Vintage Knitting!

[Caledonia]

Oh lovely! [cue sarcasm]

Hm, I wonder if it had to do with the kind of yarn she was using. An acrylic would knit up similarly to wool (drape, gauge) I think, but I don't think it would absorb as much water or distort to the same extent as wool or cotton would...Plus, it won't itch like crazy...Hm. Might have to do some test swatches before hand! Which patterns do you have? I don't have a pattern yet, but I'd need one that isn't TOO difficult (I'm not the world's most accomplished needlecrafter, alas).

I've got two Vogue from 1950. One is a two piece which is a pair of what we'd call boy shorts now under a long sleeveless tunic, and the other is a one piece skirted at the front with or without straps. The third is vogue 48 and is a strapless tunic over shorts. All of them would work for 30s I think. I'll try and get piccies of them.

 

[shindeco]

My best friend knit one for me. She used a wool/acrylic blend but, I have to admit, I've never worn it in the water so I'm unsure of the sag factor.

As for making it, she said it was fine until she had to sew in the gussett; then it became sheer misery. It took her 4 tries to get it sewn in properly.

 

[Caledonia]

MissQueenie - Here's one from the 1934 Minerva book. If uploading the scan works I'll get the 40s and 50s ones I mentioned.

 

[MissQueenie]

Oh my goodness! It's so cute! That suit would look great in navy with red accents, too...

 

[Caledonia]

Good idea! Here are the vogue ones I mentioned. My favourite is the third one. I think I'll try that with your acrylic suggestion. Will let you know.

 

[RetroModelSari]

Such a shame I can´t knit. My teacher at school couldn´t make me knit anything not even a cloth to hold hot pots with. But since I wanna give sewing a try.... Anyone having a cute pattern for a 40s/50s swimsuit? I love swimsuits eventhough summers are rarely warm enough to wear one ;-)

 

[Etienne]

I was on eBay this morning and found a REALLY cute 40's swimsuit from a seller's store. It's a large size but the style is just darling! I jotted it down to tell ladies in the FL in case someone could use it and I hope it's okay to put the seller's store name in here. It's called gibsonlane and I have no idea if that is enough to track it down or not. The suit is navy with white piping, with a small red emblem of a swimmer down at the bottom of the suit. I searched under "vintage" in clothing. I can't tell much else about it (knit or not) but it's worth looking at just to see how cute it is!

 

[ShooShooBaby]

i'm reviving this thread, rather than starting a new one...

i'm currently working on a short-sleeve pullover from "vintage knits" by sarah dallas. it's been going pretty slow, but i have the back almost completely finished now! it's hard to stay motivated as i plod along on size 3's while everyone else in my knitting group whizzes through things on size 8's.

here is what it will look like, but in lavender with off-white stripes:

next i want to try that "3 hour" sweater linked to in another thread! what are all you knitters working on right now?

 

[Emmababy]

a scarf

the lowest common knitting denominator

 

[ShooShooBaby]

a scarf

the lowest common knitting denominator

emma, are you a new knitter? scarves are a good way to use new skills and get yourself up to speed! i recently did a very simple scarf in burgundy and light turquoise and i LOVE it! it has a very collegiate feel to it.

 

[Brooksie]

i'm reviving this thread, rather than starting a new one...

i'm currently working on a short-sleeve pullover from "vintage knits" by sarah dallas. it's been going pretty slow, but i have the back almost completely finished now! it's hard to stay motivated as i plod along on size 3's while everyone else in my knitting group whizzes through things on size 8's.

here is what it will look like, but in lavender with off-white stripes:

next i want to try that "3 hour" sweater linked to in another thread! what are all you knitters working on right now?

