November 1964: Overview

“Winter Fashions and Christmas Plans” is the theme of Stitchcraft‘s November 1964 issue, with practical clothing for the family as well as gift ideas and a couple of glamorous items for parties.

You will be “set for winter” in the cardigan on the cover, knitted in bulky “Big Ben” wool at 3 1/2 stitches to the inch, with all-over mock-cables, a warm collar and practical pockets. The mock-cable pattern involves “losing” a stitch in the 3rd row with a sl1-k2-psso, then getting it back with a yo on row 4, making a “bar” and then a little hole for the mock-cable effect. There’s a handy close-up photo of the stitch pattern, so you can make sure you did it right.

The caption continues the use of a bit of word-play on the word “set”, which we saw in the October 1964 issue. There, the theme was “set to flatter”, whereby some of the items were part of an actual set, and some weren’t. Some of the other garments in the November issue really are a set, in that sense: this waistcoat suit in glowing fuchsia, for example. Rounding out the everyday women’s garments are a plain 4-ply jumper, a bright colour-motif sweater and a comfortable tweed jacket for larger sizes. I love that brooch on the jumper — it looks like Star Trek insignia.

The trend for textured patterns, big collars, zig-zag designs and bold colours continues with the men’s garments: he too will be “set for winter” in a textured pullover for larger sizes or a sport-weight “sweater-shirt” (they didn’t use the word “henley” at the time) that utilises many fashionable features. You get a glimpse of the women’s colour-motif sweater in the back cover photo, as well.

In the “Teens and Babies” department, there’s a wonderful winter “wind-cheater outfit” set (actually a set, this time) of sweater, leggings and hat, as well as a thick, warm jersey for a young girl (our model is quite possibly not a teenager yet, but the pattern is in three sizes up to 32 inch chest to fit older girls as well), and a continuation of the baby set (also an actual set) that was started a few issues ago with matinee coat, dress, etc.: this last instalment is a lacy one-size-fits-all hooded cape to go over all the other garments. I love the photo of the girl standing on the dock next to her boat, looking like a proud sailor! Last month’s issue, if we remember, touted “the Feminine Look”, meaning girls had to look pretty and not really do very much, so it’s nice to see our young sailor looking active and happy in her autumn sport set. The diagonally-striped hem and cuffs are knitted separately and sewn on later.

The non-Christmas-themed housewares continue the zig-zag / geometric trend with a crocheted rug, diamond-pattern cushion and wacky zig-zag chairback and cushion set (yay, another set).

There are tapestry and “needle etching” embroidered pictures that draw inspiration from Shakespeare’s family: “Anne Hathaway’s cottage” (Shakespeare’s wife, not the modern actress…) and “Mary Arden’s House” (Shakespeare’s mother, not Lady Arden of Heswall.)

But finally… it’s time for the pre-Christmas decorations! The wacky “novelties” and bizarre-bazaar items! I know you have been waiting for this and I promise you will not be disappointed. You may, however be scared out of your wits, if you happen to have a clown phobia, in which case I caution you to skip over the next few photos.

Starting with the melancholic stuffed animals, you can knit a “friendly” Jumbo the elephant, who seems to be rolling his eyes at the happy child who just pulled him out of their Christmas stocking, or a sad “bunny with a twinkle”. The table decorations are quite cute and easy to make: felt place-mats, napkin-holders and an Advent wall panel with wintery and Christmas-y appliqué motifs.

But that clown! The “Musical clown for a tot”! What in the world is going on with that clown? Even the bunny is giving it the side-eye. The construction is actually pretty interesting and a fun way to use up fabric scraps: you cut 4-inch diameter circles of fabric, gather them up with a gathering thread to make little poufs and then sew them on top of each other to make the arms, legs and body. Then all you need to do is sew and stuff a pointy head and cap and embroider a terrifying face onto it. Don’t worry, it has bells instead of hands and feet, so you can hear it coming.

EDIT November 12, 2022: I was browsing around on UK Ebay and someone is selling an FO of this clown! Unbelievable! I am not going to buy it but maybe one of you will…

To clear your mind of those images, here is a lovely lacy party top and fluffy “luxury stole” knitted with Lurex for holiday party glamour. The top can be lined with gold lamé for extra sparkle.

Rounding out this bumper issue are the “Readers Pages”, featuring Stitchcraft and Patons-inspred gift ideas (a yearly subscription, binding cases for past issues, knitting patterns…) and a fun way to use up wool scraps: a coat hanger cover to keep delicate items from creasing or stretching at the shoulders. The ads use babies to sell Lux soap flakes and Patons wool.

The only project that really called to me from this issue was (laugh if you want) the coat hanger cover, which could make a cute little gift for a friend or be useful in my own closet, as well as being quick and easy and a way to use up some of those mystery scraps in the stash drawer. The October 1964 dress is almost finished, so I’ll update that post soon as well.

October 1964: Totem Dress

EDIT November 20, 2022: Finished!

My October project was this fantastic “slim-line dress to flatter your figure”, designed in “a classic style with Aran panels and fancy rib yoke to give the fashionable textured look.” It’s written for Patons “Totem” Double Knitting, a very smooth, tightly plied crepe-twist wool suitable for the mock-cable pattern panels running up and down the dress body and sleeves.

Not having any Patons Totem on hand (of course, it has been discontinued for some time), I chose Drops Karisma, an easy-knit, easy-care DK wool. It’s also superwash — I don’t generally like superwash as it tends to stretch and sag after washing, but the advantage of not having to hand-wash a knee-length, DK-weight knitted dress won out. I chose to make it in brilliant grass green instead of “Spanish Rose” (medium pink, I assume), which is still quite appropriate for this month’s issue — it’s very close to the bright green of the men’s cardigan in the colour centrefold photo.

I made it in the second size with a few alterations: four inches shorter, to start. The finished length in the pattern is 40 inches, or just past knee-length, but this is a heavy garment and I am sure it will sag with wearing and washing. Also, I prefer skirts to be a bit shorter, so I aimed for 36 inches total length. To speed up the knitting, I made the dress in the round, with 3 stitches of ribbing at each side to make a stabilising “seam.” There’s a hem at the bottom edge, to which I added a purl-on-the-RS folding row. I wasn’t sure about the elbow-length sleeves and thought about making them long, but decided to stick with the pattern. (Ideally, I would have knitted them from the top down and just made them as long as I wanted, but the twisted-stitch pattern doesn’t really work upside down.)

Other than that, I stuck to the pattern. The pattern panels (2 on each of back and front, one on each sleeve) have traveling stitches in the middle, flanked by twisted stitches (k into the back of the second stitch, then the front of the 1st stitch on needle, then take both stitches off the needle together.) You are supposed to make the traveling stitches by twisting them as well:

Tw.2R = knit into front of 2nd st. on left needle, then purl into front of 1st st. and slip both stitches off needle together.

Tw.2.L = purl into back of 2nd st. on left needle, then knit into front of 1st st. and slip both stitches off needle together.

I could not make that work! I tried and tried. The stitch on the right side was usually twisted the wrong way, and the stitch on the left sat correctly, but was stretched out. I thought it might help to hold the wool in my right hand, “English” style (I generally knit “Continental” style with wool in the left hand and “pick up” the thread), but that was awkward and didn’t help. I tried ye olde “cable without a needle” trick where you basically drop the yarn and just hold it in your fingers, which worked but was no fun. Finally, I just used a cable needle, which was faster and neater. If anyone can tell my what was going wrong with the directions from the pattern, I’d be happy to hear it, though.

