Like nearly every vintage knitter, I participated in By Gum By Golly's Knit for Victory challenge this winter, hosted by the ever inspiring Tasha. And man oh man, do I ever feel victorious after finishing my project!



I chose the Clara sweater, a redesign of the 1940s Victory Jumper, by Rohn Strong. I used Knit Pick's Swish Worsted, a very yummy Merino wool (full Ravelry project page here) in dark red, blue and white. While it's not very Canadiana-patriosm, I'd say that it's still authentic because in the 1940s we were flying a flag that used a Union Jack (plus, that colour combination is my favourite right now, as seen in my last me-made wardrobe projects). Thus the ode to the Monarchy in the title. ;)
For those of you that followed along my knitting progress on Instagram, you'll know that my project was fraught with suspense. I started after Christmas, and quickly knit up the sleeves (I am never knitting sleeves last again). However, as I got halfway through the front, I started running out of the dark blue wool. Hastily I ordered another skein and put the project on hiatus for about a week to wait for the extra yarn to show up. The knit along finished Jan. 31, and I cast off with 24 hours to spare. I had to jet home on a lunch break to take these photos to be counted in the Flickr pool.

Note: for anyone considering to do a striped sweater like this, learn how to weave in your ends as you go without the colour showing through. It saves SO. MUCH. TIME. I'm also very proud of my seaming and stripe matching skills.



I also ran into some issues with the writing of the pattern, as the pattern doesn't account for the increases you make as you knit once you start binding off the armholes. Luckily I was able to contact Rohn and to work out the issue. You certainly can't do that with vintage patterns!

However, because of the counting error I think the neckline is a little wonky. Rohn suggested I have 18 stitches for each shoulder as the pattern originally suggested and bind off a wider collar, but I think next time I would bind in off in the ratio suggested in the original, as I find that the way I did it made a wider, squareish neckline. I'm going to try and block the squareness out of the collar; failing that, I'll go back and make the collar a bit longer, but decrease some stitches to get a rounder neckline.



Also, I did not get the puffy sleeve result. In fact, I had to sew up some of the armpit because the sleeve didn't take up all the armhole. No idea how that happened!



Regardless, this is definitely going to be a wardrobe staple! It's so comfy and not itchy at all, and the wool is a beautiful colour. I am in love with Knit Picks wool, and highly recommend it. All in all, a very successful project that took me only 40 days - hiatus included!

Man, have I ever been productive this month. Sure, I don't have any job interviews yet but I managed to finish off two projects within a span of a week.

The first project I finished was my Datemaker cardigan, which I started on right after Christmas.


It wasn't the fastest knit in the world, but I love it! The pattern is great and very easy to follow. While I was intimidated by it at first, I was relieved to realize it was just diagonal ribbing.


I didn't resize the pattern because according to my gauge match it would fit me perfectly. However, I ended up not seaming in the belt all the way so I could cinch it up a little more. This makes the cardigan "wrap", and I also sewed in a snap with invisible thread so it stays closed. I also put a hook on the belt end so I could catch it in a stitch and it wouldn't flap around.



If you're going to make this cardigan, I highly recommend doing the cuffs BEFORE the sleeves so you can pick up stitches from the cuff instead of sew them on after. I followed a lot of Tasha's tips from her Briar Rose knit-a-long when doing this sweater. As always, by gum, by golly! is a great resource. I also did the three-needle bindoff for the first time, as well as the crochet slip-stitch seaming
method. I love how my seams turned out! So neat and tidy.




The second project was Butterick 4790, aka Misses' Wrap Dress, aka I hope you like binding with bias tape because that's the bulk of this project.



Before starting the dress, I heard a lot of complaints about the fit of the dress, so I went looking for reviews and tips on what to do. The best one I found is from Edelweiss Patterns, who notes that the reissue is actually a different bodice shape than the original drawings on the envelope, and provides a fix. I was going to do the fix but then forgot during my cutting out. Oops.




 Katrina also notes that the dress should be worn with the proper undergarments (I'm wearing a WKD bullet bra here) and a petticoat (which I'm not wearing because I'm the only vintage girl in the world without a long one).



However, I'm really happy with my results. This is only my third sewing project, so it's quite rough around the edges, but I'm pretty proud. I'm sure in a year or two I'll look back and hate it, but for now, I love it.

Don't forget: For the month of August the promo code LA24SEN can be used to get 10% off at eShakti on their custom made, tailored to fit clothing. The coupon is valid until August 31, 2012 and can be used in addition to the other offers online (like their fall preview sale!) except for overstock.
Full disclosure: I am receiving 10% credit on orders purchased with this coupon code.

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If there is one thing that seems to be the vintage girl's right-of-passage, it's the Three-Hour Sweater. It's quick (but a little more than three hours), it's cute and it's really simple.

I finally finished mine tonight (until I noticed some bits of yarn inside that I forgot to weave, but that's neither here nor there).

Can you tell I bought a Sears version of the bullet bra?

I'm really pleased with it! I went down a needle size because many other knitters said it came out a little bit too large and slightly shapeless.

It's knit in a cotton/beechwood blend (Dandelion Shine Worsted Yarn by KnitPicks, if you're interested), which makes it really soft and light, but a little bit holy. Thusly, I'm wearing a camisole underneath. My only complaint is that I bound the sleeves off a little bit too tightly, which makes it difficult to get past my big 'ole elbows.

