I’m done with the back piece of my current vintage knitting project. I think it’s so lovely. Decreasing for the armholes was a little strange. The lace pattern makes the normal edges zig zag so decreasing on a zig zag pattern was a little deceiving. Seaming may be a challenge. I think being that the seams are under the arms, no one will ever notice if it isn’t perfect.

Ribbing is complete for the front piece so I will start the pattern again shortly. Today I am working on seaming my husbands sweater up though. I have a Fall feeling swimming around in my head which brings me back to this thick cashmere knit.

Just a quick update today. All major pieces of my husbands sweater are done. I just have endless seaming, sewing in zipper and to pick up neckline stitches. Yes, still a lot of work! Maybe I will be brave and finish some of that this weekend?

My sweater is up to 6 pattern repeats. I need 8, then I do the neckline decreases. At the moment I am on sleeve decreases. It’s looking so lovely though! I think this color is a good Fall/Winter transition sweater, cotton and cashmere for when it just starts getting chilly. The California Bay Area has the best weather in September and October.

It’s hard to fight the temptation of starting on even something more! I bought all these lovely vintage stuffed animal patterns. I have patterns for teddies, rabbit, cat, duck, penguin and even koala bear.

This weekend I made some headway despite stopping and starting for 100 other errands and the intense heat that makes my hands clammy and knitting hard. Here pictured is two patterns repeated but I accomplished three so far. Two more then I start decreasing for arm holes. The pattern looks pretty self explainitory from my first complete read through. It’s pretty easy to finish a pattern repeat a day, even on a work night. I don’t have the whole lace pattern memorized but when I recap each line when I start it, it is quick sailing through each one. Maybe it’s due to being squished on a twelve inch needle but the lace “lily” pattern does seem to hollow and seem like the cup of a calla lily. I’m sure when blocked and streached on my body it will be less pronounced. Still, it’s an interesting detail of this lace.

I’m glad I swatched last night. This tedious task, though often time consuming always results in good discoveries. I tried the recommended size 3 needles last night but ended up going with size 2. The pattern calls for celluloid needles which I don’t have. I thought the sizing was the same, and is relatively. Funny thing is that I just gifted my only pair of size 2 celluloid Bucilla needles to a friend that is interested in learning how to knit. I figured I had double of that size, so what do I need two for?!

The measurements were more correct on my wood size 2. The stitches looked much nicer. The lacey pattern is called a lily pattern. I guess I can see Calla Lily in here a bit. Here it looks much laceier and a lot less like diamonds than the vintage picture. I think this is going to result in a perfect vintage confection of femininity. I can’t wait to finish!

For anyone curious, I have about 10% of the last sleeve of my husband’s sweater done. Thankfully it is much to hot for him to want to wear it so I can take my time with that.

Thanks to all thee kind ladies on my blog who helped push me in the right direct. I decided to pick up and knit this 1930’s Frill Blouse in the Vol. 58 Bear Brand Bucilla book I got from Ivarose.com. (This book is filled with 15 great patterns and only $16.96) My yarn is 50% cashmere, 50% cotton in color Lilac Moon from colormartuk (eBay!) as always. I’m almost done with ribbing thanks to this long weekend. I’ve been working on so many projects though besides this. I got the most amazing apothecary cabinet that I’m painting black. All my craft items will fit in here so perfectly. As drawers dry I excitedly fill them up with things like lace, ribbon, rubber stamps, glitter, paper scraps, vintage millinery flowers, thread and so much more. I’ve got so many drawers left to paint still. I can’t complain though, I swear this unit is going to change my crafting life!

I’m still alive! Just a quick update to tell you where I’m at. I’m slowly ticking away at the end of the first sleeve on my husbands sweater. (between getting very distracted by flickr.com) It has increases it’s stiches once over and is quite squished on the needle at the moment. One more sleeve to go and a neckline, then voila! It should be done. This has to be sheer proof that I love my boy and want him as warm and snug as a bug in a rug. Strike me dead if it doesn’t fit!

I think I want to do a post on my yarn stash soon so I can meditate on using the yarn I already have for my next project. Stay tuned!

Knit, knit, knit. It’s dreadful when you have so little time to knit while working a full time job. It’s been a month and I just have the back of my husbands sweater done. I’m proud though. When you cast off one piece of sweater you feel accomplished. I’ve been constantly taking his measurements and putting the piece to his back. I know before I decreased for arm holes I can go wild with length. When doing arm holes and after I am given the length to work to, 6.5 inches. I think I worked till 7.5 because it just logically didn’t seem like it would fit. I don’t want my husband to be restricted by tight arm holes. I hope this one inch will still allow for the sleeve to fit in. With knitting I notice it’s rare to have your seaming row/column ratios perfect. Maybe I’ll have to seam up more shoulder stitches to less sleeve, making it all work out in the end. Right?! Well, I have to think positive as months or work can’t be wasted. From this piece of fabric I sure can tell my husband will never be cold again! 4ply cashmere is no laughing matter.

This piece seems to be going by very slow despite it’s “slip one, knit one” pattern. I’m just about halfway up the back piece still. The pattern gives for a very dense fabric or maybe it’s that I’m working with 4-ply as opposed to the 3-ply on the last sweater. I have some anxieties about it fitting. The stitches are hard to measure but they do have alot of streach to it. My husband is quite small so I think it should work out. I think I’ll have a better idea once this piece gets off the needles. Well, stay tuned!

I love my dear husband and don’t want to leave him out of being blessed with a beautiful new sweater. I purchased way to many cones of derby grey cashmere (I think 5, 150g cones!) which is his favorite color. I’m going to make him this 1939 sweater from a Lux pattern magazine. The styling is completely modern. In fact my husband had a sweater pretty close to this one in grey made by “Triple Five Soul”, a trendy NYC hip hop design brand. We mistakenly stored that sweater in the trunk of our biggest purchase mistake ever, a red 1969 Alfa Romero which was my dream Bridgette Bardot car. The car smelled like exhaust and ended up making the sweater smell disgusting. Many washes later it was still stinky and useless, just like the car which broke down every six months. Well, despite that I hope to make a sweater for my husband that will be his favorite sweater again. I might update the style a little by adding a thicker more industrial size zipper. I’m also going to keep testing length because my husband despises sweaters that are too short on him. I’m working on the ribbing now. I figured his measurements and think that the given size should work. I find it very interesting that my husband and I match vintage size statures so well.

What do you think of these buttons? I thought the geometric triangular shape would compliment the sweater well. Beige and black are a nice color combo, very vintage Chanel. The black buttons are one half inch. I found them on ebay from this seller. The clear glass buttons I bought last week ended up being a tad to large unforuntately by a quarter of an inch.

EDITED: Buttons arrived and were measured wrong and misdescribed as black when they are pewter on auction. Color would have been tolerable if size fit. I size my button holes off extra 1/2 inch buttons I had and these were way off! Check out this scan. Upsetting for such a nice shaped button, no? (more…)