The knitting went quite quickly and by October 29 (date of this first post), I had finished the back and front, and one sleeve up to the sleeve-cap shaping. The total length before blocking was 34 inches, which, if my swatch is any indication, will stretch out to the desired 36 inches (and if not, that’s fine too.) The “fancy rib yoke”, by the way, is a simple rib/welt pattern: p1 row, k1 row, then k1, p1 for two rows. It makes a very pleasing, stretchy waffle effect.

I painstakingly calculated out the total amount of wool I would need, based on the yardage of the original Totem wool (from Ravelry, I didn’t have any of the real thing) and the meterage of the Drops Karisma, converting yards to metres and ounces to grams. Were my calculations successful?? We will see! Supposedly I will need about 730 grams, and I only bought 800, because I like to live dangerously. EDIT: The finished dress used exactly 737 grams of wool. Am I good at math or what?

I finished the dress mid-November, but had to travel for work right afterwards, so didn’t get around to blocking and photographing it until a week or two later. Finished measurements after blocking were about 37 inches bust, 32 inches waist, 40 inches hip and 34 inches long — perfect. The hem falls just above the knee and if it stretches a bit, that’s fine too. The wool is superwash, so I could always dry it in the dryer to make it snap back into shape.

I made a little belt out of green cord and pleather cord with baubles on the ends, to match the belt in the photos. We didn’t quite get the same poses as in the magazine, but we had fun.

The dress is warm and soft and fits perfectly. It is fun to wear and it is bright green. What more could I want? It’s glorious.

October 1964: Overview

October is the start of the best season for knitting, and the October 1964 issue of Stitchcraft rose to the occasion with multiple themes and more colour pages than ever before (photographed in the villages of Great Waltham and Stebbing in Essex). There are knit designs for “him and her” as well as for different ages of babies and children, embroidery, tapestry, rugmaking and appliqué projects, “novelties” and even a few extra tidbits in the back “Readers’ Pages.” Shall we… fall in?

Our first Autumn theme is “The Feminine Look”, which cracks me up, for when has Stitchcraft or any handcraft magazine ever promoted the “masculine look” for women? It goes without saying that they would never advertise the feminine look for men… As far as I can see, the designs don’t look any more feminine than the designs from any other issue. Maybe it’s meant in contrast to the “partner-look” designs from previous fashion trends.

In any case, the cover-photo suit with coordinating jumper for underneath is simple and elegant, and probably quite comfortable to wear. It’s made in still-popular nubbly Rimple wool in DK weight and a slightly tweedy shade of light blue. The jumper is made in fingering weight and has a diagonal pattern.

The women’s “feminine” fashions include a great cable-pattern dress as well, in smooth, DK weight Totem wool, and a less “feminine”, but probably very cosy, roll-collar pullover with an aysmmetrically-placed pocket. The mock-cable pattern on the pocket and collar is used as an all-over pattern on a man’s classic V-neck cardigan, and there’s another man’s cardigan as well in a very similar design, with “real” cables, a zip fastening and in bulky Ariel wool.

The cable cardigan and women’s pullover are shown off in a gorgeous full-colour centrefold photo where the green, yellow and brown of the knitwear harmonise perfectly with the country setting. As the caption says, both garments are made in “Flair”, a somewhat heavier wool-acrylic blend.

For the children, there’s a boys’ version of a men’s pullover from last month’s issue… the one that would not be a good choice for most women to wear. I personally think the placement of the star motifs is a bit odd even on a flat-chested body (they could have placed the band near the hem, or in a round yoke), but Stitchcraft liked it enough to offer a smaller-sized version in blue. Girls get a jumper suit in a plaid-trimmed “gay design from Vienna”. The colour palette for both the adult and children’s fashion is bright — blues, green, yellow, chocolate brown and “Flamenco” (I’m guessing red?), the patterns are bold and clear and collars and pockets are big and conspicuous.

Continuing the baby-outfit series from the previous months’ issues, the (girl) baby of the family gets a bonnet and matinée coat. “The feminine LOOK starts when you are tiny” — i.e. get used to having cold legs now! The set is certainly pretty, and there’s a very practically placed ad for a Patons’ baby-pattern booklet, “Babes in the Wool” on the page as well.

With all these great knitting designs, you’d think the homewares department would be skimpy, but they really went all-out on this issue: in addition to the usual cushions, stool-tops and chairbacks in huckaback work or tapestry, there’s a bold red-and-green “traditional Austrian” rug photographed in colour (notice how a traditional Austrian design is not called “peasant”, interesting…)

… and an appliquéd wall picture with a “kitchen”-themed design. Do I have terrible taste if I admit that I love this wall hanging? It’s utterly kitschy and very 1960s! There’s a little sewing design as well, for a child’s pinafore smock… “for playtime or helping with the chores.” Beware, little girl, that feminine look comes with its own designated activities.

And don’t forget the “novelties”, which are not quite as weird in this month’s issue as we have seen in other issues. There’s a little stuffed penguin toy with very funny feet, and a night-case in the shape of a knitted duck. There’s also a winter ski set for a doll, with ski-pants and a warm stranded pullover and cap. (If the doll looks a little worried and not quite warm and comfortable, it’s probably because it’s standing barefoot in the snow.)

But that’s not all! In addition to the usual comic (Anne learns how to embroider an owl and a swallow using different embroidery stitches), the “Readers’ Pages” in the back of the magazine have a reprint of a 1944 knitting pattern for warm “cami-knickers” underwear, and some dainty stencils to embroider onto handkerchiefs. I love embroidered handkerchiefs, having inherited some beautiful ones from my grandmother and occasionally bought more on ebay. If I ever find any plain new ones to buy (shouldn’t be that difficult), I could try my hand at embroidering them myself.

The handkerchiefs, cami-knickers and even the cheesy appliqué picture all appeal to me, but I love the cabled knit dress most of all, so that will be my October project. I can’t imagine it will be done by the end of October, but I have already bought wool and made a swatch and am just starting casting on, so I’ll post about it soon when there’s something to see and write about.

Till then, happy Autumn!

September 1964: “Peasant” Embroidery

Photo of am embroidered cushion and tablecloth, from Stitchcraft magazine, September 1964

This month’s project — finished just on time! — was another embroidered cushion, larger and more ambitious than the previous ones I have made.

The cushion cover measures roughly 15×21 inches or almost 40×80 centimetres and features a highly stylised flower design in bold colours in the style of traditional Hungarian or Romanian designs. It is… interesting to note that Stitchcraft used very different appellations for traditional embroidery designs depending on the country or region they came from or which style they emulated. Typical Nordic designs were called “Scandinavian” or used the specific country name. Designs based on Indian, Persian, Chinese or Japanese works or styles usually used those country names. But anything related to a Southern or Eastern European tradition — Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia (one country at that time), Yugoslavia (country name at the time), Greece, etc. was a “peasant” design, with or without a specific country name. I’m sure it wasn’t meant in an insulting way (also pretty sure that most of Stitchcraft’s readers were descended from “peasants” if you go back far enough), but the word doesn’t quite sit right when you think about it in context; there is an unconscious bias at play, unfortunately typical for the time but worth noticing and pointing out when discussing vintage magazines now.

The design, in any case, is beautiful, and is given in two versions, for a cushion or a tablecloth border. As always, the biggest challenge is re-creating the transfer, which Stitchcraft readers at the time had to order separately. There is a colour photo, and helpfully, also a schematic diagram that is presumably exactly the same as the transfer, just smaller.

