Knitty Galore: April 2013

Tuesday 23 April 2013

VINTAGE WORK IN PROGRESS - Lacy Jumper

It's all about the vintage patterns at the moment. I am sure it will pass someday, but for now I am going to try and conquer them until my heart is content.

My next victim is the Greenock Lacy Jumper. I purchased the pattern for just 1,50 GBP of the great www.fab40s.co.uk, somewhere here. I love it because it just looks so gorgeous and wearable, not to mention the fab neckline. Don't know about the cat and the hairdo though, might leave those out.

Materials:

Yarn: Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight

Colourway: Shade 095

Needles: 3mm (ribbing) and 3,5mm circular needle (lace)

Knitting log:

14/4: Vintage pattern purchased from www.fab40s.co.ukfor 1,50 GBP.

14/4: Shetland wool (2 ply jumper weight) ordered from Jamieson & Smith. Hopefully the lovely shade of pink on the photo resembles the actual colour.

16/4: Yarn has arrived and the colour is lovely. The texture of the wool is VERY scratchy though. I’m a bit princess on the pea with what I like to wear next to my skin but I am going to give it a go. Knitted a swatch, washed it with shampoo and soaked it in conditioner which did soften the fabric. Then blocked.

19/4: The blocked swatch seems to indicate that the gauge of this yarn is pretty much the same as the original Greenock yarn (6,5 to 7 stitches to the inch on lace pattern). I have decided to go for the medium size.

20/4: Cast on 240 stitches on a circular needle to knit the bodice in the round as front and back are the same until the armholes. I calculated 240 stitches because: 121 stitches x 2, but minus one stitch at the beginning of both front and back as I will not be seaming them together.

The yarn catches on itself like velcro while knitting with it. For that reason I have decided to replace the twisted rib with half moss stitch because it was hard to keep any momentum going while having to knit in the back of the stitch all the time.

CRAFTY TUNE: L.A. Salami

Lookman Adekunle Salami has quite a story behind his name (and what a name it is)! If you're ever not knitting, read it here.

CRAFTY TUNE: Fats Waller

If you're doing vintage knitting it most definitely adds to the experience to listen to some vintage music. Your Feet's Too Big is a Fats Waller hit from 1939.

Funny story: Waller was kidnapped in Chicage leaving a performance in 1926. Four men bundled him into a car and took him to the Hawthorne Inn, owned by Al Capone. Waller was ordered inside the building, and found a party in full swing. Gun to his back, he was pushed towrds a piano, and told to play. A terrified Waller realised he was the 'surprise guest' at Capone's birthday party, and took comfort that the gangsters did not intend to kill him. When he left the Hawthorne Inn, he was very drunk, extremely tired, and had earned thousands of dollars in cash from Capone and other party-goers as tips.

CRAFTY TUNE: The 2 Bears

It's lovely to be indoors crafting with a hot beverage on the table while the rain is hitting your windows. Wintery weather adds to the overall cosiness, especially when there is also a log fire involved. However, after 6 months of winter I am now completely over it and would like to take my knitting to the beach, with Warm & Easy by The 2 Bears on the headphones.

Friday 19 April 2013

1947 WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR FOR KNITTING

Nothing quite brings the past to life like vintage knitting. The designs are often beautiful and delicate, the patterns fascinating and intricate. Yarn was fine and needles were thin, making knitting a very time consuming way to make your own clothes. However, in a time without TV or social media a lady had plenty of time to invest in stitching a garment that would be loved for years. In those days clothes were a precious asset, and making your own was sometimes the only way to get your hands on a fashionable item.

I can totally see where these girls were coming from. To wear a jumper that you knitted yourself gives an intense amount of satisfaction and joy. Every stitch you put in it makes it personal to you. Out of all the garments in my wardrobe these are the ones that are treated with the most care and respect.

Anyway, let's not get carried away. But there really is something quite special about knitting from a pattern that so many women have knitted before you, all those years ago. Not to put too morbid a point on it, but these women are probably no longer with us. Just like the designers, the models, the yarns and the garments themselves. Everything has disappeared but the pattern and YOU can bring it back to life again. There are purists out there who knit the exact original, and there certainly is a lot to be said for that. That is, if you have a figure that allows you to do that. But if you're taller, bigger or bustier than most pre or post war girls (which we usually are nowadays) you will probably need to make some amendments. For example, I always make the bodice 10 cm longer because I prefer the ribbing to rest on my hips rather than in my middle.

