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.