If the cushion were smaller, I might have been able to scan the diagram into the computer, adjust it to the correct size and print it out, then copy it onto the fabric with carbon transfer paper. Or even use the special embroidery printer paper that you can stick onto the fabric and wash off when the embroidery is done. But the design is much bigger than any paper my printer can print. I suppose I could have taken it to the print-and-copy shop, but I chose to enlarge the design the old-fashioned way, by drawing a grid over the diagram and the paper and copying it by hand. It’s a good exercise, and one I can certainly use more practice in. I transferred it with carbon paper and went over it with water-soluble pen. For the border flower circles, I marked the positions and just traced around a button.

My fabric was a fairly heavy furnishing linen in exactly the same colour as the original. The pattern is written for wool embroidery thread, which I would have had to order from the one little shop in Paris that sells it. It’s a wonderful shop, but I wanted to get the project started, so I just went with regular cotton crewel thread. The colours are Black, Peacock, Red, Rust, Dk Orange, Lt Orange, Gold, Yellow, Lime, and Cream. I used the photo and my own taste as a guide to all the shades of orange and yellow. My “Lime”, like the “Lime” in the photo, was more like a slightly greenish lemon, but it looked good (and probably accurately reflected the colour of any real limes available in England in 1964…) On working the embroidery, I noticed that the directions say “White” instead of “Cream”, but I was glad I had used the off-white — I think real white would have been too strong a contrast.

The stitches are all quite basic: stem, satin, buttonhole and blanket with some French knots and one use of Romanian stitch in the middle of the red and black flower. It was good practice for buttonhole stitch and French knots, which were my nemeses before, but have improved significantly due to this project.

I realised while working it that the individual motifs weren’t quite big enough — in the original, they are much closer together, almost touching. There was no way I was going to re-do the entire transfer and start over, so I accepted it.

The work went surprisingly quickly, considering how large the cushion is. I made it up into a cover with the same fabric as a backing and a zipper close. A standard 40×80 cm bed pillow fits in it well. Though my embroidery skills are still a work in progress, I am very happy with the final result.

When I started this project, I had no plans for it after finishing — I have more cushions than couch/chair space, so I assumed I would give it away as a present or sell it. Happily, a colleague noticed me working on it during a break and loved it, saying it was the perfect colour for her sofa and the walls in the living room, and she offered to buy it! So it will have a good home and I earned a bit of money for the craft budget. Perfect.

September 1964: Overview

It’s the start of the autumn knitting season, and this issue’s slogan is “Knitting in Full Swing”. There are practical garments for adults and various ages of children, as well as a new yarn: Patons Flair.

“Flair” is somewhat heavier than DK weight — what is now often called “worsted” — and made of 60% wool and 40% “Courtelle“, a synthetic fibre pioneered in the late 1950s by the Courtaulds company. It features in the green cardigan and the yellow star-motif pullover on the cover. I love the cardigan, with its bright green colour and use of simple garter-stitch ribs and bobbles to decorate the fronts. The placement of the motifs on the yellow pullover is… interesting. I guess it works OK on a male figure, but I would not recommend it for a partner look! There’s also a plain, classic V-neck pullover for him and a “blister stitch” sweater for her on the back cover. Bright, cheerful colours are in fashion. (The men’s V-neck pullover colour name is “Sorrento” — anyone know what colour it is?)

The non-Flair adult garments are all made in DK weight yarn: a “country sweater” in a twisted-rib pattern with an oversized Vandyke collar, a complicated cable-and-stripe men’s shirt-style pullover, an elegant set of slim skirt and “overblouse” and a long, skinny sweater “for teens”. All of them feature interesting stitch textures, particularly twisted-rib patterns and bobbles, and interesting details like the fake “pocket” decorations on the front of the overblouse. The cable-and-stripe pattern is especially complex and uses separate lengths of wool for the vertical twisted ribs while stranding the stripe colours behind. Aside from the teen sweater in “Flamingo”, the colours are slightly subtler, with light “Cream Whip” and dark “Loganberry” for the base colours (sounds delicious) and accents of light blue, olive green and melon-orange.

For the younger members of the family, there’s a fun and cheerful five-piece set “for twins”, consisting of a skirt, shorts with braces, a short-sleeved jumper, cardigan and beret. They’re all made in DK wool in a similar bright, sunny yellow to the man’s pullover on the cover. Continuing the matching-set-for-babies look, this month’s issue has a dress and bootees for a six-month-old, to be followed by a matching matinee coat and bonnet in next month’s issue.

With all these lovely things to knit, it’s amazing that there are any homeware projects in the issue at all, but there are always a few utilitarian projects: here, an easy cushion / tray cloth or a thick rug or mat for kitchen or bathroom. For more ambitious embroideresses, there’s a tablecloth or cushion in bright “peasant” design (Stitchcraft‘s choice of word for traditional or folk designs from certain countries and not from others; I do wish they would just call them all “traditional designs” and leave it at that). The design, like the knitted garments, is big and bold and fun and colourful on the cushion, and slightly more subdued in red and blue for the tablecloth.

Though embroidery doesn’t feature big in the issue’s projects, it does have a place in the back pages: in the new children’s comic, “Anne and her Embroidery”, little Anne is bored on a rainy day and passes the time by learning to embroider pictures of the flowers in her window-box. Two pages later, there’s a full-page advertisement for a new tapisserie wool suitable for both tapestry and embroidery. Coincidence? I think not! The other interesting ad is for the new Patons Flair yarn, highlighting its easy care and washability.

That’s all for this issue! My project will be the embroidered cushion.

Blast from the Past: October 1956

This month’s blog project was a bit different than planned. The August 1964 issue didn’t have any projects that particularly called to me. There was a nice baby set of “vest and pilch”, but I didn’t know anyone who was having a baby soon… or did I? In fact, I did know that a friend of mine was expecting twins, but we hadn’t seen each other for a while and unfortunately that fact slipped my mind until the babies were almost due! At which point I could have made two vest-and-pilch sets, but I wanted to get the project done quickly and also destash some yarn that was more suitable for a top/middle layer than to be worn right next to delicate baby skin.

I decided to make two similar, but non-identical cardigans and opted to make one without a pattern and one from this pattern for a dolman-sleeve cardigan from Stitchcraft‘s October 1956 issue. The use of two block colours made it a good choice for the two yarns I wanted to use, and the embroidery was a cute touch.

The pattern calls for Patons Beehive 3-ply Baby Wool at a tension of 8 stitches to the inch for a cardigan that is 19 inches around the underarms. My wools were Becoming Art Cielo fingering in the colour combination “Carousel” (multi) and Schöppel Admiral Hanf in red — admittedly not a very vintage colour combination or standard baby-pastel, but I like knitting bright colours for babies, and the mother’s favourite colour to wear is red, so I loved it.

Both wools were gifts — the Admiral Hanf from my knitting group’s holiday “secret Santa” and the Cielo Carousel a prize from the last KAL at the All Things Vintage forum on Ravelry. “Hanf” is German for hemp, which makes up 10% of the red yarn and gives it strength and durability. It’s not scratchy, but also not super-soft. The Cielo fingering is delightfully springy and squishy. I got 6.5 stitches to the inch with each of them on 3 mm needles, but saw no need to change the pattern, as a larger cardigan would be more practical for autumn/winter wear, when the babies will be bigger and wear more clothing underneath.

The cardigan is knit from the bottom up in three pieces — back and two fronts, with the sleeves cast on horizontally. The colour-block effect is made by using separate balls of wool and twisting them together at the colour change, intarsia-style. I made both the fronts together with separate balls of yarn on one needle to insure symmetry. The cuff ribbing is picked up and knit in rib after the main pieces are done and the front button bands are knitted separately and vertically in rib and sewn on. (I’m not a fan of this type of button band and would just as soon have knitted the bands together with the fronts, even if technically they’re supposed to be made on a smaller needle.)

