Finished project: So neat and sweet jersey

Finally, I have a finished project to share with you all! It's about time.

This is my latest sweater, with the delicate name of So Neat and Sweet in her Simple V-Necked Jersey (pattern link on Ravelry, my project page on Ravelry). It's from A Stitch in Time Volume 2. Now I know all of you other vintage knitters out there know about this fabulous book by Susan Crawford, of course.  But I can't reiterate enough how lovely her books and patterns are, if you're not familiar with her!

This was knit in Quince and Co. Finch, a 100% American wool (sourced and spun here). I just loved knitting with it. It's not superwash (so hand wash only), but is very soft and springy with a tight twist and is very lightweight to wear. I see lots and lots of projects in this yarn in my future. (In fact, my languishing Vintage Knitting College colorwork pullover is in the same yarn.)

I started this pullover the last day of February, but was so caught up in packing and moving, I didn't finish it until Friday. The body pieces flew by, but knitting both sleeves at the same time seemed to drag on. (Of course it didn't help that I didn't actually knit at all for over a month, being too busy and brain dead to do so.)

This was a pullover I really enjoyed knitting. You're in for the long haul when you knit a long-sleeved sweater in fingering weight (4 ply) yarn with an allover stitch pattern, so you better enjoy the journey. And I did! The stitch pattern was over 6 rows and was actually quite easy to memorize, which made it a good project to knit on the go.

As I'm sure you know by now I love to tinker with patterns, however I knit this exactly as written. I only made two changes: (1) I knit the smallest size, for size 30-32" bust, which actually measures 35 1/2". That gave me 1/2" negative ease across the bust instead of positive ease. (2) I knit a couple of extra repeats of the pattern in the sleeve caps because my rows are always short.

I wouldn't call this an easy pattern for a beginner. While the stitch pattern and shaping is quite simple, actually decreasing in pattern can be a bit tough, even if you're used to it. I knit the back first and then decided I'd prefer my armhole decrease stitches to be in purl, so that's what I did for the front. (No one will ever see the back and front of my armpit at the same time so I wasn't going to rip back to re-knit the back. So there.)



It really came out just like the original!

{Source: A Stitch In Time Volume 2, © Susan Crawford}

I'm a sucker for little details, and love how a line in the rib pattern flows down from the center of the sleeve cap at the shoulder seam, as well as in the center of the v-neck. Wonderful symmetry.

Usually, I would use mattress stitch to attach a neckband, however I followed Susan's instructions to use a flat slip stitch (described in the book), and I like the result. It was a good way to match up the decreasing neckline edge with the edge of the garter stitch band (which I think is more fiddly to deal with than a stockinette edge).

Needless to say, I'm over the moon about this pullover! And since I've decided yellow is my new neutral (not that I ever had a neutral before), I know I'm going to get a ton of wear out of this.

Now, what shall my next vintage knit be?? Something from a vintage booklet? Or something from volume 1? I just can't decide!

VKC: Quick tip on un-knitting (and my work-in-progress)

Hello, hello! I'm sure you can guess what I've been up to lately. Right, more packing. Not an exciting topic of conversation, so let's move on. I grabbed a few minutes for a mini knitting tip. A tiplet, if you will!

Sometimes you have to un-knit part of your work-in-progress. It's often called ripping or frogging. Frogging is an onomatopoeia... "rip it...rip it"... get it? It stinks when you have to do it, because it means you've screwed something up. But it happens. There are a couple of good, basic, ways to do it...

• One: Pull your knitting needles out, and rip out the yarn back as far as you need to go. The trick is then you have to insert your needle back into a row, and that can be hard to do without accidentally dropping stitches or losing your place in a pattern stitch or lace.

• Two: Un-knit each individual stitch in each row. It's a slooow way to work, but can be helpful if you only have to go back a row or two, or you're working an in-depth lace pattern and you don't think there's any way you can pull your needles out and find your way back again. 

