Sweater Weather

Just look at that stitch pattern <3 Of course this gorgeous sweater was not knitted hand knit by myself, but by the wonderful Kate-Em! I had long admired her beautiful knitting projects so I decided back in spring to custom order a 1940's sweater from Kate-Em's lovely Etsy shop, and this lacy red number was the result. Kate-Em was a joy to work with and she kept me updated on the progress of the sweater as she knitted it up. It was so fun choosing a real vintage pattern and I can't believe just how perfectly the finished sweater fits! A testament to just how skilled a knitter Kate-Em is! Thank you so much for your stunning workmanship :)

For it's first outing I paired the sweater with my plaid wool pencil skirt, matching red heels, and my favorite dark green handbag. I picked up this flower shaped brooch over the summer and touched up some of the enamel with nail polish of all things! Little tip there, turns out nail polish is great for touching up chipped vintage enamel. If only finding great handbags like this one was that easy too, I wish I could find this same hand bag in every color, especially mustard yellow! I did manage to snap up a few pairs of size 8 gloves today though, so perhaps my shopping luck is picking up :)

Time to return to work and reality after my Disneyland trip, I had such an amazing time! Now it's time to get to sewing too, lots of sewing to do as always, and I hope to make some more videos for my YouTube channel soon too as it has been seriously neglected. Oops ;)

Sweater: Kate-Em Vintage (Etsy)
Skirt: Made by me
Shoes: Bait Footwear (Royal Vintage Shoes)
Handbag & Jewelry: Vintage

1930's 3 Hour Sweater

Well, here is the finished 1930's 3 hour sweater. I am not super pleased with it to be honest, I needed to have made it larger, the raglan seam is still too tight. Plus with the size 10 needles the resulting fabric is just so sheer! You can very clearly see I am wearing an ivory camisole underneath, since sadly I don't have dark mustard yellow one that would have blended in better. I still love the color of the yarn, and the overall style of the sweater, but there are things I would do differently if I were to ever knit this pattern again. In the end I knitted this sweater twice, once before I knew how awful seaming was going to be without knit stitches on the edges, and then I frogged the whole thing and re-knit the front and back taking better care with how I did the decreases and adding a knit stitch to the edges. I also knit the sleeves several times before I got something I could work with, and even still they are a bit too small. I found this pattern too vague for a beginner like me, I needed to have everything spelled out for me instead of having to guess. It also isn't the best pattern for a busty shape like mine in the end.

Still, I learned soooo much from making this sweater that I can apply to future projects, and I am very excited for future projects! Most of all I learned I quite like knitting, which is a good thing because finding vintage styled sweaters is no easy task. I have already started my next knitting project, I promise I'll write about that project soon.

Since I wasn't thrilled with the way the sweater looks on me, I tried to balance that feeling out by wearing my favorite fall berries hat again. Frivolous hats are always a nice mood lifter! I don't think you can particularly tell in these photos, but I dyed my hair again so it is nice and dark now again. I hadn't done it in so long that my hair was practically ombre with my ends being so faded. Now I'm back to my darker shade and am loving the subtle change.

Sweater: Knit by me (pattern, yarn)
Skirt: Made by me
Shoes: Amazon
Hat: Made by me
Brooch: Vintage, gift
Earrings: Made by me

Knit Picks Nickle Plated Circle Needles

As you all know I have been learning to knit these past few months. While I am happy to say I finally finished my 30's 3 hour sweater of doom, you will have to wait until next week to see the results. I learned sooooo much working that first project, and decided to keep on learning new techniques with my next project too. This time I will be learning how to use circle needles and to knit in the round. I've chosen an Andi Satterlund pattern for a cropped sweater, and luckily she has a step by step instructional guide for making this particular sweater. I decided after the very vague directions of the 3 hour sweater pattern, I wanted more clear direction for my next project to remove at least some of the guesswork!