The little flowers on the fronts are embroidered on in loop stitch after everything else is finished. It was surprisingly difficult to get all the “petals” to be the same size and distributed evenly around the centre. Perhaps I should have made them larger. I’m always happy to practice embroidery on knitting, since I think it looks really cool, but it continues to be a challenge. The wool is a bit of leftover Onion Nettle Sock yarn.

One 100 gram skein of the multi-colour wool and one 50 g ball of the red were enough to make this cardigan, another “fraternal” cardigan (plain crew-neck with set-in sleeves) made without pattern using the multi-colour yarn for the body and the red for the sleeves and ribbing, and almost two hats with multi-colour ribbing and a red body. The crown of one hat was finished in the green Onion sock, which I also used to embroider two larger flowers near one shoulder of the no-pattern cardigan.

I loved the dolman pattern and will surely use it again for another baby. I love the similar, but not identical cardigans for (fraternal) twins. I love matching hats and cardigans. I love the bright colours! And I think these sets will be very useful for the twins and make the parents happy.

August 1964: Overview

The August issues of Stitchcraft are always a mix of styles and seasons. The summer holidays are winding down, and knitters will want to start work on warmer garments for the autumn. At the same time, it’s still summer, and it may well be too hot to want to hold wool in your hands, not to mention wear that bulky wool pullover. Stitchcraft’s solution is to offer a range of casual “country” knits that can be worn as outer garments on cooler summer days and be useful for indoor-outdoor wear as autumn approaches.

“Junior Knits” have a special prominence in this issue: heavier, loose-fitting pullovers and cardigans for older schoolchildren or teenagers (or smaller-size adult women) that are versatile enough to be worn on holiday, back to school, under a coat in later months etc. They are casual, but stylish, with interesting stitch-pattern details, and a mix of cheerful and neutral colours. The girl’s cardigan is made in DK wool with a twisted-stitch rib pattern and the pullover in bulky “Big Ben” wool can be made up to 34-35 inch bust size. The boys’ “lumber jacket” zipped cardigan is also made in a bulkier, quick-knitting wool: Bracken Tweed. The colour is “Marble”, perhaps a darkish grey? (The “father” in the photo is wearing the waistcoat from the July 1964 issue.)

The adult-size garments are a mix of casual, bulky holiday outerwear and more refined garments for a dressy holiday outing or the return to work and daily life in September. For women, there’s a striped, sleeveless top, knitted sideways and belted and made in DK wool to be warm under a jacket or cardigan, or the wonderful “harlequin” diamond-pattern pullover in the cover, or a sleek 4-ply sweater suit with pleated skirt for autumn wear. Men get a thick zigzag-cable cardigan for “driving and all-casual wear” as well as an elegant 4-ply slipover in a diamond pattern. With the exception of the skirt suit, neutral cream colours with ice-cream peach and orange contrasts prevail. Cables, zigzag and diamond patterns are still on trend, as are large , pointy or polo/turtle-neck collars.

The baby layette series continues with a second-size (ca. 6 months) “pilch” (shorts) and vest in an easy vertical and horizontal rib pattern. The vest is made in a simple T-shape. There’s also a reprint of a baby blanket pattern from 1958 in the back pages. Sitchcraft apparently got many requests for reprints of popular patterns and many of them appear in issues from the mid- and late 1960s.

Homewares are a mix of smaller, easy projects that one could take along or use on a late August holiday, and larger at-home projects to work on for the autumn. In the first category, there’s a charming, easy embroidered apron and cloth set for a summer picnic, with appliquéd hearts as pockets in both the apron and (for napkins, how cute!) picnic cloth, an easy cushion embroidered on Bincarette and simple woven table mats suitable for patio use.

In the second category, there’s a complicated “Swedish” rug with both pattern weaving and tufting and for churchgoers, a cross stitch panel or kneeler featuring a scene of St. Francis with various animals.

The Patons wool ad is weird and sexist, as usual. When you’re not with your man, naturally all your time is spent doing things for him and knitting for him — but if the photo is any indication, you’re not even happy about it? Here is the beloved man smugly lording it over his wife, who looks sad and embarrassed in spite of having knitted a lovely comfortable cardigan for him as well as a gorgeous outfit for herself. Be proud of yourself, skilled knitter, and remind your man that he would die of starvation and cold if you didn’t cook for him three times a day and knit him warm things!

As nice as many of the projects in this issue are, there’s nothing that catches my fancy enough to want to make it except perhaps the baby items (but I don’t know any babies that age at the moment, or anyone who’s expecting one right now.) I have so many WIPs and one of them is from a 1967 issue of Stitchcraft, so I’ll try to finish that up and make another “Fast Forward” post about it. My July ersatz project should get finished this week, so I’ll update that post soon as well.

June Excursion: Sport Coat No. 9049

Since the June 1964 issue of Stitchcraft didn’t have any projects that I really wanted to make, I thought I would share another non-Stitchcraft, non-1960s “blast from the past” project that I recently completed.

A little back story: for the last couple of years, one of the wonderful mods from the “All Things Vintage” group on Ravelry has been transcribing serial stories from 1920s newspapers and posting them, one chapter a day. She supplements them with posts of photos or postcards from the era, as well as clippings from the same newspapers with advertisements, fashion advice, and all kinds of details that give context to the stories. The stories themselves are often quite hare-brained in terms of plot (the authors had to keep readers interested through 100+ chapters, so cliffhangers and ridiculous plot twists abound) but thoroughly entertaining, and give a lot of insight into social mores and lifestyles of the time.

As you might expect, we (the group’s members) enjoy these stories immensely and add to the entertainment by guessing the outcome or the next plot twist, making insightful or humorous comments on the characters and action, or adding our own spin-off ideas to the story (one member even re-wrote a chapter in the style of a post from the popular moral-advice-seeking “AITA” subreddit.) Out of all this fun, the idea was born to have a Knit-Along / Crochet-Along relating to the current story, where participants could make an item of clothing that one of the characters might have worn, and explain how the item would fit that character’s personality.

For my part, I love the stories but don’t usually knit items from the 1920s — unshaped, flowing upper-body garments make me look like I am wearing a sack. I do like the Fair Isle patterns which were enjoying a renaissance at the time, so looked for some of those, thinking I might make a slipover/vest/waistcoat for myself. Then a fellow All Things Vintage member helped me find the pattern shown above, which I knew would perfectly suit a friend of mine who is a huge 1920s fashion aficionado. Isn’t it dashing?

The pattern, from 1923, is written for Bear Brand Bucilla wool in stripes of fawn and brown, with additional contrast motifs in “Henna”. My friend did not want a beige and brown cardigan but did want a period-appropriate colour scheme, so we settled on navy blue and white with burgundy-red contrast, a popular “sport” combination of the time. My yarn was “Soft Merino” by Wolle Rödel, a very normal, easy-to-knit-and-care-for DK 100% wool.

The pattern was full of surprises, starting with the back, which is knit entirely in single-colour 1×1 ribbing. It is consequently very narrow, much more so than the wearer’s back, but stretches with movement. I was convinced it would make the cardigan too tight, or make the bands gap too much in the front, but the ribbing has enough “give” that it works out perfectly with the flat-knit Fair Isle fronts. The overall effect is sleek and slim-fitting, but allows for plenty of easy movement — I can see why it was intended to be worn for playing golf or other sports with lots of upper-body movement.