Now I am off to embark on my next project. I think I'm going to do some birthday socks for all the summer babies in my life.

Ooowee, its been a while since I've posted about my knitting. Between the new job, the move and being back in a city where there's just so much to do I've been neglectful in this blog.
One of those 'things to do' that I have discovered is a knitting group that meets at the Steeps teahouse on Whyte Ave. It's a very quick train ride and walk for me to go over there, and I always look forward to my Tuesday nights. I love knitting circles - even though I'm quiet around new people, I find knitting groups to be a great resource. We range in skill sets, so everyone can teach someone something!

Since moving I have finished two projects and embarked on a third. The first project that I completed was my first sweater - well, a 1930s bed jacket to be precise! I started it April 14 (while watching Titanic - it was a good progress tracker) and finished it last week. The pattern can be found on Black Dahlia's blog here. 

(These photos kind of suck, I haven't figured out the white balance in our new place yet.)



It's a super easy first garment, as you just knit up a big rectangle before folding it and stitching it up halfway. It's not as long in the back as it's supposed to be (I ran out of yarn and patience, because all you do is rib for 26 inches or so, it's a little repetitive) but it's cozy and slouchy. It now resides in my office to ward off the chills.

After that long and easy but a bit repetitive project, I challenged myself with the Elvish Leaves Dishcloth.


I knit it in four hours on Mothers Day, sitting in the sun by the Legislature - a beauty of a day but I ended up with a nasty burn. The project includes lots of k2tog, yo and slip-knit-psso, but it's small enough that you don't get too confused. Plus, it's a dishcloth - no one will really notice if you screw up.

And now, I am embarking on the one, the only, three-hour sweater. I'm not too far into it yet, just swatching the hell out of it. I bought the KnitPicks Harmony Wood interchangeable needles (on sale for $75!) and 5 oz of Shine Worsted Yarn - a blend of cotton and beech wood fibre - in a bright yellow called dandelion.


I love the colour, and it's so comfy. But because it's cotton and not yarn, I went down  a needle size because it might stretch and not retain its shape, plus, I've heard that the 3-hour-sweater knits large anyway. So, I'm experimenting with needle size and just need to knit one more swatch and wash and dry them so I can do some knitting math. It's so much work before the work, but it will be worth it if it comes out the right size in the end :)

Seen here: my 3/4 swatches, my needles, my pattern and a sheet with my measurements and the math. Phewf!

As I mentioned in my last post, Bee and I headed to Olds for an All-Alberta Vintage Blogger Meet-up in Olds to hit up their antique show with Krista Dee and Cee, both from Calgary.

To sum it up, it was a hoot! My sides still ache from all the laughing we did.

The Olds show was way smaller but (in my opinion) much better than the Edmonton one. More variety (but no clothes) and better prices. I picked up this mint (my favourite colour) radio from the 1950s. It still works and only gets AM, plus it will go great in our new kitchen (somewhere) so we can rock out to CKUA.

RCA Nipper XI radio, $35

Moving sidenote: we pick up our keys on Tuesday! We plan to go in, take a second look, take some photos and also take measurements so we can do a bit of a floor plan before moving day next Saturday!

I (well, Cee pointed them out to me) also found these two knitting booklets from $5. The Monarch (orange) is copyrighted 1946, but the Beehive (B&W) has no date, but judging by the hair I'd date it from around the same time.

Knitting booklets are not only great resources for knitting, but for hair inspiration too!

I love, love, love this sweater.

We met a very sweet older fellow named Fred - nicknamed by us as Sing It Again Fred  - from Sylvan Lake who told us all about the steam trains he has sitting on his acreage. Do I smell another road trip in the future?

The antique show was held at the Olds Legion, which had a display case of mannequins dressed up in military uniforms. Very awesome.

I love their cute but sensible shoes.

Then, as we were about to leave to meet my sister for lunch, we noticed there was a tank outside. So, of course we clamoured on it - but not me or Cee, we were too busy capturing the moment. I don't have any group photos of us sadly, but I know the other girls do!

I'm pretty sure these two were separated at birth. Their similarities were bordering on scary.

I think our foursome overwhelmed the show a little bit. At one point, Krista had about 5 women crowded around her as she showed off her seam tattoos and more than one vendor wanted to take our photo. Then, when we were leaving the restaurant the Progressive-Conservative candidate for Olds asked if he could be in a photo with us. I declined, since as a journalist I want to remain completely neutral when it comes to politics. I guess he wanted the whole package or none at all because he didn't take a photo with the rest of the girls either.

At lunch Mac gave me a Titanic book! I've always been fascinated with Titanic ever since I was a little girl; I can't believe she remembered. She's so sweet and smart too - we celebrated her earning yet another scholarship for school over lunch.



I bought this 1960s house dress from Cee that I had been eyeing on her Etsy page (and there were lots others I wanted to take home but I was trying to be sensible) and then she gave me a few more clothes.





I have some very sweet friends. She also gave me a tea set for a housewarming present, but it's still in the car as I am just going to drop it off at the El Mirador on Tuesday.

Phew - I think that's all! Now I'm off to pack up some more trinkets and maybe some clothes. I can't believe next Saturday is moving day. Expect some radio silence from me for a little while, but when we're all settled I'll give you a tour.

XO Laurie