Wednesday 15 May 2013

Smart jumper - Robin pattern.

When I first spotted this pattern whilst flicking through a dusty pile of papers I gave a little squeak of excitement. I love a good hunt and rummage and a successful find. It is so exciting. I may have done a little jump for joy. It was the colours that jumped out at me - 1950s styling perfection.


I just adore everything about it. Smiling perfect eyebrow woman with shiny brushed out curls held by a simple black velvet band. White daytime gloves and the hint of a bangle. Purple floral skirt, definitely swishy, possibly a circle. Cheerful basket of springtime flowers in a complimentary colourway. The cheeky jaunty 1950s Robin. Lovely square necked, short sleeved, lace patterned jumper. I had to have a go at making this one!

I have a number of patterns designed by Amanda Laine and as yet I can not find out any information about her. I would like to know more so if anybody reads this and has some details that they can fill in please do let me know.



I like a jumper with a reasonable depth of rib. Then the lace pattern starts which was tricky until I got the pattern straight in my head and then it was a joy to knit. The colour is not accurate here, it is much more vibrant blue as the next photos show. I took this whilst knitting in the evening, it really was of a work in progress. I used a 1980s Sirdar cotton mix yarn that a friend kindly gave me. I thought that a spring jumper would be nice and cool in cotton. I didn't want to use 100% cotton as I though that it may be too heavy and drag the lace.




This gives a better idea of the colour and the pattern. You can just see that it is still on the needle so this picture is of the knitting laid out flat which does not give an idea of how the fabric will drape.



Here the jumper is finished and on a dress form so the fabric is draping and the rib is stretched as it would be when someone wears the jumper.

This is the finished jumper.
Front.





Back

I don't know what I did to the dress form to make her look so wonky shouldered! I love the little sleeves and the way that the jumper blouses slightly. Depending on how you like to wear and style your jumpers this one size ( UK 12 ish) could be a closer fit on say a size 14 as there is a slight stretch in the pattern, or, a little looser on say a size 10. My friend kindly tried it on for me so that I could see it on a real person and I was really pleased, she looked lovely in it. Sadly I do not have a photo.

This garment is for sale and will go in my online store when I have that sorted. In the meantime you can find me on Facebook here .

6 comments:

  1. What a great jumper! I really like the lace stitch you used and the color is lovely. =)

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    1. Thanks, it was a lovely stitch to knit.

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  2. Lovely jumper! But the gloves - when I saw the photo I thought "gardening gloves", especially given the basket of plants. They seem awfully loose for day gloves to me, with that gape at the wrist. Is that what day gloves looked like usually? - you're the expert!

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    1. I am no expert! You may well be right about the gloves. I thought that as they were white they may not be gardening gloves but I have found a similar pair, white with coloured diamonds, advertised as gardening gloves.

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  3. What an absolutely lovely pattern and colour. There's just something about the colour blue and the return of warm weather that seem to go together hand-in-hand so nicely. I think it's that many shades of blue have a sense of coolness to them that counterbalances the sizzling summer heat.

    Joyful weekend wishes, dear Kate, and many heartfelt thanks for each and everyone of your terrifically nice blog comments!

    ♥ Jessica

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    1. What a wonderful poetic way to think about the colour blue. Thank you. I will think of that whenever I look at the top.

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