1940s fairisle top

I've been meaning to knit a fairisle top for ages and just never really got around to it.  Watching the new version of All Creatures Great and Small inspired me to get on with doing it now.

Tristram in a very fetching jumper

This was another stashbusting project, I've had the wool I used for this for ages - four colours are leftovers from projects I've made already - one jumper and three different cardigans.  The other colours I bought separately with a fairisle top in mind, and they've been in my stash for a good few years.

I tried a few different colour combinations before I settled on the final versions 

I charted out the pattern, because I thought it would be easier to follow a colour chart than written instructions (I find lace knitting much easier when it's charted rather than following long line by line rows of text).

I used a different colour for the ribbing - the pattern uses the same colour for the ribbing and the main colour - because I didn't have enough of the darker blue to do that.  Because I used eight different colours and most of the colour changes were on an odd number of rows which meant I couldn't carry the wool up the sides, there were an inordinate number of ends to sew in.  I don't think it took as long to sew the seams, add the armhole and neckline ribbing and sew the ends in as it took to knit it, but it felt like it!

I have quite a few vintage fairisle patterns and I think they look lovely, but it may be a while until I knit one with sleeves unless the patterning means I can carry the yarn up, or I can adapt the pattern to be knit in the round.

And finally, I have three cardigans which I can wear with it!

Autumn rainbow jumper

This is the second version I've knitted of this pattern and I really like it!

I used the same wool as for the first one (Malabrigo sock), but in a different selection of colours.  I tried a few colour sequences before settling on one.

After a few inches I decided that I would change the sequence - cue rather a lot of unravelling, but I'm glad I did since I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

I've still got enough of this wool to knit another multicoloured top, but I'm undecided yet whether it will be another one of these, or whether I'll use a different pattern.

Pink and yellow Greta top

Undeterred by all the sewing in of ends on my Rainbow jumper the next thing I knitted also had rather a lot of ends... I used a gradient set which I bought at the Edinburgh Yarn Festival three years ago and the same yarn in a yellow which I bought from the same vendor at Unravel four years ago.  I love this pattern and I knitted it pretty much as written although I changed the neckline in the same way as this one which I knitted two years ago.  Fortunately I'd written down what I did and kept it!

This one is also made with a wool / silk mix yarn, although this one has more wool and less silk.

This is the pattern I used - so pretty. 

I've got quite a bit of the yellow left because I bought two skeins, so I might make a cardigan to match at some point.  I've also got a couple of other skeins of this yarn - one is natural cream and the other is a pink variegated so I may knit another of these tops - it's lovely and lightweight.

1940s Rainbow jumper

This was my next knitting project and was made from Malabrigo sock yarn in six colours (Ivy, Cote d'Azure, Impressionist Sky, Terracotta, Chocolate Amargo and Sand bank).

I've seen several versions of this pop up on my Instagram feed over the years, and it's also appeared in various guises on TV and film (JoJo Rabbit, Miss Marple A Murder is Announced - Geraldine McEwan version, and Housewife 49 spring to mind).

I made it slightly larger than the pattern (wider and longer) and I also changed the neckline and shoulders slightly so that I didn't have to bother with putting buttons on - it just goes straight over my head.  It was an easy knit and a great stashbuster, although there were an awful lot of ends to weave in even with carrying the yarn up the side!  I've got lots of odds and ends of leftovers from other projects so it's quite likely I'll make at least one more - the pattern also has a long-sleeved option so I might do that next time...

ETA July 2020 - pattern is available online free from Theodora's blog, or if you would like a pdf, it is available for purchase from Subversive Femme,and My Vintage Wish on Etsy. 

Home Fires Project update

Well, a second book continuing the story has now been published so I thought this would be a good time for an update on my Home Fires knitting project.

So far I have knitted three tops and one cardigan.  One of the tops is a pretty faithful colour reproduction of the top worn in the show,

 

the other two I've done in different colours,

but all three, and the cardigan,

have used wool which I already had in stash.  Although the cardigan is 'inspired by' really, since I only did patterning on the front.

I'd like to knit another feather and fan top using a beige background colour like these four tops in the show did, I've got enough wool in stash to do this, I just need to decide on the contrast colours to use.

I've also decided to use a different pattern for this top

but haven't yet decided on a colour combination.

I'll adapt this pattern

There are also a few other tops I might get around to knitting at some point - I think I've got a pattern similar to this, but if not it wouldn't be too difficult to knit without one,

I think this is very pretty, but realistically I doubt I'll have the patience, or time, to embroider all the flowers

And I like this one too - this top also appears in the Joan Hickson version of Agatha Christie's 'A murder is announced', worn by Philippa Hames.

ETA - Which I think is this pattern

And also, ETA, I think I've found the pattern for this

It looks like it's this one

Which is a P&B pattern from this book - I haven't found it as an individual pattern yet though.

Back in the spring I visited Bunbury in Cheshire where the show was filmed and spotted some, although not all, the locations they used.