Speaking of those Fair Isle fronts, though… a closer read-through of the pattern revealed that they are not supposed to be knit in stranded Fair Isle technique. You are supposed to knit them in plain stripes and them embroider the motifs on later using Swiss darning aka duplicate stitch! I was truly flabbergasted to see that, as I had assumed the 1920s interest in stranded knitting designs extended to stranded knitting technique. Not so — in fact, as I learned, many other “Fair Isle” designs of the time were also produced via duplicate stitch embroidery.

I like embroidery on knitwear in moderation, but all the motifs on both fronts of the entire jacket was too much for my liking. I experimented with different techniques on the first couple of stripes — should I strand all three strands across the whole row (bulky and the dark colours show through the white background)? Not strand at all, but make each motif in intarsia using separate short lengths of wool (so many ends to weave in)? Strand the colour for one set of motifs across the row and embroider the other (worst of both worlds?) Interestingly, making all the motifs in intarsia technique and weaving in the ends turned out to be the least amount of effort, so that was my choice.

The sleeve cap construction was fascinating. Because the back is done entirely in ribbing and the front in flat colourwork, the front and back pieces have a naturally different shape above the armhole even though the bind-offs and decreases are symmetrical. The sleeve cap accounts for this by casting off three stitches every other row on the front-facing sleeve side and one on the back sleeve side. That made a very lopsided sleeve cap which fit perfectly into the lopsided armhole. Wow. I would never have thought of designing a sleeve cap like that, but it makes perfect sense and produces a very neat, squared-off shoulder.

For a final surprise, the pockets are not knitted, as I am familiar with from 1950s and 1960s pocketed garments, but made of “some strong fabric” and sewn in. Thinking along with the sportswear theme, that makes sense if you are going to put a heavy golf ball in your pocket — a knitted pocket would sag under the weight, but the woven fabric (I used a bit of cotton-poly ex-pillowcase from the upcycling drawer) keeps its shape nicely. The pockets were made extra large by request and it was surprisingly difficult to sew them in place, but they turned out fine.

And that was that! The story, by the way, was “The Involuntary Vamp” by Mildred K. Barbour, published in 1921 in the Washington Herald, and concerns itself with the adventures of young Diana Langley, who was “cursed” by her aunt Marjorie with the “gift” of “lure” — all the men are after her, but the only one she really wants (Stephen Dale, an older friend of the family) cannot marry her, as insanity runs in his family. So she marries another man out of spite, jumps off her honeymoon train in the southwestern U.S. desert with a different man, gets semi-kidnapped by yet another man, gets away and finds sanctuary with yet another man (and his sister) who we later find out is responsible for the whole hereditary insanity situation… or non-situation, as it turns out (did I mention that the plots of these stories are often ridiculous, but thoroughly entertaining?) and then has more adventures before being united with Stephen Dale, who is actually quite mentally healthy and was in love with her the whole time. Diana’s first-husband-out-of-spite has meanwhile conveniently died, leaving the happy couple free to marry!

The Stephen Dale in the story is quite rich (of course), has a yacht and participates in all the usual 1920s upper-class sports, so here is my “Stephen Dale” wearing his all-purpose sport cardigan to play a round of croquet on a lovely leisurely Sunday afternoon:

There are such nice details in the cardigan, from the turned-up ribbed sleeves to the neat pocket flaps. The buttons are real mother-of-pearl, vintage buttons from the 1920s.

And with that, they boated off into the tropical sunset! May all your adventures have such a happy ending.

June 1964: Overview

Welcome to the official start of the Stitchcraft holiday season! The June 1964 issue gives us a mix of elegant 4-ply designs, casual bulky knits to wear as outerwear, beach clothes for the kiddies and easy homeware projects that can be packed up and worked from a deck chair.

Our cover models are just returning from the weekend market, where they have secured a basket of nectarines. They’re wearing an “easy-line sport pair” of “cruise mates” in complementary colours and the same basic block-and-rib pattern. The ribs are made with p1, k1tbl to give them a more textured look, and the men’s version has an eagle motif, because it is “manly for him.” I wonder if both versions were originally designed with a motif until the designer realised that it would fall in an awkward place on the women’s version?

Nautical navy blue and white with red accents never goes out of style for summer casuals, and we see it in this bulky, yet “featherweight” (18-20 ounces of Patons Ariel, so make of that what you will) white cardigan. I can believe Stitchcraft when they say that the wool is lightweight, considering its bulk, since the twisted-rib pattern eats up a lot of wool.

Ona different note, we see simple, yet elegant knitwear separates in 4-ply that are suitable for the office of a more dressy casual situation. The basic skirt and plain or diagonal-striped top are knit in muted pastel shades and meant to be interchangeable — “Basic skirt with a change of top” is the headline for this well-coordinated set. There’s also a waistcoat for her that would match the skirt when worn with a blouse, and a fine-knit raglan pullover for him. The waiscoat and pullover are both in this season’s trendy yellow tones of “Spun Gold” and “French Mustard”.

Children can enjoy splashing around at the beach in their trunks and sundress (the girl’s trunks are sewn into the sundress to prevent wardrobe malfunctions, definitely necessary with a micro-mini tunic skirt.) Here again, traditional red and white or navy blue and white are the chosen Somewhat older children have a choice of short-sleeved jumper and/or cardigan with a Ladybird motif (more about that in the next issue…!), continuing the red and white theme. On a completely different colour note, you can make a beach cover-up coat in crinkly “Rimple” wool lined with towelling — a brilliant idea for drying off and staying warm after a swim in cold northern waters. It’s quite easy to make, consisting of literally three rectangles for fronts and back, with garter-stitch borders and then lined with the towelling.

While sitting and sunning at the beach, you can work on an easy homeware project, such as a cross-stitch cushion, a knitted tea or egg cosy, or a tatted lace edging for handkerchiefs or pillowcases. Even the workbag in Turkish darning would be easy enough to work on while on holiday, though the Victorian-esque horse-and-buggy cross stitch picture, the needle etching, and the crocheted rug are presumably easier to work on at home.

That’s it! Summer issues are usually less exciting than autumn and winter, as many people (understandably) don’t like to hold wool in their hands in hot weather. As with many of the mid-1960s issues, there’s nothing in here that particularly speaks to me, so my June project will be another “excursion”, this time all the way back to the 1920s. The project is almost finished (unlike my April and May blog projects…) so I’ll be able to put out a finished project post in time for once, even if it’s neither from Stitchcraft nor from the 1960s. Think of it as a holiday from the usual blog theme.

P.S. The back cover is a full-page ad for “Lightning” brand zips and and is illustrated with a very professional-looking pattern for a suit! I am tempted to size it up and sew it. Here it is for any readers who would like to try their hand at it.

May 1964: Summer Cardigan

Edit June 15th, 2022: FINISHED!

My May project was this elegant little cardigan “for warm, sunny days” with a cute, easy bobble design on the front panels and decorating the collar and sleeve borders.

It’s actually meant as a blouse, knitted in 4-ply “Nylox” wool-synthetic blend at 7 stitches to the inch, but my version is a slight bit heavier and warmer, made with “Softwool” from the wonderful Apple Oak Fibre Works, whose production site / shop I was lucky enough to be able to visit in Ireland a few months ago. It is an amazing, all-natural plant-based dyeing company with a completely circular, no-waste production system. They even grow their own dye plants. The “Softwool” that I bought is dyed with cochineal for a bright cherry red colour and otherwise untreated (not superwash).

