Finished Objects and… not so finished objects

Hey there, lovely! I have some fun things to show you.

Apparently, I have been in love with fair isle berets without knowing it.

Tasha Moss’s Victory Hat

I finished my first fair isle beret in September and just adore it. It is a 1940’s beret from none other that Susan Crawford’s A Stitch in Time Volume 2. I opted out of a fourth color, sticking with the grey, black, and purple colors for a winter palette. Every time I put it on, I feel like I should throw on my Land Girl pants and go milk a cow after scraping the frost off my milking bucket. I am in love.

Linky to my ravelry page with more information here.

The other hat I made was a test knit for Tasha over at bygumbygolly! She is such an inspiration to me. If you have never read her blog, leave this page immediately and immerse yourself in her vintage-crafty life. When I got the email to be a test knitter for her first self-published pattern, I nearly fell out of my chair. I feel so honored that she turned to me to be a test knitter for her beret inspired by the end of WWII, I made an exception in my vintage knitting. I absolutely love this pattern! It is so well written and the motifs are clever and well thought out. Check out Tasha’s Knit for Victory Knit-a-Long too, which I will be joining.

Photo credit goes to roommate and photographer extraordinaire Michael Banh.

And now, for the not so finished pieces.

I mentioned in my last post about plans for Operation: Finish! in which I finish the four non-finished garments I have started during my year of vintage knitting. Because I also have 11 knitted Christmas gifts going at the same time, my deadline is December 31st. Some only need part of a sleeve, others need a bit more. But I have a good feeling that I can get them done by my deadline!

xoxo

Sydney

Impromptu Hiatus

tumbleweed tumbleweed tumbleweed…..

Is anyone still here? I had so many plans for different blog posts this summer, and then, well, summer happened. So first off, I’d like to apologize for my disappearance from the blogsphere. But I won’t waste any time, let me get you caught up on my summer knitting!

Many fun and exciting projects have been started, and unfortunately, not many have been finished yet.  For one issue or another, my WIPs have reached stopping points.

The lavender blouse, which is The Jan Sweater in Susan Crawford’s A Stitch in Time Volume Two, is a 1930’s lacey delight that I’m knitting out of Madelinetosh light in the colorway “La Vie En Rose.” The body seems to be too long, so I’ve been nervous to block it in case it stretches more. It also needs sleeves. 

I will remember this summer as “The Summer When Sydney Had a Weird Aversion to Sleeve Knitting,” because really, that’s what all my WIP garments need.

The minty green blouse is an Oops! projects because I didn’t buy enough yarn last year when I impulsively got two skeins of this Knitted Wit Fingering solely for the love of the color. I’m currently on the hunt for a similar yarn base in a contrasting white for the rest of the blouse.

Some knitting I have been finishing are socks. Lots and lots of socks.

 

I have a lot of other exciting WIPs going right now, but we’ll have to save those for the next blog (I promise I won’t wait three months to post it). I have been ready for Autumn since July, meaning that cardigans and sweaters, warm wooly hats and socks are on the needles.

Thank you to all of you sweet readers who have stuck around!

xoxo

Sydney

Ladies, Welcome to the Women’s Land Army

I thank you, beautiful readers, for waiting so long with me for these photos to be up. The weather in Oregon has been spastic, changing it’s mind from rain, sun, cloudy and everything in between on an hourly basis. But they are finally here! I had so much fun with my talented photographer friend and future roommate (which means much more photography!) Michael Banh as we attempted to take these while a class of over 100 biology students were walking by. Yeah, that was awkward.

We’re twinsies.

Looking back, knitting this sweater was not too bad. Truthfully, I ended up practically making up the entire pattern as I went. The sizing and overall shape came out perfectly. I studied old photos of Land Girls as well as modern adaptions of their attire (such as the show Land Girls) in hopes of making it as accurate as possible. I purposefully knit it fairly tight, and it ended up only taking about 850 yards of worsted weight!

Okay, enough of me jabbering, you probably want to see some photos.

Now I feel ready to join the Women’s Land Army.

Oh wait, I think I need some stockings… 😉

xoxo

Sydney

Warm Toes & The Land Army

Hello, darlings!

Sorry my posting has slowed down a bit. I assure you it will pick back up in a jiffy with exciting finished objects!

As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, my current project is my very own Women’s Land Army pullover. After I bought the pants, (see “Define Obsession”) I figured it was high time for me to knit the iconic ribbed sweater.

Now, with trying to stick with my vintage knitting, finding a pattern for this sweater or anything remotely similar was harder than I thought. Turns out, there really wasn’t one. All of the original sweaters were machine made because, well, no one had time to hand knit thousands of sweaters every few months. I found a sweater via etsy titled Paton & Baldwin’s 2792 Women’s Service Land Army Pullover and Stockings hoping it would be like the sweater, but it really wasn’t. I am using it as a reference for knitting mine, but making heavy modifications to make it look accurate. I hope, dear reader, you don’t see this as cheating with my challenge. The way I see it, vintage ladies would have modified a pattern to make it look more like what they wanted too!

Here it is so far!…. Doesn’t look like much. Really, it’s just a big, wooly, ribbed blob at the moment. I am almost done with the body and the sleeves won’t take too long, so I am hoping to have it finished by the first week of May! I have really big plans for the photo shoot, so stay tuned. 😉

Apart from the sweater, I am decided to impulsively try socks again with my dear knitting friend, Anna. I have knitted 2 1/2 pairs of socks, and only have bad memories from them. But, after finishing one sock from this sweet 1953 pattern, my new verdict is that I quite like socks! 