Still, this project began with an auspicious start, I just could get gauge with size 8 needles (Boye needles from Joanns) and my Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Tweed yarn. I needed larger needles, and sadly Joanns doesn't carry size 9 circle needles. I quickly decided if I had to order needles online, I might as well find some that were a bit nice. Seeing as I am a Knit Picks groupie already, I decided to try out their nickel-plated interchangeable knitting needles. The tips of these circle needles are changeable meaning they twist off to be multi-purpose. I ordered both size 9 and size 10 tips, a 32" cable, and both size 9 and 10 fixed 16" circle needles. I should mention before I rave about everything that no, Knit Picks isn't sponsoring this post. (Though if they are interested...so am I *wink*)

I wasn't sure what it was going to be like knitting with the smooth nickle plated coating as I had so far only been knitting with the traditional aluminum needles. Let me tell you, it is a smooth dream working with these! I only wish they had this same finish in regular needles too (they only have them in double pointed) as I would probably switch over to using these for everything. The tips were easy to install onto the flexible purple cable and haven't budged from their sockets at all. The joint is virtually invisible. As a newbie to circle needles I was a bit scared they would feel really weird to work with, but these super smooth needles are a breeze! So that's my mini review, if you are in the market for new metal circle needles, I totally recommend the Knit Picks ones!

 So far my new project is coming along fine, though somehow I have 75 stitches across instead of the 73 I am supposed to have. I really don't know how I managed to cast on 2 extra, but I am way too lazy to redo the whole upper back for just 2 extra stitches. Seeing as my first sweater is a bit too small, hopefully I can avoid that with this next project. I ended up having to use the size 9 needles (the pattern calls for size 8) to get the proper gauge in the end. I really like working with this yarn too, it feels a bit thicker than the regular Wool of the Andes worsted and I like the little flecks. This color is called Farmhouse Heather and is a lovely dark brown shade. Here's hoping I can make some good progress on this next sweater this weekend!

Another Knitting Update for the 1930's 3 Hour Sweater

Well, the knitting portion of my first ever sweater is complete! Today I laid out the front and back and blocked them, and tomorrow I will do the same with the sleeves! Look at how pretty they are...

Okay so they aren't that pretty yet, and I sure do hope this darn thing fits after all this work! I am so used to instant gratification, finishing sewing projects in a day or definitely within a week. Knitting is going to be good for learning patience! I really enjoyed parts of knitting this sweater, and others I found much more nerve racking. Most of my frustrations were due to being a beginner and not knowing intuitively what the pattern meant. Hopefully it will only become more natural as I learn more and work my way through other patterns.

Speaking of other patterns, my next yarn order has already arrived! I bought five skeins of the lovely tweed effect flecked yarn below (the color is called farmhouse heather).

I intend to make the above sweater in said brown tweed yarn. The pattern is called Aiken and is by designer Andi Satterlund (ravelry page for the pattern here). I think the geometric lace neckline details could look quite art deco for a more 30's look. I have a brown skirt I am working on that would match the sweater perfectly.

I also picked up 7 skeins of the green yarn above, and it is such a pretty color! It is a mix of black and green fibers and the green fibers are a nice dark emerald. The color is called Aurora Heather. I should probably mention both of these yarns are from Knit Picks, and are worsted weight. The sweater pattern is called #08 Cropped Cable Sweater and is from designer Patricia Pastor (raverly page here). I think the resulting sweater will look great with all of my plaid skirts for this upcoming winter.

Both of these patterns are supposedly relatively easy apparently, as some of the ravelry members mention each being their first ever sweater. It will be my first time attempting either lace or cable patterns so I am excited to try both as they are such common techniques in many sweater patterns. I hope to cast on the brown sweater tonight!

Wish me luck sewing the 3 hour sweater together tomorrow, I fear I may need it :)

More Knitting, 1930's 3 Hour Sweater Progress

Well, I have been a bit MIA this weekend for several reasons, a wedding, work, and being preoccupied with knitting! Sorry about that, but here are some progress shots! I am almost done knitting the back of the 1930's 3 Hour Sweater (pattern here). Am I totally pleased with it so far? Well no, because some areas are uneven and some stitches came out weird somehow. Am I also totally proud of my sad little sweater back? Hell yeah! This is my first sweater ever and second ever knitting project, it was never going to be totally perfect. I can feel myself learning as I go and I have hopes that the front (which I will start on later tonight) will look even better than the back after all of this practice!

Here are some shots from instagram of my little knitting journey so far. I cast on the sweater Wednesday night and have already nearly finished the back, I just have a few more inches of ribbing to do. Though the sweater is not going to be a "3 Hour" sweater for me, it is going faster than I thought it would. More importantly, I am really enjoying knitting. It was about time I took up the craft anyway, being the spinster cat lady I already am, it completes my stereotype quite well! I have a new routine at night of knitting for an hour while my cat sits nearby and I listen to podcasts. Bliss I tell you!

