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