2017 in knitting

It is time to look back over last year and see what I got up to with my knitting. You can read about 2015 here and 2016 here. I feel like I haven't knitted all of the things that I wanted to knit this year. There are just so many great patterns! I am very pleased with what I have made and I enjoyed making them so I have to remember that. These are more or less in the order that they were made. Things do get moved up and down the list when deadlines or other occasions mean a change in project is needed.

This 1960's cravat and tam makes a super set but the pattern required a bit of tinkering. The cravat works very well and I made it and the tam in a lovely mustard Sirdar Baby Bamboo. It is 80% bamboo and 20% wool. I love everything about wool but it does not love me back. It itches me beyond belief, even a fine merino or when blended with silk. That is why I always wear a scarf and long sleeved tops with my cardigans. I thought I would get away with this one but not round my neck, so my mum now has the cravat. The tam is lovely but has no rib and no hatband (as per the pattern) so it just does not stay on my head. I have threaded elastic through it and that kind of works now. I can cope with wool in a hat as I have a big fringe so it never touches my skin!

I wanted to crack the pattern so I had another go in this lovely red Wendy Merino. I added some rows of rib and this one does fit and stay on. I don't normally wear red so this one was going to be for sale but I was surprisingly pleased with how it looked on so I kept it! I knitted the matching cravat too but I don't seem to have a photo of it.

I knitted this Aran pattern hat for my niece in Sublime Merino. She loves yellow and I love knitting cables so it was a good match. It was great fun to knit. There was a small moment of difficulty when she found that the pompom wasn't quite the colour green that she had picked out in the shop, (well remembered by her, age 3), but we have got over that now!

Next up was the completion of this lovely 1950's lace panel cardigan which I knitted in Millamia. I knitted the back, sleeves and one front in 2015!! It then sat in the naughty corner for a good long while as I got a bit confused working out the instructions for the other front. As is the way of vintage patterns, it just said to reverse what you did on the other side and I could not make it work. Helpful with lots of yarn overs and lace. Eventually, I sat down with my mum and she read out all the possibilities that a row could be whilst I knitted them to see what looked right. That way we got the pattern and I could finish my cardigan! It is a beautiful teal, the colour isn't exactly right in any of these photos.

This Marriner's tank top was one that I put on my 2017 knitting wish list and is in fact one of two projects from that list that got started in 2017. I started it on the train on the way to Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I have knitted the front and back, in Fyberspates Scrumptious and have stalled on the armbands. It is currently languishing in the Knitting Bag of Doom from which it deserves to be rescued rather soon. I would like to wear it.

This 1940's cardigan from a Canadian pattern has such a lovely texture, nice and squishy, and has great forties shoulders. It was knitted in Drops Merino and the colour is more like the second photo then the top one. It was a great pattern to knit. This one hasn't featured on the blog before as it was a commission knit.

I knitted this baby helmet from a 1950's pattern for a lovely friend's baby. I like the look of these traditional helmets and they must keep a baby's head nice and cosy. The decoration on the top is a button that you knit a little cover for and then sew to the centre of the helmet. I first knitted one of these helmets for my niece as a Christmas present when she was four months old. It has a bit of a family tale behind it. You can read the story of here.

This was another one from my knitting wish list. The model is holding an egg timer as the pattern states that this jumper can be knitted in eight hours. If you follow me on Instagram you will already know the sad story of this jumper. In brief, no, you can't knit it in eight hours and nor can you knit it with the yarn that I used (a Sublime silk/cotton mix) without it looking like a dish cloth. An expensive dish cloth at that. So it had to be pulled back and the yarn is back in my stash waiting for a more suitable project.

This is another unfinished project, it had to be put aside for more pressing matters but I do intend to go back to it. I really like 1940's tank tops/pullovers and have a great collection of men's patterns. This one gets bonus marks as it also fits into my Men Smoking collection. I have knitted the back and done the rib of the front. It might be for sale, it might be for me, we shall see!

I was on a beret mission in the latter half of 2017 as I wanted more of these most useful hats and had plenty of patterns to try out. This 1960's one is knitted in Debbie Bliss Aran in a fabulous duck egg colour. It was lovely to knit and I like the pattern. No photos of it on yet but I plan to remedy that soon.

I recently wrote a post about this beret pattern which you can read here so I won't repeat the details.

I also made a black one as a commission:

Squeezing in as the last knit of the year on the 29th December was a cream version, in alpaca and silk, for me.

In November I started another garment for myself. It is a 1960's sleeveless jumper with a big collar for pining brooches on. It is not finished yet but I can share the beginnings of it. I have knitted most of the front and have about an inch more to go on the collar. So about halfway there.

2017 appears to have been a year of hats and unfinished things. I'm aiming for more garments and more completed projects in 2018. What about you?

A 1960's knitted beret

What an outfit! What a colour!

