Tip top summer tops

I realised that I have a big gap in my wardrobe where some warm weather appropriate tops should be. I have some t-shirts and vests but nothing at all in the knitwear department. My go to outfit is a dress and a cardigan so some summer cardigans are definitely needed. I also have a few lovely summer skirts that are just crying out for a lacy knitted jumper to go with them. As I am having a period of knitting for myself rather than other people (which I am really enjoying!), I thought I would work on filling up this wardrobe gap.

So, I spent a very happy time going through my patterns and pulled out everything that looked like it would fit the bill and that wouldn't need any resizing or tricky yarn finding to make it become a reality. These are what I found:

Lady's cardigan

Isn't she particularly glamorous?! Fabulous hair. Lovely shape, short cardigan, flattering V neck and lacy stitch pattern so that it would be cool.

Lady's jumper

She is so happy to have this jumper! Pretty stitch pattern, sweet cap sleeves, stylish neckline, nice bit of deep rib.

Summer cardigan and jumper

I like both of these. I like a nice rib pattern, the cardigan has a fabulous collar and I like the neckline on the sleeveless top.

Jumper with bead trimming

This is a pretty fitted jumper which looks good with a skirt. It is knitted in a lurex fleck which I wouldn't bother with but I do like the beaded neckline.

Lady's summer jumper

This pattern photo is lovely. I like the square neckline and the short sleeves. The lacy, trellis pattern is interesting and pretty.

Sleeveless jumpers

Four lovely tops to choose from here. The same basic shape but each has a different stitch pattern and I like all of them.

Quick to knit jumpers and cardigans

Another multi garment pattern and again I like them all. However, the cardigan would probably be a bit on the warm side for what I want so it is the two lacy jumpers that I am interested in. They both have a deep band of rib which would give a flattering fit.

Lady's jumper cardigan

This is a very good shape, it fits so well. I like the deep rib button band and neckline. She is very glamorous too, maybe it will rub off on me if I knit this one!

Easy knit jumpers

I love the shape and the lacy stitch but I can't decide if I would find the high neckline a bit irritating if I was hot.

Lady's jumper

I wouldn't be snuggling up to that man in the bad blazer if I was her. This jumper has a pretty scoop neck and an attractive pattern.

Three delightful economy garments

I particularly like the jumper on the top right. Again it has a pretty scoop neck, nice little sleeves and a cool lacy pattern.

Summer jumper

Isn't she lovely with her nails and her pearls?! This looks like a perfect summer jumper to me.

Lady's summer jumper

More pearls! A pretty boat neck. I imagine she is wearing a pencil skirt, which suits this jumper.

Ladies' economy jumpers

These are gorgeous and the photo shows you how nice they will look with skirts! A scoop neck and a V neck, both lacy but with different patterns. I really like these.

Figure trimming jumpers

Three tops to choose from, with mock cable panels, with lacy motif panels and with lace insertion panels. I think I like the lacy motif panels most.

Summer jumper

Excellent hair flicks! I like the pattern, the boat neck and the sleeves.

Summer jumper

The pattern states that this jumper only takes 8 hours to make so I think I will have to try this one to see if it is true. The neck and sleeve edging is really attractive.

Lady's summer jumper cardigan

I like everything about this one which is a very good job as I am making it at the moment! I happened to have exactly the right yarn in the right quantity in my stash so it was meant to be! I have completed the back and am shaping the armholes on the right front. If you wan to follow my progress do pop along to my Facebook page.

Do you have a favourite tip top summer top?

Mountain Maid wools 1940s jumper

I initially picked up this pattern because I loved the colours used in the picture and the fantastic hairstyles. When I looked at it more closely I realised that it featured two fabulous early 1940s jumper patterns. The green one is called 'ribbed sweater with fancy yoke' and the red one is called 'jumper in fancy stitch'. I like that a lot, not much detail given but 'fancy' conjures up a good image.

I seem to have managed to expand the width of this poor woman when I took the picture! I was just trying to get a close up that showed the fancy yoke and the jumper as a whole.

I love knitting from vintage patterns, especially those from the 1940s and 1950s so when I was asked to knit this jumper I was really pleased and excited. Knitting from vintage patterns can be an interesting journey as they often assume a certain level of knowledge, use techniques or stitches that are no longer common and often do not write out the full instructions, leading to a certain amount of educated guesswork! However, this is what makes it interesting. Also, nothing beats a hand knitted jumper which keeps as close to the original pattern as possible if you are after an authentic vintage look.

The jumper pattern is written for 3-ply wool for a 34-36 inch bust. I needed to knit it in a marginally larger bust size using a 5-ply wool from www.millamia.com. It was a gorgeous bright red and lovely, soft merino so it was really a pleasure to knit with. Because of the change both in size and weight of yarn I had to knit up a number of tension squares on a range of needle sizes to be sure that the jumper would come out correctly. If you are changing between a 3-ply and 5-ply (or other wool weights) you need to remember that it will change the look or feel or both of the garment from how it was originally intended. Using the 5-ply for this pattern has produced a very dense, close rib, especially as I had to use very small needles (vintage14s) for much of the rib. In the 3-ply it would have come out as a finer looking, lighter rib.

The completed back showing back opening.

The back opening is closed with four buttons. A row of single crochet
is worked down one side and loops are made to fasten the buttons.

The jumper looks really tiny which caused the odd panic but as it is a purl 2, knit 2 rib it has a fantastic amount of stretch! A friend kindly gave me a crochet lesson so that I could manage the back fastenings. It has definitely put crochet on my crafts to learn list.


The front, showing the armhole shaping.

A close up of the fancy yoke!

The sleeves were very interesting to knit and construct as they had shaping that is quite different to modern sleeve shaping in order to create that particular 1940s look. At the shaped end the side stitches of the centre panel are stitched to the cast off edges which lie beneath them, creating a kind of box.

The sleeves showing the shoulder and top of sleeve shaping.

As the jumper came together it was very exciting and I am really proud of the end result. It is definitely fancy and I like that!

The finished article.