I am using Anzula Dreamy, which is a merino, cashmere, & silk blend, and my oh my the name of this yarn speaks for itself. It is dreaaammy. It is so soft, and certainly helping elevate my love of socks, especially these ones.

xoxo

Sydney

Finished Piece: The Lady Eve Blouse

Did you think I forgot about you, dear readers?

Never! Unfortunately, this blouse has been sitting in my closet for two weeks now. Rainy day after rainy day have passed by my window, and naturally, the few days of sunshine were full of other reasons why photos couldn’t be taken. But alas, the photos are here!

All photos are taken by the talented Michael Banh ❤

I know I complained about the 8 stitches to the inch being invented by demons- which I still believe- but after I finished the body of this blouse (and almost lost it in a library, but that’s a different story) the sleeves, collar, and finishing went by rather quickly.

I am happy with the finished result, and as many of you lovely people mentioned in a previous post, my uneven stitches blocked out as if by magic. The only finicky piece was the collar. The edge of it was wanting to curl, but after I took the steam to it and tacked it down in a few places, it behaved.

I will post soon about my current work in progress, the Women’s Land Army pullover. But I will tell you one thing, it feels marvelous to knit on size 5 needles.

xoxo

Sydney

define “obsession…”

Hello beautiful kittens!

Thank you all for being so patient with me on this blouse. I have just reached the armholes (hooray!) and am knitting as furiously as I can in between finals and studying. But I wanted to use this post to enlighten you on my current forever obsession. World War II’s Women’s Land Army.

Ever since I spontaneously watched BBC’s Land Girls, I have had a deep fascination with British women in WWII and the darling ladies of the Women’s Land Army. For those who don’t know, the Women’s Land Army employed women to work the fields while the male farmers were off to war. Many city-dwelling women didn’t know what they were getting themselves into, hours of rigorous work rain or shine.

  So… this one day I decided to check what eBay had under Women’s Land Army… bad idea for my coin purse…

Let me show you what I got, dearie:

Yes, those are REAL British WWII Women’s Land Army Corduroy Pants!!

…….REAL!!!

..did I mention they are real?

These just arrived today, and I can’t quite bring myself to take them off. I am not ashamed to admit that I am wearing them as I blog. This is also a great time to announce my next project! After much searching online, I have finally found a vintage pattern of… (you can probably guess) A Land Girl Sweater!! I can’t wait to start it!

xoxo

Sydney

8 stitches to the inch was invented by demons

Oh, sure, I told myself, sure, 8 stitches to the inch won’t be so bad. You’ve done seven, and you survived! Oh goodness….

As much as I am loving miles and miles of solid color stockinette… This project is going rather slow. I have just finished the back piece and am about to start the front. I am already dreaming about my next project.

Here is what I have so far! I am using the Ultra Alpaca Fine, and I like it, but there are some inconsistencies in my stitches. If I knit just a tiny bit looser than the row before, the stitches come out diagonal. I hope that a good wet block will even out my stitches.

No more 8 stitches per inch jumpers for me..

xoxo

Sydney

Spring is coming early

Onwards to the next adventure!

Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/littlegirlpearl/

 

One of my goals for this year-of-vintage project is to alternate between a Susan Crawford pattern and an individual vintage pattern that I have in my collection. My next project is from the 1941 Jack Frost Vol. 35, arguably my favorite vintage blouse pattern books. They’re all fairly simple but so beautiful! I wanted to find a pattern right now that I could handle with my homework load; something that I can zone out with and watch Downton Abbey and knit simple stitches ( in between tears, naturally). So lovely kittens, allow me to reveal my next blouse!

It is the one on the right! I’m sorry for the poor photo quality; on the collar, there is a sweet spring-time lace pattern, as well as lace on the puffed sleeves. I’ve found myself eager for spring this year. To watch cherry blossoms brighten up the streets. To read a novel under a tree, chasing clouds in between chapters and sips of pink lemonade. I am usually a lady who enjoys the colder months, but this year I find myself yearning for soft sunshine and being outside. Therefore, I am knitting this blouse in my very favorite color, Robin’s Egg Blue, to create my own little spring on my needles until the weather complies with my wishes.

I am naming this project after a movie that came out the same year as the pattern: The Lady Eve. It is an adorable movie with fabulous hair and outfits. Next week you will get to see the work in progress! Yippie!

xoxo

Sydney

Finished Piece: Roman Holiday

It’s finished, it’s finished!

As of Saturday the 9th, I have had Trimmed With Roses hanging in my closet saying, “Wear me! Wear me!” every time I walked by. This was a very fun pattern to knit up. Originally from 1950, Susan Crawford did an excellent job making it accessible for various body types. I am a 36″ bust, but I made the smallest size, desiring negative ease instead of positive, and very happy I did. I like my garments to look more fitted as opposed to the 3-4″ of positive ease it requested.

Anyways, enough chit chat, here are photos taken by the incredibly talented Michael Banh, who has a rather popular Supernatural tumblr. 😉

Stay tuned for my next project!

xoxo

Sydney

It won’t be long now

A Work in Progress post!

Hoorah! I’ve completed the front and back pieces. I was a bit anxious about the individually-done fair isle roses having too many ends to weave in, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought! I am happy with the pieces so far, though they need a nice, long bath to even out the stitches.

Currently, I am working both sleeves. I have one up to the armhole decreases and the other is just beginning the stripes. Why do I have two going, you ask? I suffer from second- sleeve- syndrome, and it’s always nice to have one easy piece that I can bring along to class or outings, and another that I need to focus on.

Being in college has certainly slowed down my knitting. I was hoping to have this all finished by the end of the month, but that is unlikely with midterms and endless readings. (I am only 3 weeks in the term and have already finished 6 books, eek!) My goal is by the end of next weekend to be flashing you a finished object!

xoxo

Sydney