I have this book also it has some amaizing stuff in it but I have not attempted to try anything yet. I have found some really cool vintage knit pattern books from my favorite thrift store. On Friday I found Coats and Clarks 16 designs in wool featuring red heart yarns (which I do not normally use but I have been starting to). The book is from 1960 and it has a very cute sweater and skirt suit. Another one i have is called Columbia Minerva fashions made with Helanca Strech yarns (it looks to be from the 50's) and it has a very cute pattern for a vintage bathing suit (I just read the vintage bathing suit thread which now might inspire me to knit this at some point and time). The project I am working on right now is a pair of thigh high black and white striped socks (using 2.5 double point needles) they have to be worn with a garter belt, so they are vintage esq. with a funky twist and the pattern calls for the good o'l red hear yarn - i have always used the fancy smancy yarns but I kind of like the idea of using the good ol red heart stuff!Oh yeah, I just finneshed a super cool pair of elbow length fingerless mittens that lace up like a corset, sometime I will have to make an avatar (avatars seem to be my specialty - cant seem to do anything else ) with a pic of these gloves -when I wear them my mom says I look like the little match stick girl!

Brooksie

 

[ShooShooBaby]

brooksie, those fingerless mittens sound really cool! and the thigh-high socks. i love stripes.

although the cheaper yarns are tempting, my objection to Red Heart is mainly that every time i've had something made out of it, it gets pilly and gross right away! i had a really cute crocheted bag out of it, and it just didn't hold up.

i have a couple of really cute vintage stocking patterns in a 40s book called "modern guide to knitting and crocheting - someone else mentioned that book earlier! i have yet to try them. they don't look like they'd take long once mastering the skillzz. i'll try it in 10 years when my sweater is done

 

[Brooksie]

brooksie, those fingerless mittens sound really cool! and the thigh-high socks. i love stripes.

although the cheaper yarns are tempting, my objection to Red Heart is mainly that every time i've had something made out of it, it gets pilly and gross right away! i had a really cute crocheted bag out of it, and it just didn't hold up.

i have a couple of really cute vintage stocking patterns in a 40s book called "modern guide to knitting and crocheting - someone else mentioned that book earlier! i have yet to try them. they don't look like they'd take long once mastering the skillzz. i'll try it in 10 years when my sweater is done [/QUOTE


*Thank you ShooShooBabyfor the heads up on the redheart yarn (that is dissapointing).
Also I am a very sloooow knitter so dont feel so bad about taking 10yrs on your sweater, I started a tank style sweater about 2yrs ago and I still have not finneshed and I am using a size 7 needle, I may never finish it!

Brooksie

 

[Brooksie]

Incase in one was interested I got my pattern for my fingerless mittens (that lace up like a corset with a silk ribbon) from the Alterknits book by Leigh Radford (Leigh Redford is from Portland Oregon) also today at the grocery store I picked up the Interweave Knits magazine specifically because there is an article on Joan McGowan-Michael of White Lies Designs, plus there were a handful of knitted Lingere' patterns that have a vintage look to them (by other designers), in the magazine.

Brooksie

 

[Lady Day]

Oooh knitting, Id love to learn. I know nothing about the craft, so I guess Ill start on scarves too!

Im left handed, would that matter much? I know it does with crocheting. Ill Google some left handed knitting and see what pops up.

Hopefully Ill be able to start in a few weeks. Recommendations for materials, ladies?

LD

 

[Viviene]

Lady Day,

I'm left handed as well and when I was 12 I took an after school class with a lady to learn how to crochet. She was right-handed so what she did was set up a mirror in front of her hands and I would look in the mirror at the reflection and that's how I learned to crochet. I'm using that method now to teach my one right-handed daughter and my other daughter is a lefty so that's easy enough. Knitting I just don't have the talent for. It takes me forever and it always looks like what I'm making is full of buttonholes!

 

[Lady Day]

Thats ingenious! My Mama taught me to crochet, but never used the mirror idea! I bet I would have been better at it had she

Thanks!

LD

 

[ShooShooBaby]

Oooh knitting, Id love to learn. I know nothing about the craft, so I guess Ill start on scarves too!

Im left handed, would that matter much? I know it does with crocheting. Ill Google some left handed knitting and see what pops up.

Hopefully Ill be able to start in a few weeks. Recommendations for materials, ladies?

LD

i'm a lefty, and i don't think anything special was done to teach me, i learned from a righty.

for beginning books, i hate to admit it but i've used debbie stoller's "Stitch and Bitch" a lot.

 

[goldwyn girl]

My current project

 

[ShooShooBaby]

ooooh, i love that! make sure you post pics when you're done!