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?

Wentworth Woodhouse and a winter wardrobe wonder

This magnificent building is Wentworth Woodhouse and it boasts the longest facade of any English country house. I had trouble getting a picture that would fit it all in! It is the largest privately owned house in Europe, located in South Yorkshire and a couple of weekends ago I went, along with my friend, on a couple of guided tours of it's interior.

The current house at Wentworth is Georgian, built by the Marquis of Rockingham, and was one of the most expensive houses ever built. It incorporated part of a 1630's manor house which was added to in both the early and late eighteenth century by various family members.

The house has been owned by three main families, the Wentworth's, the Marquis of Rockingham and then from 1782 until 1989 the Fitzwilliams. More about the family histories can be found on the Wentworth website. The Fitzwilliams time at Wentworth is written about in a work of fiction called Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey. I read it a few years ago and really enjoyed it but I wish I had re-read it so that it had been fresh in my head.

After the Fitzwilliams the house was then bought by a businessman who had it for ten years and was then sold to the current family who are in the process of restoring the house.

The house had been closed to the public for a long time but it is now open for guided tours. We managed to find a day where we could book a combination of tours which allowed us to see all of the rooms which are now open. They only make up a small proportion of the rooms at Wentworth but more tours are in the process of being added. Our tour guide had worked on the Estate as a carpenter since he was young so the tour felt very personal, not just like a recitation of a guide book.

Unfortunately photography is not allowed inside the house which is such a shame as there were some amazingly grand rooms. Behind these pillars is a two storey marble hall with a gallery running round it and a huge fireplace and stunning floor. We saw a dining room which had green hand painted wallpaper containing arsenic for the pigment. We went in a room named the Long Gallery whose sole purpose was to provide a long room in which to walk if the weather was too horrid to exercise outside. It really was impressive. Some of the rooms are still a work in progress and some do not yet have their furniture or paintings. It didn't detract from the fascination I felt catching glimpse of this lovely old house.

My friend had been on one of the tours before and she had warned me to dress warmly as there is no heating in much of the house. Our noses were freezing by the end of the tours! I figured that I needed an outfit that consisted of knitwear, layers and a lined skirt. I wanted to reflect the cold weather, in fact, that evening it snowed loads, and this is what I came up with.

Fair Isle Tam - knitted by a wonderful friend

Cardigan - Marks and Spencer

Brooch - vintage from a charity shop

Mitts - knitted by me from a 1950's pattern

Welsh Tapestry handbag - vintage, gift from my lovely friend

Alpine skirt - Lindybop

Shoes - Clarks many years ago

Apart from my nose I was pretty warm! The tam is knitted from a modern pattern but it is very similar to the ones that were common in the 1940's. I love the print on the Lindybop skirt, so perfectly wintry. It was my first purchase from Lindybop and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality, it is fully lined and has fabric covered buttons. I don't think it is available now but a lovely dress in the same print is. I was very happy that my handbag tied in as I adore it. I squealed when I saw it in the shop and my friend kindly bought it for me even though it was some way in advance of my birthday!

If you like big old houses and fancy a day out I can recommend Wentworth. If you are feeling flush you could buy it as it is currently for sale for about £8 million! Sadly, I don't think they are open to cheeky offers!

A tale from a travelling hat

Last month I had a very special weekend away at The Petwood Hotel in Lincolnshire. I went with my family and our family friends. It was special as a baby was born in each family in 2013 and this was the first time all of the three generations would get to meet up. It was fabulous to see everyone and have the babies meet each other. We enjoyed ourselves so much!

The Petwood was planned in 1905 as a bungalow which is hard to imagine when you see the first photo. These extensions were added from 1908 and Petwood was the home of a Baroness Von Eckhardstein. It is located in Woodhall Spa which was a very popular place for spa treatments in Edwardian times.

During the Second World War the Petwood was requisitioned by the RAF and was the Officer's Mess for the 617 'Dambusters' squadron, who I talked about in this post. The hotel has lots of related memorabilia and aside from being a beautiful place to stay it is also an interesting place to poke around.

The weekend was special for another reason - I had a treasure in my possession which I thought would look particularly at home in the hotel and I was hoping to get some good photographs of it there. My visit had luckily coincided with my turn to have Tanith's fabulous travelling hat. If you have not seen this before get over to Tanith's fantastic blog and catch up on the people and places that the hat has travelled to so far. Having watched it make it's way through blog land to me I was so excited to unpack it and try this gorgeous little hat on for myself. Do you want to see it?

