1930s: Complete

Well, I didn't get the pose just right and I didn't have the appropriate statement necklace, but my 1930s metallic cocktail jacket is complete! I'm thrilled. Not only is it a great feeling to have finished what has been a painfully slow project, it's also a welcome break for my hands and fingers. The metallic yarn was harsh on my skin and the matte gray yarn was splitty and annoying, but it was all worth it. I love the result. The puffed sleeves, the metallic smocking, the solid yoke...a great 1930s look.

And I'm pleased with the fit, too. It's close-fitting and tailored without being too tight, the sleeves are well-engineered, and the buttons work without too much gapping.

The pattern was solid, too: clear, detailed, well-written, and mistake free. I made just a few modifications, including adding 2" to the overall length and reducing the number of cast-on stitches for each front from 63 to 50. My gauge was just a little larger than recommended and, after knitting and measuring the back, it was clear that I'd need a few fewer stitches to do the job. I'm glad I did. Sticking with the original instructions would have led to a sweater that was a bit too big. Other than those two points, I changed nothing!

Construction-wise, this was a pretty standard knit. One back, two fronts, and two sleeves, all knit from the bottom up. The seams were easy to sew and the busy surface design means that the seams are virtually invisible despite mismatched patterns on the different pieces. Just like my first two decade sweaters, there is a lot of crochet finishing in this. The sleeves, neck, fronts, and lower hem are all finished in a few rows of single crochet. In fact, the buttonband and buttonholes are done in crochet. So, that took a long time, but it does provide nice stability to the edges and a polished finish. I chose simple black hemispherical plastic buttons and I think they're just right and in keeping with the original pattern recommendations.

The next step for this sweater is to find somewhere to wear it! I'll be delving into my 1940s pattern books next to see what I can find. After this one, though, I have a few personal goals for my next project:

1. Must be made of a natural fiber.
2. Maybe no buttons for a change?
3. No crochet edging!

Specs

Yarn: Massive mystery skein of dark gray cotton (?) and cone of silver metallic synthetic

Amounts: I still have a lot of each left

Needles: size 2

Crochet hook: necessary, but I don't remember the size

Started: 2 October 2016

Finished: 19 February 2017

Blizzard update

Two feet of snow over the past two-and-a-half days means that I've found lots of time for knitting and have finally made substantial progress on my 1930s metallic Cocktail Jacket. This has been a really slow project from the beginning. Size 2 needles and smocking means that a lot of time and labor goes into each inch of length.

The back was completed a while ago; both fronts were fairly quick and easy after the expanse of the back. Sleeve the First was larger and more labor-intensive than I'd anticipated (though I don't know why as that's always the way with sleeves). It looked huge as I was knitting it, so when I finished it I decided to start assembling the sweater the make sure the sleeve worked and fit well before tackling Sleeve the Second. The seams were a little awkward to sew up due to the different textures of the yarn and the uneven edges caused by the stitch pattern. Luckily, the busy-ness of the surface camouflages any areas of mismatching seams. Sleeve the First fit in beautifully and has a sturdy enough structure to hold up a substantial puff at the shoulder. It took a couple tries to set in the sleeve evenly, but I think I've got it now.

Apologies for the blurry photo, but it's dark and snowy here.

I've already cast on for Sleeve the Second and hope to have it finished within the next few days. After setting that in, I'll start with the crochet edging around the cuffs, neck, buttonbands, and lower hem. Getting so close to completion!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! A few somewhat-related tidbits today:

1. I have now worn my 1910s sweater to work (when I wrote my last post, I mentioned that it hadn't been cold enough yet, but that has certainly changed). I wore it with jeans and it was really cozy and comfortable and I didn't need to wear a coat that day. I think my coworkers enjoy my vintage sweater habit, too, and they both seemed to like this one.

2. My 1930s cocktail jacket is growing bit by bit. It is pretty slow going in the smocked sections, but I've reached the yoke on the back now. I really do love that metallic element in the design.

My two mystery yarns: a smooth matte gray and a crinkly silver metallic

I've started the yoke.

I hesitated for a little while before starting the yoke. As I mentioned in my last post, the pattern calls for both yarns to be held together for the metallic sections, but mine are too hefty for that, so I opted to use the metallic by itself instead, which means that my metallic sections are a bit more sparkly than the original pattern intended. I briefly considered knitting the yoke in the gray instead of the silver, but ultimately decided to stick with the pattern and make it metallic. It's really quite sparkly. I hope it's the right choice.

3. I was desperate for some more immediate knitting satisfaction during December (surely a side effect of the infinitesimal pace of the Cocktail Jacket), and so I made one hat for myself and another for my nephew. I also made him a Christmas sweater with a super cute built-in scarf collar.

4. Today, I picked up a cute 1980s angora and wool sweater from Portland's Flea-for-All. It's blue and white with a pattern of moons and stars across the top (adorable) and puffed sleeves. I really like it, but it has a few little wear spots and needs some TLC before I can wear it. I do love "rescuing" vintage knits. That's my project for the afternoon and then it's back to the Cocktail Jacket.

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!