However, for the purpose of this post all we are interested in is the beret. I have been after a knitted beret for a good while, and am going through a phase of finding all the beret patterns that I have and knitting them up one by one to find my favourite. Berets are so versatile in their look and in their period correctness and I have a gap in my hat wardrobe.

I have knitted the Sunday Pictorial Beret from A Stitch in Time by Susan Crawford but I can't get it to look right on me, though I have seen it look fabulous on others. It has a separately knitted and stitched on bow and I think it might be the placement of that which is causing me problems. I need to remove the bow so the weight doesn't pull the beret down and then I can position it on my head more to my liking. So whilst that is on the 'to fix' pile I am trying other patterns out.

I bought this fabulously soft, beautifully coloured yarn from Temporary Measure when I saw them at Yarndale in September. It is 100% baby alpaca DK and it knits up beautifully with a lovely drape and good stitch definition. It is most lovely and warm too.

The colour is a bit lighter than this really but I can't get a good photo of it in this winter gloom! I love the radiating decreases.

This is quite a big beret; I would say it is larger than the pattern suggests. I rarely check my tension if I'm knitting an accessory for myself and the yarn is pretty drapey. I rather like the extra slouch; I can wear this like a tam which is a style I am comfy wearing. I'm going to go down a needle size for the next one for myself for comparison. The headband is just garter stitch so I probably would like that on a smaller needle for a closer fit.

This is it hot off the needles and straight on to my head, hence the bad lighting and the sofa selfie. I liked wearing it straight away.

It has continued to get lots of wear. This is me early in the morning on a freezing station platform waiting for yet another late train to work! It keeps my ears nice and cosy. This is a better idea of the colour too.

I have knitted another one as a commission knit. Here it is:

This one is knitted in black Drops Merino DK and it feels lovely.

Finishing touches - woven labels and vintage thread.

I have a beret from another pattern knitted up which just needs seaming so that should be getting tested out in a few days.

Do you have a favourite beret pattern?

Works in progress (AKA knitting bag of doom)

Something about the new start/new year/season change feeling of September made me have a dig around in my knitting bag(s). I thought it might be wise to look at my unfinished projects and get some sort of plan together for reducing their number. I never intend to leave a project unfinished, it seems to happen for a variety of reasons such as: put aside to start a commission knit, put aside to knit a gift, put aside as babies keep being born, put aside as I need an easier project for knitting group, put aside as the sewing up needs doing, put aside as the lure of casting on something new was too strong, put aside as I need a new holiday project, put aside as I'm at a tricky bit and need to think it through, put aside as we have fallen out and it is in the naughty corner, put aside as the season changed and it isn't needed straight away, etc. Added to that my neck/shoulder problems sometimes mean I can't do as much knitting as I would like to and I have to ease off for a bit. Those reasons/excuses aside, this is where I am at.

Let's start with the most shameful.

It looks finished doesn't it? Like I should have been wearing it for ages on regular rotation in my wardrobe? Well yes and yet, no. It is so nearly finished that it is just ridiculous. It just needs a couple of rows of crochet to finish off the neckline. Tiny crochet true enough but just crochet. I can crochet. I can crochet that neckline. Why have I not? Why is my lovely 1940's jumper carefully folded in a bag? Will I hurry up and do it? Lets hope so.

It got put aside to begin with as I needed a think about whether I wanted the original neck fastening that you can see in the pattern photo. I don't normally like to deviate from the original pattern as I like my vintage knits to be as authentic as possible. In the end I decided that whilst I liked that fastening I wouldn't like it on me and so to get maximum wear out of the jumper I would just finish the neckline off in crochet. And that was TWO years ago!

I have been intrigued by these 1950's Alice band hats for a while. I like the look very much but wondered how comfy and easy to wear they would be. I had a couple of different patterns so I thought that I would experiment with both and see what I thought. They were very enjoyable to knit, interesting stitch patterns and construction. They have even been washed and blocked. I even have the hairbands, elastic and ribbon. But do they look like hats? Indeed they do not. Why is that? I think a year after they have been knitted it must be time for their completion.

It is a sad state of affairs for Pepi at the moment. So near and yet so very far. All his pieces are knitted and some are even stuffed and yet he is still not a poodle. I do know why this is at least. I knitted him for a craft competition earlier this year and then realised that with the best will in the world I would not get him finished in time as I had left it all too late. So then the impetus to finish him had gone, plus I was cross with myself for not getting my timing right so I blamed poor Pepi, obviously, plus, toys are a right fiddle to stuff and sew up and why do that when you could be knitting? But, he is cute and it isn't really his fault so I will finish him.

This 1950's bolero from a Vogue Knitting magazine always was an in between things project so I feel slightly less guilty about this than some of the others. I started it in August last year and then it got put away when the seasons changed and I hoped to finish it for this summer but now it is September and here we are. It doesn't look like much there but when I have draped it on me like the model it is going to look right when it is finished. Realistically though it is going back to the back of the queue as I won't need it for another whole year. Let's hope I am wearing it in August 2018!