I was totally in love with the tie neck jumper in the photo. It just had to be mine. I was quite intimidated by the adjustments I needed to make to make it fit my figure, but I embarked on it anyway. You can find the free pattern here. While you're at it, do check these Vintage Knitting Pattern Tips & Tricks from Geraldine Warner, they helped me a LOT.

Here's my result. Apologies for the self-congratulating look :)

Materials

Yarn: Rico Design Essentials Merino DK
Colourway: anthracite (no 99)
Needle Size: 3,5 mm and 4 mm (circular needle)

Knitting Log

Started project on 17/3: Because I just adore moss stitch, I've decided to do ribbing in half moss and the body in moss stitch instead of half moss. Made a couple of swatches until I was happy with the feel of the fabric. It also helped me adapt the number of stitches to cast on as the DK I am using is chunkier than the yarn weight the pattern suggests. Scary - fingers crossed!

18/3: Cast on 180 stitches on 3,5 mm circular needles to knit body in the round. Switched to 4 mm needles after ribbing.

24/3: Still doing the body as with moss stitch this takes forever. Although I have taken this opportunity to practise my k1 p1 continental style which really knits up a lot quicker. I am tallish and would like the ribbing to reach hips, so will probably be doing about 40 cm before armhole shaping instead of the suggested 30 cm. Watching 'Bomb Girls' while knitting to keep in forties atmosphere :)

11/4: Not a fan of lots of seams so after seaming up the shoulders and the tie I decided to pick up the stitches for the sleeves. Picked up 69 stitches (almost) evenly around each armhole. Decided against puff sleeves because I thought it would make my shoulders probably look too broad. Using the Magic Loop technique I did wrap and turn short rows in moss stitch between 11 stitches from the top left and 11 stitches from the top right, continuing until I had 12 stitches on each side from the bottom of the armhole. Then I worked in the round and completed the sleeves just above the elbow.

12/4: Finished!! I am sooooooo happy with it. Now secretively hoping that the weather will not warm up for a while so I can keep wearing it :D

CRAFTY TUNE: MAVIS STAPLES

Creativity and music go hand in hand - I love to listen to music when I knit. There are those songs in the world that make a person a better knitter, such as this little gem from Mavis Staples. I absolutely adore Mavis, she is the Queen of Soul (sorry Aretha). I saw her live once and all I can say is that she is a force of nature. 'Can You Get To That' is a superb Funkadelic cover and is on her new album One True Vine, out on 25th June.

THE PRESTONVILLE KNITTERS

I am lucky enough to have found an amazingly lovely group of girls to knit with every Thursday evening. Us knitters do love to huddle together, natter and partake in the occasional alcoholic beverage.

We convene in The Prestonville Arms in Brighton on Thursdays any time between 8 and 10pm. We love to help each other out with our projects, but pub lighting is not very suitable to teach anyone to knit from scratch. So if you can cast on, knit, purl and lift a glass of wine you are very welcome to join us :)

Welcome! My name is Knitty Galore.

A few years ago I learned how to knit and absolutely loved it. It has since become an all encompassing life-size obsession. When I should be sleeping, I am knitting. Or sieving through the internets trying to discover more knitting. It is astounding how many people selflessly share their patterns, projects, reviews, experience, knowledge and tips & tricks. If it wasn't for those people I would still be making my wonky garter stitch scarf. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I've noticed the bigger the challenge the bigger the reward. I now love saying 'I made that' while trying to look all modest (but looking annoyingly smug instead).

There is only one thing I love just as much as knitting, and that is talking about it. What a happy coincidence that it's quite possible to do both at the same time. But still not able to fully satisfy my perpetual desire to think, talk and breath knitting I decided to blog about it. That way, I don't have to have a real pair of ears in the vicinity to share around my woolly blurbs.

This blog is about knitting and whatever else you might dig up here. I hope some little gems.

Happy knitting!

Knitty X

SOME BABY BOOTIES

As this is still a baby blog I shall be throwing in some baby booties for my first post. I love knitting baby shoes. There is a superior level of cuteness involved that makes me want to have babies for the sole purpose of showing off their footwear. Unfortunately I am not maternal, so instead I knit booties for other people's little people. They make an ideal gift as the wow factor is high AND they fit in a bubble envelope. This means I can delay having to visit the little squirts until they have reached the age where projectile vomiting is no longer on their repertoire. Everybody happy.

There are some lovely patterns available on Ravelry, some free, some not. I have listed a few of my projects below, with a link under the image to the Ravelry Page where the pattern can be sourced.