(Full disclosure: okay, so there are other ways to do this... you can insert a knitting needle several rows down and rip back to that, but it's almost impossible to do in a pattern stitch. If you used a lifeline, you can also rip back to that. But the two above are basic techniques that I think a lot of knitters use.)

I like a combo of both methods! Especially if I'm working in a pattern stitch. It's loads faster than un-knitting rows of work, and not as difficult as trying to rip a bunch of work and inserting your needle into stitches that are hanging out in space, hoping you can keep the stitches in pattern.

So here's my tip: Pull your knitting needles out, and rip back to one row before the last row you need to remove. If you need to remove 8 rows total, rip back 7 rows only. I like to count each row as I pull the yarn out so I don't go too far. Then I simply un-knit the last row using my left-hand needle, stitch by stitch, working left to right. Each un-knit stitch goes back on the left needle.

Once you've worked across the row, you have every stitch on the needle, exactly in pattern. Much easier than if you rip back completely and have to pick up those stitches that are hanging out in the air. Then all you need to do is continue knitting. Yep, that's it. It's a lot easier than ripping back to the row you need and trying to orient things in a pattern.

A pretty easy way to complete a task we all hate to need to do. :)

The pattern I'm working on here is So Neat and Sweet from A Stitch in Time vol. 2. I'm knitting it with Quince and Co. Finch, one of my new favorite yarns. I think this will be a great pullover for spring (which appears to have sprung early!). I'm picturing it with a nice patterned silk scarf tucked in at the neck, similar to the vintage version in the book. Though I'm woefully lacking in the scarf department, I definitely need to work on that!

Somehow in the middle of packing I've managed to knit the back and over half the front. It's a stitch pattern that was easy to memorize, so I don't have to sit down with a chart like my stranded pullover. I can just dive in. And right now, that's about all my head can handle.

The colors are a little off in these photos, but it's a nice buttery yellow. I think it will be a perfect staple pullover. Once we move and I dig out the sewing machine, I'm thinking a lovely 40s or 30s skirt. I believe I have some grayish blue gabardine... what do you think?

Anyone else knitting something from A Stitch in Time right now? I love the first volume, but I'm just adoring the new one!

Sunday Pictorial Beret

I can't believe as I'm posting this, I've reached over 500 followers. Wow! I must say I'm incredibly humbled and flattered that there are that many of you who actually want to read about my mundane little life. :) I've been wanting to do a giveaway for this milestone, but being in the throws of moving, it's going to have to wait a little longer. Stay tuned!

Today I'm sharing my latest knitting project, a beret from A Stitch in Time Volume 2, Sunday Pictorial Beret (Ravelry pattern link). On a Sunday, no less. I can't believe I actually started and finished a project with everything that's been going on with the moving preparations lately!

But I'm not the only one with berets—in particular, this beret—on the mind lately. I know Stephanie of The Girl with the Star-Spangled Heart is working on the same beret, and Andrea of New Vintage Wardrobe just finished it, too.

I've had almost no time or energy to knit, and I've also been limiting my knitting as I'm having on and off shoulder and arm issues which knitting exacerbates (the issue is not gone but it's much better). But a couple of weeks ago I just got the urge to knit... something.

And I was inspired by a particularly wonderful photo from this woman in the 1950s in a striped red and white beret. (Love her polka dot gloves, too.)

{Source: Adore Vintage Tumblr | Daily Vintage Inspiration}

So I knit one for myself. Because you know I love my berets. This makes the third I've knit in 6 months (there's a vintage fair isle beret and a Halloween novelty beret, too).

Hats are often knit in the round, but this pattern is in garter stitch and knit flat and seamed, so it was easy to incorporate stripes. I just knit 2 rows in each color, carrying the unused color up the edge. (Seaming garter stitch stripes is a bit of a pain in the rump, but it's mostly covered by the bow anyway.)

I like it with this vintage Pendleton 49er (from Randolph Street Market last Fall).

