn! More soon.

1919: Done!

The thunder and rain stopped and the sun came out just in time to take a few pictures of my completed Goldie Golf Sweater from 1919. I think I really like it! It's very much unlike any sweater I currently own and it's super cozy and warm. For the knitting play-by-play and pattern modifications, see this post.

Greeting my counterpart in 1919!

I love the collar: it's wide, warm, and has a very pleasing crochet edging.

The pattern called for a 2-yard-long sash. I found that it looked best when crossed at the back and knotted at the front. I guess it can double as a scarf if needed!

Specs

Yarn: Cascade 220 in colors 9562 (brown) and 9452 (teal)

Amounts: 7.25 skeins of brown and 1.25 skeins of teal*

Buttons: 7 (9 if I had attached the pocket), about 1"

Needles: size 8

Crochet hook: G/6/4.25mm

Started: 30 March 2016

Finished: 28 June 2016

 

*I want to mention (read: brag) that I bought exactly the right amounts of yarn.

Maybe for the first time ever.

 

The 1920s await! 

 

 

So close...

The 1919 Goldie Golf Sweater is finished! Unfortunately, as it's gray, foggy, and damp today, I don't have any pictures of the complete sweater just yet. I'm hopeful that the weather later in the week will be more conducive to knitwear-modeling and picture-taking, though I don't expect to wear this sweater for real until much later in the fall. It is super warm. In the meantime, I'd like to share my modifications and notes about the project in case anyone out there is interested in making their own version. Or in case anyone out there just really enjoys the nitty-gritty details of someone else's project (I know I do)!

Overall, the sweater was an enjoyable knit. I appreciated the ease and abundance of garter stitch in this project; it really does make the finished product cozy and well-fitting. The one-piece back-to-front construction of the sweater is something that isn't often seen in today's adult sweaters (though I've certainly seen it in contemporary baby garments), but I think maybe it's due for a comeback. I liked building in the sleeves to the body of the sweater and knowing that there wouldn't be quite so much seaming at the end.

I made a few modifications to the sizing, adding 4 garter stitch ridges (8 rows) to the back, 6 ridges to the sleeves and shoulders, and 4 ridges to each front. Although the pattern didn't specifically call for it, I shaped the fronts just like the back, decreasing 1 stitch every fourth ridge towards the waist. I knit the buttonholes on the left front, making the top hole 3 ridges from the neck and subsequent holes every 7th ridge. I made the skirt, collar, and sash as directed with no changes.

Just like the 1900s sweater, this one called for a fair amount of crochet edging. I worked 2 chain stitches and a slip stitch around the edges of the skirt and collar and did a few rows of single crochet along the buttonbands and lower edge of the body. The chain/slip stitch combo made a sort of picot edging on the skirt and collar and helped define the scalloped edges with a really pretty effect. The single crochet on the other sections stabilized the edges and made sewing up really smooth and easy. This was especially welcome as the skirt really needs to be gathered in to fit against the body. I used a size G/6/4.25mm crochet hook.

Here's a quick snap of the sweater mid-finishing, as I'm gathering the skirt to fit. I sewed the seam from the center out to each edge to ensure an even fit.

The sleeves came out a little short and the cuff instructions were a bit unclear, so I had to improvise on those. I picked up 43 stitches around each sleeve and knit 20 more garter ridges in brown. Then, I switched to teal for 10 ridges and bound off. I folded the cuffs back and, per the pattern, sewed a decorative button to the center of each cuff. The pattern describes making a "ruffle" in folding back the cuff and tacking it back under itself, but I'm not convinced that ruffling is really possible (or desirable) with garter stitch at this gauge. In any event, my cuffs seem to be similar to the photo in the pattern and I like the way they look and fit, so I'm calling it good. I have no doubt that a knitter in 1919 would have approached this iffy part of the pattern in her own way and figured out an acceptable solution as well!

I decided to skip the pocket. As you'll see in the finished pictures, it would have been a very awkwardly placed pocket.