I am using Wool of the Andes Worsted Yarn from a company called Knit Picks and it is really nice to work with. I chose a color called Wheat which is a nice dark mustard-ish yellow/brown/tan. I think it will be a very good fall color for my closet! I have already fallen for several more knitting patterns, and several colors of yarn, so I am already planning my next few projects! A new crafting obsession is born!

Yes this really is the back of the sweater, the sides are curling under so you can't see it's full width. Even so, it does seem pretty small (and I am a bit off on gauge). It is also really stretchy, so I think I will be able to get away with this time, next time I will be more careful about gauge! Because I am so new to knitting, and am teaching myself through the magic of google and YouTube, I am still struggling with some lingering questions when it comes to reading the pattern. Such as, when decreasing is it the same for knit stitches as it is where there are supposed to be purls (for the ribbing sections)? And, why are there so many types of decreases and bind offs? Which one do I use where! You know...that kinda thing. So if any of you knitters want to answer those questions, or have made this sweater...let me know!

Anyways, I hope you all are having a great Labor day weekend. I am going to spend the night knitting again, though there are of course more sewing projects on the horizon for later this week! If there is one serious constant in my life it is the urge to create, I can't help it!

Knitting! Progress and Projects

So I have begun knitting, and so far I am having a lot of fun with it! I started with a little practice swatch (20 stitches across) and tried stockinette, garter, single stitch ribbing, and two stitch ribbing just to get a feel for the process. Then once I learned how to cast off on my practice swatch, I began knitting a scarf! I'm not using a pattern or anything, I just cast on 30 stitches and am using garter stitch for the whole thing so I can practice tension and the art of not-screwing-up. My little scarf is about 15 inches long now! 

Tiny Instagram photo of my little scarf!

 As I feel like this whole learning to knit thing is going pretty well, I have set my sights on sweaters. I have searched for patterns on the great Ravelry (thank you for that recommendation!) I have found the 1930's 3-Hour sweater pattern and I think I will have a go at that for my first sweater project! I have selected a dark mustard/golden yellow colored wool for the project and I think I will be adding some length as I have seen that the sweater can come out quite short with the pattern as is. I am really excited to try making my first ever sweater!

The sweater in question, this one made by heliodor on Ravelry

I have  also found several other contenders for easy-ish sweaters I'd like to try and make soon. I love Ravelry's search function where you can set so many options including level of difficulty!

Example by Alwentz on Ravelry

 This sweater is really simple and pretty! It is worked from the top down which sounds interesting and I could make it shorter for a more vintage look. I really like the detailing around the neckline!

Swing Time sweater by Denise Siegel

 Here is another very vintage sweater! So cute and 40's! I hope this one isn't difficult as I'd like one in several different colors! I like the idea of these higher necks, all the more room for pretty brooches!

'Your Victory Jumper' from the V&A

 This vintage pattern is a popular favorite of many! I can't even imagine doing colorwork, it sounds much too complex for a beginner like me! Still, I think this sweater would look pretty in a solid color don't you? I'm thinking a warm cinnamon brown would be nice! One day I'll try multicolored sweaters. but it sounds way too daunting right now!

knit picks blog

 The biggest problem I have so far is choosing which of the beautiful colors out there to use! I am definitely going to start with the 30's 3 hour sweater in golden yellow, but after that I can't decide! A dark forest green would match a lot of my wardrobe, but I keep finding myself drawn to the heathers as they look so iridescent almost and fun! I could become a yarn hoarder really easily so I ought to be careful!

For those of you that knit, what are you working on/what do you have planned for this season? If any of you guys have retro or retro look patterns you have made and can recommend I am all ears! For those of you who don't, have you seen any cute vintage style sweaters for sale anywhere? I would love to know if any brands out there are making 40's inspired sweaters!

Learning to Knit

I was at Michaels today to buy a new thimble, because I had somehow lost my only thimble, and of course I got distracted. I may have ended up in the knitting aisle and one thing lead to another and I had somehow tossed a pair of needles and a nice skein of wool in my basket. I have been drooling over some lovely vintage gals excellent 40's sweaters and my envy got the better of me! I know it will be a while before I can attempt something as complex as a sweater, but I really hope I can catch on quick!

If anyone has any easy project suggestions please let me know, I'm sure I'll be knitting the required simple scarf soon! Sorry for the brevity of this post, but my hands are busy knitting!