Let us go in the front door.

We better study the map to get our bearings.

I think I know where I am going. 

Always important to locate the dining room!

Getting my order in at the Squadron bar.

Looking at the memorabilia.

Going to investigate the rest of the hotel.

A most comfortable window seat with a good view of guests arriving.

Having a chat.

Admiring the wood panelling.

Catching a glimpse in a handy mirror.

Heading downstairs.

Catching the sunshine.

Resting in the lounge.

Warming up by the fire.

Considering a turn around the grounds.

Back inside.

I enjoyed my time with the travelling hat very much, I loved wearing it. I paired it with a modern but vintage appropriate dress, a vintage brooch in matching colours and my felt leaf belt which I hand sewed from a 1940's pattern. Thank you so much to Tanith for creating this hat and sending it out on it's travels around the world. I look forward to seeing where it goes next!

An outfit for an autumn day revisited

On Wednesday I got home to find that a parcel had arrived for me. I wasn't expecting anything so I was very excited to see what was inside this mysterious package. I was overjoyed with what I found.

The parcel was from my auntie who had read my previous post and had hada rummage around which came up with this photo of my grandma in the coat that I now have! I am so very pleased to have this. It is great to see her wearing it. It made me smile to see her feeding the ducks as she was always feeding ducks, garden birds, hedgehogs etc.

My auntie also included two scarves of my grandmas, both of which would go marvellously well with the green coat. They are both well worn and I am very pleased to have these further physical links to my grandma.

This scarf is particularly autumnal with that gorgeous array of coloured leaves and the conkers in each corner. I am pleased that it contains orange and purple as it will go well with my hat and mittens that I wore in the previous post. The colours are more vibrant in real life. It has been raining here the past couple of days and the light has not been brilliant for photos but I didn't want to wait any longer to post this. Excuse the creases. I hate ironing!

This is the second scarf which is a beautiful midnight blue with lovely golden roses scattered over it. Again it will go really well with the green coat and several other outfits in my wardrobe.

I wanted to share these to further tell the story of my grandma's coat and it has made me very happy to have these pieces of hers to take care off. Many thanks to my auntie for kindly giving them to me.

An outfit for an autumn day

It was a beautiful autumnal day today. Sunny with a nip in the air, a bit damp after rain, glorious colours, fallen leaves to swish in and the smell of woodsmoke. I wanted to reflect the colours that I saw around me in my outfit and thought that using nature as my palette should hopefully work out pretty well. I recently completed some knitting projects, in fact, I stitched one piece up this morning so I wanted to give them their first outing too.

I started with my coat which is a gorgeous shade of green and lovely and warm as it is made of wool. It was my grandmas and I am very pleased to be able to wear it. I am hoping to be able to find a photograph of her wearing it. You can see Grandma in a rather amazing coat in my header photograph, she is on the right. I wish I had that particular coat, look at the glorious collar and buttons!

My scarf is a perfect autumn accessory as it is a leaf print in shades of red, orange, green and cream. I gave a little squeal of joy when I found it in a box of scarves in a charity shop. My fabulous poppy brooch, apt as it is Remembrance Sunday, is from the wonderful 1940's style for you.

I do love a clasp top bag, they are my favourite as they remind me of my grandma. I can picture her walking around the town with hers in the crook of her arm, bustling through the crowds. I can also picture her opening it up in the passenger seat of my granddad's Triumph Herald to dish out humbugs to those of us sat in the back. This lovely brown bag was one of hers and I treasure it. It is showing quite a bit of wear which I don't mind as it means that it was well used and loved but I daren't use it all the time as I don't want to wear it out more.

It was my second mitten that I was busy stitching up this morning. I fell for the burnt orange yarn and thought it would be perfect for some autumnal mittens. The pattern is a 1940's one, I think the cabled cuff is a really lovely bit of detail. They are very comfy and marvellously cheery which can be important at this time of year. I am putting a couple of pairs into my Etsy shop in the next day or so.

My new hat is so cosy and warm! I knitted it from a late 1950's pattern; it is a lampshade shape. I do like the ribbon trim, it is so smart. I did enlist my mum there as I wasn't happy with where I had sewn it on and couldn't face altering it so Mum kindly unpicked it and sewed it on again. I really like to see purple and green together so I felt happy pairing it up with my coat.

I am looking forward to more outings in my autumnal outfit.