And that's it for modifications. As I mentioned, it was a fairly smooth project, even if it did take about three months to complete. There's a lot of knitting in it! More pictures soon.

Two weeks in May

I have four jobs.

I teach art history at a local community college. I give tours and work the front desk at a fabulous 19th century historic house museum. I am the Program Director at a very active historical society. And I knit customized Converse Chuck Taylors that I sell on Etsy.

All four are part time jobs. Most of the time, I'm only actively working two or maybe three of them at once, which is manageable. But, for the first two weeks this month, they have all conspired to overlap. My semester is winding down while my museum job starts up for the season. My work at the historical society work continues as normal and, inexplicably, knitted shoe sales have spiked. I can usually rely on a slowdown in spring and summer, but not this year. Things are busy. As a result, I've had to set aside my 1910s sweater project for a bit while I finish grading and make shoes for my customers.

Nonetheless, I do have a few insights to share about the project. No pictures though; it is still a big lump of brown garter stitch. I'm sure you can imagine what that looks like. In knitting the back and arms, which, as you'll recall, are all done in one giant piece, I decided to add a few rows to lengthen the piece just slightly. It is meant to sit at the natural waist, but I got nervous at how short it was looking, so I couldn't resist the temptation to add a bit more length. Plus, I found a couple weird, but simple, math errors in the pattern that were easily corrected by adding in an extra row here and there.

I'm currently working down the right front, having cast off all of the sleeve stitches. The pattern gives no instruction whatsoever for this section of the sweater, so I decided to make it exactly like the back, including all side shaping. Remember that my 1900s sweater did not have perfectly matching back and front seams, but I think matching is the right call here. The left front will have buttonholes worked into the center edge. Since there are just the sketchiest of directions for this, I've pre-calculated buttonhole placement so I will know exactly how to place them when I get to that point.

Slow progress is still progress, right?

Well, it's slow-going here on the 1910s sweater. I've finished the skirt portion and started on the body.

The body is done in one large piece; I've completed the back and cast on the stitches for the sleeves, which means that my rows are now very long indeed (hence the need for the circular needle, which is never my implement of first choice). There's a little ways to go yet on the sleeves before I cast off for the neck and proceed with the fronts. The knitting is easy, but boring. Not a great combination for a knitting blog, eh?

In related news, did you hear that there is a huge cache of newly-digitized knitting booklets available through the University of Southampton? These works range in date from the 1830s through the 1980s and cover the full range of knit fashions with plenty of additional materials on dressmaking, cotton production, household management, and related subjects to flesh out the full social context of the knitting books. It's fascinating browsing.

Interestingly, it seems that the bulk of 20th century patterns in the collection are menswear booklets from the '50s through the '70s. I do love the Mary Maxim picture knitting patterns, like this one for a football sweater. Once, I saw someone in the grocery store wearing a gorgeous handknitted Mary Maxim picture sweater with an antique auto on it. I wasn't totally comfortable with the idea of stopping him so that I could gush over his sweater, so I just nonchalantly followed him around for a bit and admired it from afar. Does anyone else do this with handknits?

Easy knitting so far

Last Wednesday, I cast on 60 stitches for the skirt portion of the Goldie Golf Sweater.  It's made up of wide bands of garter stitch in my main color (a chocolate brown) and narrow strips of 1x1 ribbing in my contrast color (a nice teal), so the effect when completed will be faux pleats with a pretty scalloped hem. The nice thing about this project is that it is done with worsted weight yarn, size 8 needles, and garter stitch, meaning that it is ideal for TV or social knitting when one's attention is called elsewhere. I've got just a couple more repeats to get through before the skirt is finished and I can get started on the body of the cardigan.

It's still snowing where I live, so I think there's some hope that I will be able to complete and wear this sweater before the weather gets too warm for wool!

