Springtime Knits

 

Yarning along again with Ginny this week :)
So this week finds me still knitting the back of my cardigan.  It is a lot of knitting in a very fine yarn, but I am plugging along.  I am almost at the point where I decrease for the set in sleeves, so I am getting rather excited!

See the fabric in the background?  That will one day be a beautiful blouse.  Vintage style of course.  I fell in love with the fabric at Hobby Lobby this weekend ;)  There was a sister to this fabric, with tiny orange flowers on it that I also picked up!
The books there are Mandy's Legacy by Barbara Blanchard Coley.  The author is a personal friend of ours, and her husband (who has known mine for years) helped her with the book.  She is a lovely lady, I hope some of you are intrigued enough to want to get her book :)  They sent us this copy, signed.
The other book dates from 1961 and was found in a local antique shop... for $3!  I am hoping to learn a lot from it- it has all kinds of dressmaking techniques!

Then there are these.  I found these this weekend at the same antique store.  It can be a lot of fun to go digging through the old paper ephemera in shops when you find such gems!  They date from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and have some gorgeous patterns in them.  I'll try to remember to get some pictures of the insides next week- this week I almost forgot and had to photograph it at night (hence the flash glare on the front!).

But although it looks like I haven't done much in the way of knitting this week... I can explain.

I've been sewing, and planning out sewing!  This lovely lady is modelling a prairie bonnet I made her.
I used these instructions from Mother Earth News.  Click on the image gallery link for the photos- but you have to click 'next' to see the pattern images.

This is the adult size.  I think she kind of looks like Holly Hobbie like this ;)  She loves her bonnet though, and has worn it ever since I finished it yesterday.  One of her little friends complimented her on it even :)  She loves the idea that she is like Laura Ingalls ;)  The hat fits me, but there are no photos to show this :D
I think 1970s bags must have been bigger though, because it would not quite fit onto my paper bags, and I had to tape the pattern together!

Snoods and Gloves

Yarning along with Ginny again this week :)

So I managed to finish my lacy crocheted gloves last week.  I am glad, because I plan to wear them for Easter ;)  You can see my Ravelry notebook page for them here.

Here you can see them both, with the back of my cardigan (it is a little bigger this week) and my current mystery book.  This was a suggestion from another yarn alonger (who is reading another in the series).  I am rather enjoying it, although the format is a little unusual in that it springs from one POV to another.  The title, No Corners for the Devil, comes from the fact that it is set in a round house - with no corners for the devil :)

Also made by me this week... a snood!

From a traditional 1940's pattern, it is a very simple crocheted pattern, that did not take particularly long to make.

It was long enough though, for me to miss wearing it for St. Patrick's Day.  That had more to do with me having to frog it repeatedly because I would forget to decrease/increase or miss a stitch or two.  It is not complicated, but it does need a BIT of attention ;)
So there you go- two vintage crochet pieces for this week!

Lacy Gloves and a Present

So I figured out (finally) why it was I could not see the Yarn Along linky!  It's now fixed and the yarn alongs can proceed!

Ginny over at Small Things says:
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~

You can find the latest yarn along here.

This week, you can see "Winter in Thrush Green" by Miss Read.  I chose to show one of the illustrations inside the book because it is a very old library book, with an unexciting exterior.  And I thought the illustrations are sweet!   I got the book on a recommendation- but I cannot remember whether it was a yarn along post, or somewhere else!  Oh well, if you mentioned it- thank you!
On top of that, you can barely see my 1950's style cardigan (the green).  This is the back, and it is still in progress.
On top, is a crocheted lace glove.  A lovely lady gave me an old pattern- no idea where it originally came from, but the exact same pattern can be found in this book.  It describes it as 1950's, so I am guessing that is when this pattern came from!  It is a little complicated to make, and it is imperative you get the gauge right - I am using thread which is a little bigger than the original (since I can't find the original size) and the smaller hook size- I decided to stick with that because I have VERY long fingers, and although my hands are not very large, I have to have large gloves just so the fingers fit.  Or have the fingers end 3/8" above the end of my fingers!

 

Here is a collar, 1930's style belt and some matching sleeve decorative trim.  I adapted a pattern I found on Ravelry for a crocheted Peter Pan style collar.  I added shells at the edge for fun.  The trim on the sleeves I made up.  The dress it is on desperately needed something on the bodice (it is a 1940's pattern).  I opted initially for a collar.  When I got lazy, I went with this one - which was a lot quicker to make!  I then decided to actually add sleeve trim (as the pattern had suggested) and it helped a lot too.  Finally I made a belt from a 1930's pattern- aren't the rings really cool?  I made it a little thinner than the original.  But I thought, that just maybe, you might like to have the pattern too!

You should be able to click on it and save it to your machine.  It is a pretty easy pattern!

Win a Titanic Era Blouse

You have to see this blouse from Wearing History- it is part of their new range due to be released in just over a week!

The blouse is based on a Titanic era look- and is stunningly beautiful.  You could make it for your best Downton Abbey lookl, or dress it up with a modern skirt or trousers for that 'naughty secretary' look ;)
It is released on March 20th, but you have your opportunity to win it for yourself at the Wearing History Blog.  Take a look!