Finito!
It was a few years ago that this magazine, sitting in my mom's pile of knitting stuff, caught my attention:
You read that right: up in the corner it says 1964.
In it were these delightful images and pretty decent sweaters; this one seemed so cute and classic, I just had to have it.
And this was what the magazine had to say about it:
Of course, it was so old I couldn't find the mohair they called for, even in my LYS' yarn books. So I had to guess at the yardage (I bought 7 balls and only used 4 1/2... but better safe than sorry). And I wasn't about to do mohair, as it drives me crazy, and while I love pink, I didn't think it was going to be the best choice for this sweater. I didn't think of it when I picked it out, but this color is really the color of real lavender to me. Yum!
(I know, you're saying, alright already, show me the sweater! All in good time, I swear.)
A sneak peek:
And here's me, trying desperately to look decent for my self timer:
And the sweater itself:
This was a great little knit, although it revealed to me the advances we've had in patternwriting in the past 40 years or so. For example: I'm wearing, believe it or not, the largest size, which is about 38". There aren't any diagrams of what shape the pieces should be in, or even what the finished measurements of the sweaters will be. The pattern assumes you do long-tail cast on, which I do, but many patterns now give the first row as the right side. The pattern also isn't as specific -- my neck ribbing is goofy because I thought it meant "repeat these 2 rows 3 times" when in fact it meant "repeat these 2 rows 3 more times", which is something entirely different. But it came out alright in the end.
The Stats:
Pattern: Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 1964 #36 Cabled Pullover
Needles: #2 (bottom ribbing), #3 (neck ribbing), #8 (body)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Naturespun Worsted (100% wool) in Platte River Blue
Modifications: I lengthened the sleeves a little, and added stitches to the front to make the seams match the rest of the body. Oh, and didn't use mohair!
Screw-ups: I didn't make the body quite long enough, but didn't discover this fact until I had bound off at the shoulders on the back. Whoops! Blocking fixed some of the shortness, and I'm short-waisted anyhow, so it's okay. I also probably could have made the smaller size, but I don't need really tight sweaters.
Other notes: Blocking did wonders for this thing. It was a smooshy, lumpy mess before blocking all the individual pieces. And of course it made seaming that much easier.
In conclusion: knitting from vintage patterns is great, but requires a little foresight. Sizing might be odd, directions might need a little more puzzling out than you're used to, and something knit on "big quick needles" might really be on a #6 or #7.
Now it just has to cool off enough for me to wear!
You read that right: up in the corner it says 1964.
In it were these delightful images and pretty decent sweaters; this one seemed so cute and classic, I just had to have it.
And this was what the magazine had to say about it:
Of course, it was so old I couldn't find the mohair they called for, even in my LYS' yarn books. So I had to guess at the yardage (I bought 7 balls and only used 4 1/2... but better safe than sorry). And I wasn't about to do mohair, as it drives me crazy, and while I love pink, I didn't think it was going to be the best choice for this sweater. I didn't think of it when I picked it out, but this color is really the color of real lavender to me. Yum!
(I know, you're saying, alright already, show me the sweater! All in good time, I swear.)
A sneak peek:
And here's me, trying desperately to look decent for my self timer:
And the sweater itself:
This was a great little knit, although it revealed to me the advances we've had in patternwriting in the past 40 years or so. For example: I'm wearing, believe it or not, the largest size, which is about 38". There aren't any diagrams of what shape the pieces should be in, or even what the finished measurements of the sweaters will be. The pattern assumes you do long-tail cast on, which I do, but many patterns now give the first row as the right side. The pattern also isn't as specific -- my neck ribbing is goofy because I thought it meant "repeat these 2 rows 3 times" when in fact it meant "repeat these 2 rows 3 more times", which is something entirely different. But it came out alright in the end.
The Stats:
Pattern: Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 1964 #36 Cabled Pullover
Needles: #2 (bottom ribbing), #3 (neck ribbing), #8 (body)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Naturespun Worsted (100% wool) in Platte River Blue
Modifications: I lengthened the sleeves a little, and added stitches to the front to make the seams match the rest of the body. Oh, and didn't use mohair!
Screw-ups: I didn't make the body quite long enough, but didn't discover this fact until I had bound off at the shoulders on the back. Whoops! Blocking fixed some of the shortness, and I'm short-waisted anyhow, so it's okay. I also probably could have made the smaller size, but I don't need really tight sweaters.
Other notes: Blocking did wonders for this thing. It was a smooshy, lumpy mess before blocking all the individual pieces. And of course it made seaming that much easier.
In conclusion: knitting from vintage patterns is great, but requires a little foresight. Sizing might be odd, directions might need a little more puzzling out than you're used to, and something knit on "big quick needles" might really be on a #6 or #7.
Now it just has to cool off enough for me to wear!
Comments