My swatch gave me 6.5 stitches to the inch, so I calculated it out with the pattern to make the second size (intended for 34-35 bust at 7 sts/inch, I am a bit bigger than that.) I started with the sleeves, to check that the modified gauge actually worked, and it did, but the body (which I made in one piece up to the armholes to save time and increase symmetry) was more complicated. I measured after a few inches and seem to be getting 7 stitches per inch, but at the same time, it was way too wide when I measured it. I trusted the gauge and kept going, and it turned out fine. Strange!

The bobble pattern is cute — two rows of twisted stitches “grow” out from a bobble made on the first row of the 12-row pattern. I don’t make bobble patterns much, but if I do, the only technique I knew until now was to knit 5 (or more) stitches in the back and front of one stitch, then cast those stitches off. This pattern says to

K into next st, turn and cast on 4, then k. into back of each of these 5 sts., cast off 4.

I couldn’t make that work and look nice! The bobble was floppy and the turning and casting on was awkward. After the first two, I used my method, which used the same number of stitches and looks fine.

The 3/4 length sleeves are finished off with a strip of bobble pattern. The collar was quite tricky. I like a collar which is picked up around the neckline and knitted on. This one is sewn as a separate piece (in very curly stockinette stitch), then you make another separate collar border piece with the bobble strip pattern from the sleeve edgings, then sew border and main piece together and sew that on. It was not easy to make it come out right and have it sit properly flat, but blocking helped a lot and in the end, it was fine.

I have an event on June 18th for which we are supposed to wear red, and I hardly have any red clothing, so I worked hard to get this cardigan finished in time and got it done a week early!

As always, we had fun re-creating the booklet photo. My telephone has a more modern shape, but it is old enough to still have a cord. What doesn’t exist at all any more are telephone books, so I substituted some thicker music scores.

I’m really happy with the way this turned out and will look forward to wearing it a lot. The only thing I might do is add some facing ribbon to the buttonhole bands to keep them from stretching.

May 1964: Overview

Cover photo from Stitchcraft magazine, May 1964, showing a woman in a pink knitted cardigan

Stitchcraft‘s May 1964 issue promises a “May Merry-Go-Round” of “a wide choice of Summer Knits for leisure, holidays, travel and all the warmer weather activities.” Time flies so fast that I feel like I’m on a merry-go-round even without knitting — but let’s see what this issue has in store for us.

Our cover feature is a high-buttoned cardigan with a deep “pineapple stitch” hem and collar. It’s made in DK weight wool, but the pineapple stitch and slip-stitch rib make it quite heavy (20 oz.) and presumably warm and sturdy. There’s a less bulky design in DK wool on the facing page; no collar and a plain twisted stocking-stitch make it require only 12-14 ounces of wool. Patterns that utilise texture and lines, especially diagonal lines, are still very much in fashion, as are high necklines and collars.

The back cover shows off the latest in partner-look sweaters, this time with a V-neck. It’s not what you would call a traditional Aran-pattern design, but it combines some of the typical cable elements with textured ribbing for a sleek, modern twist on the traditional look. The sweaters are made in light colours with Patons Totem Double Crepe, a very smooth yarn with a tight (“crepe”) twist, to make the pattern stand out.

(Side note: This issue is visually one of the most fun I have encountered, thanks to multiple photographs of the same garments and models in different poses, and the liberal use of illustrations. I particularly like the one with our male model looking up out of his book (travel atlas?), apparently quite concerned, while the female model looks calmly into the distance. Feel free to suggest captions!)

“Finer-knit fans need not feel neglected” by all these bulky, loose-fitting overgarments, promises our “editress” in the facing-page notes: here’s a cute blouse-cardigan in 4-ply wool with the same use of vertical lines, textured pattern and collar, but all in a more refined and elegant look. It’s made in Nylox, a wool-synthetic blend much like modern 4-ply sock wool, and promises to be “very pretty and feminine worn with a pastel skirt.” The man of the family sticks with DK-weight wool, though, and gets a “best of all golfer style” zipped cardigan with classic shawl collar and mock cable detail. I’m only sorry that they chose the normal pose for the full-page photo and relegated the fun one to the facing page.

A cardigan jacket for indoor-outer wear is practical for summer travelling, so this month’s issue offers us a structured, yet comfortable “Blazer for Globe-Trotting” in DK weight as well as a belted coat with pleated swing back for the teenage daughter. The coat has a matching cap, as well, and is made in tweedy, bulkier “Glenora” wool. Here, again, there are multiple photos, so you can get a sense of the coat in its entirety.

Younger children can enjoy their holidays in hand-knits as well: the boy’s zip-neck jersey promises to be “tough and manly” for the future rocket scientist of the family and makes nice use of stripes and a more subtle textured pattern. (The colours, from neck to waist, are “Breton Red”, “Magnolia” and “Woodland Green”.) Toddlers can go “splashing and paddling” at the beach in a cute romper with a matching cardigan to cover up when it gets chilly. And here’s another great illustration, showing our little model splashing and paddling with her father, sand castle in the background.

Speaking of beach holidays, how are you going to transport your (possibly wet) swimsuit, sunglasses, towel and whatever else you need back and forth? In a chic, yet practical home-made kit bag, of course. Here are two designs to sew yourself: an “envelope type” made out of tough deck-chair canvas, or a drawstring bag made out of towelling material lined with plastic and decorated with a sailboat motif in appliqué and embroidery.

There’s regular embroidery for the home, too (to work on which sunning in your deck-cair, perhaps): an easy cross-stitch book jacket for the Radio Times, another traditional chair-back/cushion design, and some more intricate wall panels with colourful wildflowers.

Speaking of intricate wall panels: if all that weren’t enough, there’s another amazing felt appliqué wall panel, this one featuring characters from “favourite books.” That is, if your favourite author is Charles Dickens, which, why not, I suppose? There’s Barnaby Rudge and Oliver Twist from their namesake novels, Peggoty, Little Emily and David Copperfield from his namesake novel, Mr Pickwick from his namesake novel (‘s papers) and Grandfather and Little Nell from… (OK, I admit I had to resort to Wikipedia for this one) The Old Curiosity Shop, one of Dickens’ books which I have heard of, but never read. Anyway, the appliqué is fantastic — just look at the detail photo on Mr Pickwick’s face.

That brings us to the end of our issue, and by the way, if you suffer from unwanted weight gain as a result of all your holiday leisure, why not try sucking on a tasty “WAFEX” wafer half an hour before each meal? I’m suuuuuure it’s not only extremely effective, but also perfectly safe. After all, it’s “SO GOOD — SO NEW AND DIFFERENT that it has been granted a U.S. GOVERNMENT PATENT” ! (Note: I do not actually know what was in these appetite suppressant wafers, but seeing as it was 1964, they could contain anything from sugar to amphetamines to absolutely nothing. Please do not take medical advice from me, or from 1960s knitting-magazine advertisements.)

I would love to make the 4-ply cardigan blouse, but it will take a while, as I have so many unfinished larger projects on the needles at the moment. Until then, enjoy your Spring, Summer, holidays, travel or whatever else May has in store for you.

April 1964: Girl’s Holiday Dress

Photo of a a girl in a yellow knitted dress, Stitchcraft magazine, April 1964.

EDIT, May 4th, 2023: Finished!

Smart 4-ply dress — chill-proof but not too hot — is a good extra to pack in a little girl’s holiday bag. Very pretty in bright sunny yellow with a crisp edging of white.

So is Stitchcraft’s description of this wonderful little dress, which was my project for April 1964 aka April 2022. It’s made in reverse stocking-stitch with vertical rows of eyelets and has many charming details: patch pockets, a buttoned packet with collar, waist ribbing, a picot hem and crocheted picot trim.