Rainy day project

I received a major addition to my vintage pattern collection today! My great aunt gave me a big box full of her knitting patterns, ranging from the 1950s through the 1990s. This is the most meticulously kept collection of patterns I've seen: each booklet is in pristine condition and even her collection of mail-order pamphlets remains in its original envelopes. There are so many fabulous patterns here. I've really only just started to look through the collection, but I did pick out a few of my favorite images and looks to share!

These are pretty spectacular knit go-go dresses from the late 1960s:

And some matching duds for the men:

 

I adore this plaid skirt, but can't help focusing on that poor cat's facial expression. He looks like he's about to bolt from the humiliation of modeling.

Superb modern home decor in knitting and crochet:

 

And some...unusual...1960s hats! There are lots of beads and sequins in this book.

 I'll be sure to share more as I explore the collection. Meanwhile, I've got yarn to start my 1919 Goldie Golf Sweater and will be casting on soon.

And the winner is...

The Goldie Golf Sweater!

I confess that this was always a front-runner in my mind and that I probably would have knit it even if it hadn't received the most votes, so I'm glad that the public vote will end up supporting my first choice.

I've read through the instructions 5 or 6 times and sketched out a schematic, as I did with the Ladies' Outing Coat. In this pattern, you knit the skirt portion first. It's a big garter stitch rectangle with wide bands of the main color and narrow strips of 1x1 ribbing that help to create a scalloped hemline. The hemline is then finished with a crochet border to emphasize the natural wavy edge. The rest of the sweater is knit separately in one big piece, sleeves included, starting with the back of the sweater. Button bands are knit simultaneously with the front (it's a relief not to have to worry about quite so much crochet finishing this time around) and then the side seams are sewn and the skirt is stitched onto the body of the sweater. The collar, sleeve ruffles, and sash are knit separately.

As with the Ladies' Outing Coat, there is no recommended gauge and the suggested yarn (Utopia llama yarn in golden brown and white) is long discontinued. Based on the stitch counts in the pattern, I've surmised that a modern worsted weight yarn will likely provide me with the gauge I need. I swatched some Cascade 220 from my stash with size 8 needles and achieved 4.5 stitches per inch, which is just exactly what I think I want.

Another unknown element in this pattern is the amount of yarn I'll need. There's a handy chart on the Lion Brand website with yarn estimates for various projects and yarn weights. Since I'm making a small adult sweater with an extra-long scarf in worsted weight yarn, the estimate falls somewhere around 1800 yards, which is about 9 skeins of Cascade 220 (each skein contains 220 yards). Maybe I'll get 7 skeins of my main color and 2 of my contrast color. However, since I always get nervous about running out of yarn, I might throw in an extra skein or two, just as insurance.

Next step: color selection. A trip to my local yarn store is in order soon!

Turning to the Teens

With my first sweater behind me, I turn now to the 1910s and start contemplating the options for my next project. My personal collection of vintage patterns is sadly lacking in 1910s publications, much as it was for the 1900s. In fact, I have just one, this Collingbourne's Encyclopedia of Technologic Art Needle Work Instruction written by Virginia Snow and published in 1916 in Elgin, Illinois. Here's the back cover of this booklet, complete with an illustration of the factory and a cautionary tale about using inferior materials in one's needlework.

It is full of dainty crochet edgings, elegant hats, and fancy items for the home, like lamp shades, face cloths, and plant pot covers. Lovely to look at, but nothing really great for my purposes. So, I turn again to the internet and to my friend-in-wool Anna Schumacker, designer of my Ladies' Outing Coat, for 1910s inspiration. In her Columbia Book of Yarns of 1916, there is a fabulous introduction that explains the new and exciting developments in the field of knitwear:

 

Flipping (digitally) through the succeeding pages leads us to some lovely sweater designs. It's easy to spot the changes in silhouette that the years between 1907 and 1916 have brought: sweaters are longer and less structured, with wide belts and big buttons. You can see the more familiar trends of the '20s starting here, as the corseted look of the first decade starts to give way to looser, straighter lines and some very interesting colorwork:

From The Columbia Book of Yarns, 1916, page 150. If only I were a better crocheter...