I was on a bit of a red bender, if you can tell. I added a thrifted scarf, my favorite fakelite ring and handmade earrings I bought in Taos, New Mexico on vacation last year. The day was completely dreary so I just threw on as much of one color as I could, though I usually mix it up a little more.

(Incidentally this photo that reminded me I forgot to put on mascara. Whoops. I swear I always forget something.)

I don't really think of myself as much of a bows and frills kind of gal, but there was something about the bow on this beret I thought was really cute, and I just love it in stripes.

So I may not be knitting as much, or sewing at all right now (everything is packed up), but at least I now have a snappy little striped beret to carry me into Spring.

How would you accessorize a striped beret? I'm looking forward to playing around with it!

A Stitch in Time Vol. 2

I'm not sure why I waited so long (oh yes, I kept forgetting!) but I finally pre-ordered A Stitch in Time, Volume 2. I am so excited for this book!

Susan Crawford (who blogs at Just Call Me Ruby) and Jane Crawford also put out A Stitch in Time, Volume 1, which includes dozens of vintage knitting patterns, re-worked slightly for different sizes (since we know most vintage knitting patterns only come in one size) and minor tweaks, but staying true to the original patterns. And Susan also wrote Vintage Gifts to Knit, a book of her own vintage-inspired knitting patterns. That's the book my Perfect Christmas Jumper came from.

I sometimes feel like the crafty blogosphere is chock full of sewists who are enthusiastic about vintage sewing, but those interested in vintage knitting are a little fewer and further between. That's one of the reasons I started the Briar Rose Vintage Knit-along, and I'll probably continue with other vintage knit-alongs in the future. And that's also one of the reasons why I love Susan's books, because not only do they appeal to us vintage-obsessed knitters in the crowd, but as I've seen, they've appealed to knitters who typically look to more modern styles as their influence, too.

Here's a few preview photos that they've published from the book. This pattern is called the Jan Sweater (Ravelry pattern page) and was originally published in 1938. Look at the chevroning on the front and the back!

© Arbour House Publishing

© Arbour House Publishing

This is knit in fingering weight, and I'm loving it in light yellow just as shown (though I'm lacking the enviable platinum hair of the model, lol). I'm thinking a cotton blend for summer, like KnitPicks Comfy in Semolina, or Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in Sunflower Gold or Buttercream. I have narrow shoulders so I imagine if I knit this, I would alter the boatneck slightly.

There's also Gathered Neckline With Bow (Ravelry pattern page). Isn't it gorgeous? (As an aside, I discovered through Ravelry sometime ago that this model is a knitter!)

© Arbour House Publishing

I love that the bow is a wearably small size, and like the little picot detail on the sleeves, bow and neckband. This one is actually knit in laceweight, and  would be beautiful with a subtly variegated hand-dyed yarn. (It's funny that I wrote this, because I thought of that and only then went to see what yarn was used. Turns out it's from British indie dyer, Posh Yarns.) This could layer nicely under a cardigan, don't you think? I think both of these patterns would be suitable for beginning sweater knitters, too!

Here's the cool thing I discovered when I pre-ordered the book: you get a copy of the Jan Sweater as a .pdf!

Anyway, I can't wait for this Volume 2 to be released. I've thumbed through Volume 1 so many times I can't even count. It's a fantastic resource with a wealth of information and tips inside, and I think it's wonderful that they included the original vintage patterns alongside their revisions of them. Due to my own distractions I have yet to complete anything from the book, however, though I might have cast on a little something Thursday evening before I'd quite completed Briar Rose...

The pattern is It Cannot Fail to Please (Ravelry pattern page). Don't you just love the names of some vintage patterns (well, the ones that aren't like "No. 45 with Long Sleeves")? I really wanted to use this yarn from my stash, Cascade Ultra Pima, a DK weight cotton, but I also really wanted to knit this pattern, which called for fingering weight. I swatched, did some math, and I'm off and sailing with my modified gauge. I'll talk about that more the further I get into the project, but if you'd like, you can follow along on my Ravelry project page.

Any other vintage knits on your needles, or that you're planning? Do share!