Photo of the same girl in knitted dress, Stitchcraft magazine, April 1964

I would love to make this in an adult size to wear myself, but for now I made it in the size written (for 26-27 inch chest, 23 inches long) and worked pretty much the way it’s intended. I say “pretty much” because I made it in the round to save time. That meant knitting it inside-out. Also, a hem in reverse stocking-stitch doesn’t look great, so the hem is in normal stocking-stitch with the picot folding edge, as intended.

The pattern is written for Patons Cameo Crepe 4-ply, which must have been a very smooth, tightly plied wool (“crepe twist”) in “bright, sunny yellow”. I do like the yellow, but I was trying to de-stash and I still had plenty of the of wonderful “Puppenfee” vintage wool that I used for this baby matinee coat last June. It is tightly plied, fine wool with an “Effektfaden” of (presumably) nylon or Lurex, giving it a little sparkle and also a bit of extra stretch — perfect for a rapidly growing child. It is also not scratchy, a rare trait with vintage wool but necessary when knitting a dress for a child.

Though lovely and not difficult to knit, the dress was quite time-consuming (7.5 stitches to the inch…) and soon ended up in the “Eternal WIP” pile in favour of more interesting projects. I needed a small, easy travel project last November (2022), so took it out and worked on it during breaks and train rides, and made a lot of progress.

I switched to knitting from the right side (but still in the round) when it was time to make the ribbed waistband, then continued in the round from the wrong side for a couple of inches until it was time to divide for the front opening. At that point, I broke off the yarn and started a new beginning-of-round from the front opening (instead of at the side, where it was until then), so that I could make it in one piece back-and-forth.

Then it went back in the WIP cabinet until now (spring 2023), when it finally got faster to knit after the skirt was finished. If you look carefully, you will see a very subtle difference in the shape of the eyelets after I switched to knitting back and forth. It doesn’t bother me, but it is noticeable if you look for it. There are no sleeves as such — you cast on a few stitches on each side and add a picot double hem to make tiny cap sleeves.

The collar and pockets are made separately and sewn on, after being decorated with a crochet picot border. I happened to have a little bit of white wool from the same stash that I inherited along with the blue wool. The placket is also knitted the same way as the hem and sleeve edgings, with double buttonholes.

I found the world’s most perfect little white fabric-coloured retro-style buttons at my local yarn and sewing shop, and sewed an extra one into the hem in case one gets lost. (They’re pretty sturdy, though.)The final touch was given by threading a couple of rounds of elastic thread through the waist ribbing to tighten it up a bit. When buying the elastic, I noticed it could also have been knitted together with the primary yarn, saving time and energy and making the waist that much springier. Noted for next time!

I never had a specific child in mind to knit it for. The little recipient of the matinee coat is currently (May 2023) almost three years old and the dress might well fit her now, but the time I started knitting it, she was quite a bit smaller and would not have fitted into the dress at all. Time to check in with the parents to see how much she’s grown! Or, I have a knitting friend here with a fairly big two-year old. Maybe the dress can even be handed on when one child has outgrown it?

In any case, this was a gorgeous project and I am seriously considering adapting it into an adult-sized version for myself.

April 1964: Overview

Like ~~March~~ April weather, Stitchcraft‘s „Spring Lineup“ from ~~March~~ April 1964 has a little bit of everything to offer. (No, that was not an April Fool’s joke — I have apparently lost track of time. Thank you Gretchen for noticing!!) There are warmer garments to wear on a spring ramble or for summer sailing, knitted cardigan jackets to take the place of outerwear, some slightly dressier separates for a going-out ensemble, and easy homewares that can be packed and taken along on your coming holiday.

Our cover model is wearing a knitted jacket whose texture almost gives the appearance of being woven, thanks to a very firm three-colour slip-stitch pattern made by moving the working wool back and forth and so „wrapping“ the slipped stitches on each row. It‘s made in Totem Double Crepe and is intended to be worn as outerwear — as well as being „ideal for the car.“ Men get an outerwear-cardigan as well, this time with a combined texture and colour pattern and classic shape, and anyone can wear these casual, loose-fitting „sports sweaters“ while sailing or otherwise out in cooler maritime weather.

For more dressier occasions, there‘s a two-colour fancy cardigan in 4-ply fingering weight, or a jumper with matching pleated skirt in 4-ply bouclet. You can also make an „overblouse“ in double knitting to wear over a short-sleeved, lightweight jumper in a new twist on the twin-set theme. Zig-zag patterns, whether worked in colour or texture, and large collars continue to be popular.

In the „Junior Knitting Fashions“ department, there‘s both a warm Scandinavian-style sweater in a typical snowflake pattern, or a wonderful „Sunday best“ dress.

Homeware project ideas are plentiful, but not out of the ordinary. Embroidery fans can make a lovely apron with a traditional Romanian design, or cross-stitch a kitschy „Swiss border“ (nice illustration of an Alphorn player!), or work a counted darning pattern on placemats or a chair back. There‘s a fire screen with appliquéd tulips, a tapestry chair seat, a fancy knitted lace traycloth and a mat with appliquéd crocheted butterflies. You can also crochet lace borders to trim linens or whatever else you like. Truly, there is something for everyone!

I would love to make the child‘s dress, but don‘t necessarily know a child who wants one. Maybe I should size it up for myself? I would wear it! Otherwise, the embroidered apron is really nice. Maybe too nice to get splattered with food… but it would make a great knitting apron as well. We‘ll see!

P.S. Sorry for the lousy formatting. The WordPress editor does not work well on a tablet.

March 1964: Overview

Greetings from Kent from your March 1964 issue of Stitchcraft, featuring “Spring Into Summer Fashions” photographed in “some of your favourite spots around Canterbury and Tunbridge Wells” so that you can see the knitwear “in their own settings as you would wear them.” Shall we go?

“For our climate”, writes editress Patience Horne, the best outfit for the spring and early summer months is a sweater suit, quickly knitted in double knitting wool. Cool blues, salmon pink and yellow-green are the trendy colours, and pattern stitches are used sparingly as an accent on hems or collars, or as a single vertical stripe panel.

Our cover model is wearing a twin set with a trellis pattern accent on the cuffs, pockets and collar of the jacket and the hem of the short-sleeved jumper underneath. Here, again, we see how twin-set styles have changed since the 1940s — everything is long, loosely-fitting and unshaped. The “Golden Willow” sweater suit on the inside front cover is similarly unfitted, with a cable “V” pattern stripe. For “The Creamy Look”, there’s a a high-buttoning cardigan with a subtle diamond pattern on the fronts. All three models are made in “Double Quick” knitting.

“Double Quick” is also the featured wool for the men’s and women’s “sport sweaters” in the lovely full-color center photo. I’m not sure what makes those two garments more “sporty”, as they look equally as elegant as anything else in the issue. His sweater is worked in stranded technique from a chart included in the instructions, and hers is made in plain stripes with the diamond pattern embroidered on later in Swiss darning / duplicate stitch. If “Double Quick” is not bulky enough for you, there are matching sports sweaters for him and her made in bulky “Big Ben” at 3 1/2 stitches to the inch. The salmon-pink jumper (Stitchcraft calls is a “sweater blouse”), by contrast, is made in 4-ply wool in a classic shape, with pattern accent panels in an interesting mini-bobble stitch.