The church

The village hall

The Brinsleys' shop

The vicarage

The Campbells' house which is a rather nice pub in reality and where I had lunch

The Horse & Groom pub

The Simms' house

The Service Station

The Telephone Exchange

And a few other views

The site of the War Memorial

And now I'm going to get on with reading the book!

Peplum cardi

Another cardigan I can cross off this year's to-do list.  I had originally intended to knit this wool using a different pattern, which didn't have a peplum (but I wanted one so would have worked out how to add it), and then I came across this - I'm not sure how, lost in the mists of time!

My inspiration was a cardigan worn by Summer Strallen (as Nancy Morell) in the first series of Land Girls, but unfortunately I don't have a clear screenshot.

My version of the pattern has some changes - I converted it to a v-neck, which also meant changing the front to be knitted entirely in the rib pattern - I thought the shaped stocking stitch yoke might look a bit odd with a v neckline.  I also changed the button band - in the pattern it's knitted as part of the fronts and is stocking stitch which is folded back on itself.  I've done a picked-up band in the same 1 x 2 rib pattern as the upper body.  The sleeves in the pattern are stocking stitch with a folded cuff and are knitted flat, seamed and sewn in.  I kept them as stocking stitch but knitted them down from the armholes with short row sleeve caps and did ribbed cuffs.

The buttons are from stash - I've no idea where they came from.

The wool I used is Malabrigo Arroyo, which is a sport / light DK weight and lovely to knit with.  I more or less got the same stitch tension as the pattern, but my row tension was very different.  Fortunately the pattern is written as "work for x inches, then decrease, rather than work for x rows, then decrease" so the fact that my tension was off didn't matter.

I'm pleased with how this has turned out, and it's going to look good with jeans just as much as with dresses or skirts, so good and versatile.

And now I must start planning Christmas knitting...

Koigu Feather and Fan top

This is another jumper which I've knitted as part of my Home Fires project - the fourth garment so far this year, so I'm very pleased with that amount of progress!

There were several of these tops worn during the course of the two series (see my original post here), and although I'd intended using Koigu wool for this I ended up using slightly different colours than originally planned.

I knitted one less widthways pattern repeat and used smaller needles than were given in the pattern (3.25mm instead of 3.75mm) in order to get close to the pattern tension.  I didn't change the sleeves though - by the time it came to knit them I just wanted them done.  As it was I had to reknit the cuffs because I didn't have enough wool to do 12 rows of ribbing on each sleeve.  I knew I was going to be close to running out of wool, so did both at the same time and in the end each has 10 rows, which I think is enough for short sleeves.

The armhole shaping given in this pattern is one I haven't come across before - on the body pieces there is just a large number of stitches cast off on each side all in one go and then it's knitted straight.  When attaching the sleeves you don't sew the side seam up to as far as the first cap shaping cast offs, but leave part of the sleeve seam unseamed and then use that as part of the sleeve cap.  At least that's what I did.  That might not have been correct, the pattern just said "sew the sleeve seam for 5 inches", so maybe I had the wrong row tension (no row tension is given in the pattern), but I don't think my tension would have been out by that much on such a short piece of knitting, and if I hadn't attached the sleeves that way the armhole would have been too big for the sleeve cap.

One unforseen consequence of taking out one pattern repeat was that the centre front neckline looked a bit strange because the pattern went up instead of down.

Original front neckline with 18 stitches cast off in the centre

I'd already lowered the neckline and didn't like how it turned out so unpicked it and reknitted it to be wider at the base as well (28 stitches cast off in the centre) and I think it looks OK now.  I also dipped the back neckline slightly and did short row shoulders.

Even though I carried the different coloured wool up the side of the knitting when possible, there were still rather a lot of ends to weave in, which took hours.  Not enough to put me off knitting another one of these though, although I think the next one I'll do the pattern row in knit rather than purl, just to be a bit different from this one.  And change the patterning so that it dips in the centre front and back.

Definitely a good pattern for using up leftovers.

Beach dress - #OAL2019

At last I've got this fabric made up!  I bought it two years ago and I'm very pleased to have now got a dress from it as it's really only going to get worn in summer.

I first came across the fabric on instagram in July 2017 - someone I follow had made a fabulous dress from it - and a bit of googling tracked it down to an Etsy shop.  I bought two yards - not sure why a shop in Spain is selling in yards rather than metres? - it's a wide border print fabric and there was enough to enable me to do a bit of print placement.

I used the bodice from Butterick 5748 - a retro reprint, and the skirt from Simplicity 3749 - a vintage pattern both from the early '60s.

Because the fabric was a border print I used half-inch seam allowances on the bodice side and back seams rather than the usual 5/8", to give a little ease.

The cutting out took a bit of time, but the sewing together was straightforward.  I'm not sure whether I'll actually wear it with the cardigan I knitted for the outfit-along challenge though.  They go well together, but I'll probably only wear this dress when it's hot and sunny - when I won't be in need of a wool cardigan - unless I'm in an air-conned building or on a very windy beach!