The Ladies' Knitted Sweater from The Columbia Book of Yarns, 1916, page 163

 I like the clean lines and simple stripes in the lower images; this could be a contender.

I checked out the 1918 edition of the Columbia book as well and found another couple of possibilities. Many of these designs use simple garter stitch to great effect.

The Ladies' Knitted Sweater from The Columbia Book of Yarns, 1918, page 152.

The Ladies' Knitted Sweater from The Columbia Book of Yarns, 1918, page 164.

 

 

I love the soft angora collar in the upper design; the belt is very typical of many patterns in this era. Likewise, the strong military influence in the lower picture is a clear trend in these years during WWI.

In the Utopia Yarn Book of 1919, I found this fabulous cross-over coat, which looks so avant-garde and modern:

Surplice Sweater from Utopia Yarn Book, 1919, page 48

And I think the striped collar, wide sash, and faux-pleated skirt on this sweater are really great:

The "Goldie" Golf Sweater from Utopia Yarn Book, 1919, page 58

In reading through some of these patterns, I noticed that many of them employ a semi-seamless construction, linking back to fronts to sleeves and leaving only side seams to sew up at then end. This photograph illustrates the massive single piece of knitting that makes up the bulk of the work:

Fascinating. You just don't see sweaters built like this much anymore at all. I'm looking forward to getting started on one of these designs, but which one? Any suggestions?

First Decade Down

 

One decade down, 9 more to go! My 1907 Ladies' Outing Coat is finished, just in time for a cooler-than-normal early spring day, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. It is perhaps a shade too big and doesn't have quite the same hourglass shape* as the picture, but, overall, this sweater is warm, comfortable, and looks just fine with jeans while retaining its early-20th-century charm. 

* I know that the hourglass shape in the picture is enhanced by a corset and that this sweater was undoubtedly intended to be worn with one. I do not intend to do this. 

 

 Since my last progress post on this sweater, I've knitted and attached the second sleeve, knitted and attached the two pockets and the collar, crocheted about a mile of edging and buttonholes, and attached 14 buttons. A warning to all who might be contemplating adding this sweater to the queue: it is not for the crochet-averse knitter. There is a lot of crochet edging in this project. I'm certainly not the world's most confident crocheter (that would be my sister-in-law Melanie), but I feel pretty good about adding crochet borders to knit projects and I sort of love that this pattern just assumed I could do both needlecrafts with equal competence. Plus, since this was a fairly straightforward single crochet edging, I knew I could handle it, even if it did take quite a lot of time. The buttonholes are built into this crochet edge and, since you're working at a fairly tight gauge with the yarn held double, they are quite sturdy and stable. Overall, I think the crochet border adds a nice finish to the sweater and really stabilizes the sleeve cuffs, collar edging, and lower hem. A ribbed garment like this will naturally have a tendency to stretch and the crochet works well to counteract that tendency.

There was almost no detail in the pattern about attaching the buttons, so I went with my instincts and placed 4 buttons on each side of the front. In order to achieve the fit I wanted, I had to place the buttons somewhat further apart than they appear in the pattern picture. I also had to come up with a plan for the hidden inner buttons. I used black buttons for exterior surfaces and white buttons for interiors.

I ran into some trouble with the "revers" (the folded-back lapels). When I placed the buttons where I wanted them, I found that I couldn't really fold back the top edges and keep them even and centered like the pattern photo showed. So, I decided to skip those top buttons and leave the outer lapel loose as you see below. I think it still captures the look of the original.

I found some vintage-style buttons at Jo-Ann that I used for the pocket buttons. These were labelled as 1890-1910, perfect for my project! The pockets themselves are knit separately and sewn onto the fronts.

 

I'm already looking forward to delving into my 1910s patterns!

Specs

Yarn: Knit Picks' Wool of the Andes sport weight, about 14.5 balls

Needles: size 4 

Crochet hook: Crochet hook sizing confuses me. The one I used said "4 or E"

Started: 16 January 2016

Finished: 19 March 2016