Excuse the blurry photo, no idea what I did there.

I started this jumper last year and posted about it here. I know that this one got put aside commission knitting which I am completely fine with, that is just how it is. This is the completed back that you can see and I am probably about one colour repeat into the front so progress is being made. I would like to get this one ready to wear during autumn or winter so I think it will be what I start on with soon.

The colours aren't so good here as they are a really vibrant yellow gold and grey in real life. This is a 1940's tank top that I started in March this year. I know that as it was my train knitting and holiday project on the way to Edinburgh Yarn Festival. I have finished the front and back and have sewn them up but now have stalled slightly on the neck and armbands. They are just not that interesting to knit. That is the reason they haven't been knitted. Other knitting is more exciting! But I want to wear this lots so dull fiddly knitting will recommence soon.

I'm hoping that now all this is in the forefront of my mind rather than out of sight in a knitting bag and now that I have publicly shamed myself, the knitting bag of doom will soon yield up some completed items! Please tell me I'm not the only one!

Irish crochet

Irish crochet collar

On Thursday I spent a lovely evening visiting the Huddersfield branch of the Knitting and Crochet Guild for their monthly meeting. This month the topic was Irish crochet, something that I knew very little about. I was looking forward to learning more about it and excited to see some samples of work.

Some of the photos are a little shadowy, I was taking them with my phone camera, standing around a table with several others, casting our shadows all over the place. All the pieces are very delicate and have to be handled wearing cotton gloves so you can't mess about with them too much just to get a perfect photo!

Irish crochet developed in the early 1800s in rural Ireland which, at this time, was poverty stricken. The crochet was done in people's homes and sold as a way to make an income. This was especially true during the Potato Famine. The Ursuline nuns taught women and girls the skills they needed as they recognised that women needed a way to make an income.

These are the tools of the trade, very fine cotton or linen thread and crochet hooks with a hook so tiny that it is very difficult to see.

This is the first piece of work that was shown to us. It is an open coat/gown and we all thought it was very fine, until we saw the next few pieces which showed what really fine work actually looked like!

Irish crochet consists of motifs, like the bunch of grapes which you can see at the bottom centre of the above picture, which are then connected together by a mesh or net to form lace. The motifs may be made by many different people, collated and then joined together to form a garment.

Apparently, families kept close guard of their motif patterns, making sure that any crochet work was out of sight when visitors called!

Irish crochet differs from traditional crochet which is usually formed of rows or rounds.

This is an old and delicate pattern book. The front section explains how to make the motifs and gives some patterns for them. The back consists of patterns which fold out, showing how to put the motifs together to make the collar, cuffs, jabot, trims etc that are desired.

This is a photograph from inside the book of a cuff and collar set.

This is the pattern layout for the set, showing the motifs that is is made up of. The motifs would be stitched to the pattern and the spaces in-between filled with very fine crochet mesh. The finished item is then removed from the paper.

This is it in close up so that the intricate detail is clear.

This is the cuff pattern. You can see that it is simpler but is made of the same motifs as the collar.

This is probably a cuff, not the same as the pattern above. This is such a fine piece of work, look at the tiny bunches of grapes.

I enjoyed looking through this delicate French pattern book as it had lots of amazing motifs in it.

This pretty butterfly.

These lovely cyclamen.

Fabulous tennis rackets with tennis balls. I can see this on a 1920's or '30's tennis dress or cardigan.

Perfect for Spring daffodils.

There was also the pattern for this little chap, he is on a very pretty blouse. 

This piece is made up of floral motifs.

Some more examples.

This is a very fine bag with a drawstring top. You can see a central rose, a rose is a very traditional motif, surrounded by a floral design. Leaves, flowers and shamrocks are other traditional motifs.

This is a child's dress which has both inserts and trims of Irish crochet. The work is so incredibly fine.

The insert features the rose motif. Spot the lizard again!

This is a close up of the trim. When you stop to think of the conditions under which this work was created it becomes even more special and incredible. The makers of this work were poor, hungry, cold, worked in bad light and in unsatisfactory conditions.

Another child's dress with a deep edging of Irish crochet.

The cuffs and hem all end in this gorgeous bobble edging.

Bobbles and roses.

You can see how fine the mesh is between the motifs.

This is another view of the blouse that has the lizard on. It was felt that the lizard was a later addition to the original crochet fabric of the blouse.

I ended the evening being really amazed at the level of work and skill in these garments. In the 1900's   the Irish crochet industry declined as it could not compete with the speed and cost of machine made lace.

You can read more about Irish crochet, see more examples and find instructions to have a go at it yourself here, here and here. I think I would like to have a go and see if I can just make one, very very simple motif!