Babies get a wonderful pram set of footed leggings, coat and matching bonnet. It’s referred to in the index as a “four-piece” set, but I am at a loss to find a fourth piece anywhere in the instructions or photos. Maybe they planned to make matching mittens and then didn’t? Bigger children get a cute slipover with an argyle pattern on the front. The photo is very 1960s, with the girl freezing her legs off in a micro-mini skirt and the boy sporting a bow tie.

The homewares are fairly standard: a tea cosy, apron and tray set and a knitted kangaroo with baby for your bizarre/bazaar novelty needs (there’s also a reprint of a 1956 knitted ice-skating panda bear doll, if the kangaroo isn’t enough for you.) You can also cross-stitch a rug and pyjama case with square-headed dancing soldiers to haunt your small son’s dreams, or some flowered place mats, a cushion or wall hanging, or another cushion inspired from a traditional Greek star design.

In the “Readers Pages”, a new serial comic is starting: “Susan’s Sampler”, in which our heroine learns embroidery from a magic needle, and our back cover ad (for Patons Double Quick Knitting wool) shows yet another woman lovingly looking up at a man who has trapped her with her back to the wall in order to mansplain something to her. Feel free to give the photo some speech bubbles befitting a modern interpretation of this scenario!

That’s all for this issue. I’ll be making the child’s slipover and for once, I’m quite sure it will be done on time. Happy Spring!

February 1964: Fur-Trimmed Hat

Photo of a fur-trimmed knitted hat from Stitchcraft magazine, February 1964.

February’s project was this wonderful fur-trimmed hat. Fur or fur-brimmed hats were all the rage in the mid-1960s (my grandmother had a hat very much like this one with real fur — but too small for my head). Also, hats were big – wide-brimmed or with wide bands around the front, and often with a crown that was much higher than the wearer’s head, like the “baker boy” style crocheted cap from the same February 1964 issue, so this item is perfectly on trend.

Photo of a crocheted hat from the same magazine, Stitchcraft, February 1964.

This pattern was written to knit in Patons “Glenora”, a medium-bulky tweed yarn. (It appears to be a wool-synthetic mix, but if anyone has more detailed information, I would love to know.) The hat part is knitted and a fur strip is then sewn onto the front band. I used Lana Grossa “Fashion Tweed” (71% merino wool, 17% alpaca wool, 12% synthetic), which is lovely to work with — soft, fluffy and lightweight even at a tension of 4-4.5 stitches to the inch.

Like almost all 1960s patterns (even for hats and many gloves and mittens), this one is written to knit back-and-forth with a seam. I made it in the round. It took one evening of Netflix to knit and one evening to cut and sew the fur band and do the finishing touches. The fur in my version is fake, and was very interesting to cut: when I bought it, the saleslady wasn’t sure if she should cut into it and rip as customary when buying fabric, or cut it with scissors, since the synthetic fur is quite thick and has a slightly stretchy woven base. Ripping it took some effort, but had the advantage that the edge curled in slightly and didn’t ravel. Experiments on scraps at home showed that cutting this fake fur makes a less neat edge and lots of tiny bits of fur everywhere.

After knitting, blocking and sewing on the fake-fur band, the hat is pleated at the front edge and tucked at the crown to give the shape seen in the magazine photo. There’s a little decorative tie at the front edge too, just above the band, that is hard to see in the photos. The tie is made by knitting a strip in stocking stitch and then letting it naturally roll into a narrow tube. I suppose the modern version would be to knit some i-cord, but this worked just as well. The tuck and pleat, on the other hand, didn’t work quite as well in the wool I chose, since it is less bulky and thus has less intrinsic shape than Glenora. Still, the effect is about the same.

I made this hat for a friend’s daughter, but I would gladly make another for myself. It’s warm and fun and looks very, very 60s. I wore it for the photo with a coat inherited from my grandmother which also features a dramatic plush “fur” trim. (Sadly, the sleeves are way too short for me. They are also plain wool, and every year I search for a plush fake fur that matches the collar, so that I can make matching cuffs. I never, ever find this right colour and degree of plushness, but am considering using the same fake fur from this project, since it’s the closest I’ve ever found).

I am very happy with this hat!

February 1964: Overview

Cover photo from Stitchcraft magazine, February 1964

Knit for Spring Sunshine! It’s four o’clock in the afternoon here on February 1st, 2022, getting dark, raining sleet and there has not been a single minute of today where I was able to do anything without turning on the lights, so I am especially happy to dream of modelling beautiful handknits in sunny Polperro in Cornwall, where this issue was photographed.

Colour variations are a big theme this month, be it tweedy new multicolour yarns, stripes or classic stranded colourwork and intarsia. Our cover model shows off the gradient look in a fun diamond-pattern sweater with a matching tie and cap. Both cap and sweater are knitted in intarsia technique with the different colours of wool wound onto bobbins, but strangely, I can’t see the diamond pattern on the cap at all. I guess it’s because the top part of the cap only uses the two darker colours, and they don’t show up well in a black and white photo (see close-up of the cap below).

Collars and ties make an appearance in the tweed dress from the inside front cover, made in multicolour “Glenora” wool, and there’s a sparkly tweed suit in purple Bracken Tweed wool as well. Men get a classic raglan V-neck, also in Glenora tweed. Deep jewel tones (I’m guessing the colour “Trossach” from the men’s pullover is a sort of deep fenny green, named after the Trossachs area in the Scottish Highlands) are in fashion as well as gold, featured in two pullovers on the inside pages. A loose, casual fit with no shaping remains the preferred silhouette (or lack thereof).

For contrast, there’s a classic, lightweight jumper in 4-ply wool bouclet. The jumper style would be right at home in other decades, but the photo style is as 60s as you will ever find, with an extreme close-up of a round braided place mat used as a backdrop. I’m almost waiting for it to start swirling! Finishing off the adult garments is a cheerful striped cardigan in 4-ply Nylox (wool/nylon blend).

The accessories match the garments well, using the same wools and in similar casual, oversized style. Besides the diamond cap, there’s a knitted cap in Glenora with fur trim and a “baker boy” cap to crochet.

There’s nothing for babies or very young children in this issue, but older kids can get some very nice new additions to their wardrobe, like this wonderful dress in blue Bracken Tweed with contrasting checked collar and cuffs, or a sweater for boys with in intriguing tab collar and colour detail at the hem. There’s also a balaclava-style “helmet” to keep out any March winds.

With all these larger projects to knit, it’s no wonder that the homewares are less than spectacular this month. There are embroidery projects for sofas, chair backs and pelmets (N.B. if you, like me, are not familiar with the last word, it’s that strip of fabric at the top of old-fashioned curtains, that hides the curtain rings / mechanism.) There’s a cushion and/or fire screen in a traditional Yugoslavian pattern, a stitched bathroom rug, a tapestry picture and dressing-table mats in cutwork embroidery. The cushion in “Continental laced stitch” is the most interesting of the projects, to me — it’s made by drawing threads and stitching around the resulting rows of holes, then putting the cover over a contrasting-colour cushion.

There is no children’s comic this time (how sad!) but the “Readers Pages” offer a reprint of a 1955 pattern for knee-high cabled socks, instructions on how to make a wool daisy and a magnificent “flower basket” teapot cosy featuring those wool daisies. If you’re on Ravelry and search projects for “flower basket” tea cosies, you will find many similar examples — this seems to be a popular item in modern times as well! The Patons wool advertisement shows a happy baby whose grandmother has knit him something pretty, and the back-cover Lightning Zip ad has a very practical dress pattern laid out. I’m tempted to copy it large and sew it up.

That’s all for this issue. My project will be the (faux) fur-trimmed tweed hat. See you soon and until then, let’s dream of spring sunshine!