Tag: knitting

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: Slipover for a Smart Tot

My March project was a cute slipover (vest, sweater-vest, tank top, pullover or whatever you call a knitted over-shirt garment with no sleeves and no front opening) for “tots with a fashion sense.” The tots in the photo definitely look very smart and very 1960s, with the little girl in her tiny micro-miniskirt and the boy sporting a bow tie.

The design (“from Vienna”) features a high V-neck and a simple, but effective argyle-type diamond pattern on the front. It’s written for Patons Nylox Knitting in 4-ply (fingering) weight. Nylox was a wool-nylon blend, fairly new on the market at the time and marketed for hand-knit garments that needed to stand up to lots of washing and wearing, so especially suitable for children’s clothes.

I used modern sock yarn (Meilenweit by Lana Grossa), an 80% wool / 20% polyamide mix which comes pretty close to the original Nylox yarn, and kept the original colour scheme of light blue with the diamond motif in white and navy, so this project was quite authentic to the original. The only change I made was to lengthen the body somewhat to fit the intended wearer, who is on the taller side for his age.

I don’t often work with intarsia designs, so this was a fun change and something new. It went quite quickly, as the pattern is easy and clearly written, so there’s not too much to say about it! I do think it will be well appreciated by the smart tot it was knitted for, as well as his parents.

There are some great children’s designs coming up in the next few months’ issues, so stay tuned for more well-dressed kids.

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!

January Excursion: Clarel

This month’s project (finished just on time!) is somewhat different from usual, as it is neither from Stitchcraft, nor from the 1960s. It’s a sleek little knitted blouse from 1937, from a pattern originally published by the Spool Cotton Company and now available on the wonderful Free Vintage Knitting website.

Unlike Stitchcraft, which I have been collecting in paper form for some time now, this was my first acquaintance with the Spool Cotton Company, and I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of it before. A Wikipedia search turned up the Clark Athletic Association, an American soccer team from New Jersey that was sponsored by the Clark Mile End Spool Cotton Company. I don’t know if this was the same Spool Cotton Company that published the pattern, but I suspect it could be. In any case, the Clark name and company are of course well known in the knitting/crochet world, having existed for centuries in various forms and mergers (Clark Thread Company –> Coats and Clark –> Coats Patons, which in a roundabout way even leads us back to Stitchcraft…).

From what I can see in the Ravelry database, Spool Cotton Company patterns were primarily for accessories and homewares crocheted in cotton (as one might expect with a brand named “cotton”). The leaflet which contained “Clarel” was entitled “New Knitted Fashions”, with coats, dresses and suits as well as knitted blouses, and was inspired by British fashion of the time (though “fun to knit because of their easy-to-follow American instructions”.) Apparently they were written to be used with Red Heart yarn.

If anyone knows more about this company or publication, or if my guesswork in the last two paragraphs was incorrect, please let me know!

“Clarel” is written for fingering-weight wool at 7 stitches to the inch, and I had some lovely (why oh why was it discontinued?) Lana Grossa Slow Wool Lino on hand, which was perfect for it. The 15% linen makes a very smooth yarn that hold cables well, but the overall texture is quite soft and stretchy.

As most patterns of this era, there is only one size given, for 34 inch bust. I calculated out a somewhat larger size using a percentage multiplier (no. of sts x 1.05) and just added the extra stitches onto the reverse stocking-stitch base that extends on the sides. I also added 2 patterns to the length and 2 patterns to the sleeve length.

I particularly love the little design details of this pattern: the mini-rib lines (just ktbl on a reverse st st background) dividing the cables, the funny tabs at the neck and the double buttons (attached together with a crochet chain.) I could make the chains a little shorter to make the placket line up straight.

All in all, I am very, very happy with this project. It fits perfectly, is lightweight, warm and soft, and makes me look like I have much more of a figure than I actually have. It even matches a tam I just knitted, as well as my fading dyed-pink hair. What more could a person want?

Next month will be a return to Stitchcraft and the 60s!

January 1964: Overview

Happy New Year! It’s 1964 in the Stitchcraft blog world. “Busy as we all are,” writes “editress” Patience Horne in the issue notes, “it is surprising how many things needlewomen manage to make in a year.” Well, it’s my New Year’s handcraft resolution to finish up WIPs and reduce yarn stash, so let’s see how many new things I will manage to make.

(Apropos finishing up WIPs, I finally finished two very detailed and extravagant cushions: these blackwork butterflies and this amazing neo-Jacobean embroidered felt appliqué extravaganza, so be sure to check out the updated posts.)

Back to January 1964, what does the New Year have in store for us, fashion-wise? At first glance, it doesn’t look much different from the trends of 1963. Garments are warm, bulky, tweedy and textured, and homewares are traditional and floral. The Swinging Sixties have not swung through the pages of fashion-conservative Stitchcraft yet. Still, the designs are fun and easy-going, the bulky items quick to make.

Our cover design is a sweater suit in in plain DK and tweedy Patons “Glenora” wool. There’s an equally tweedy cardigan in bulky Ariel for women as well as garments with fun colour motifs and textured stripes. The colours are warm and vibrant, with deep pinks and yellows prevailing. Men get a very yellow pullover with nice cable details and a zip-up cardigan for the casual “country look” (with a coquettish smile from our handsome model.)

Appropriately enough for January, the accessories are warm and practical: cheerful hats in an interesting tied-loop stitch for “him and her” and warm mittens in stranded colourwork. As usual for this time, the stranded patterns, even for gloves, are worked back and forth, with front and back pieces worked separately and crocheted together.

There are three fantastic designs for a young girl in this issue: a wonderful “walking set” for a toddler, a warm wool dress for an ice-skater and — at long last! — hand-knitted tights to keep a girl’s legs warm. (Strangely, our skating model is not wearing the tights, though you think she would need them out on the ice more than the young model pictured in an indoor setting!) I love the toddler’s outfit, with its contrasting colour in the flared back seam of the coat and ribbing on the hat, mittens and leggings. I like the seated girl’s dress too, as well, though it’s neither knitted nor one of the magazine’s designs.

The homeware projects are fairly standard: a floral tablecloth, a tartan tapestry chair seat, a decorative panel with a white vase worked on a red background. The “music” tapestry motif is quite classic, as is the tapestry kneeler for church use.

As always, some of the most interesting features are tucked away in the back pages. I would love to be able to send away for this sewing design, offered by Vogue patterns in cooperation with Stitchcraft. It’s a simple, sewn woolen “pinafore dress” that could be worn over a blouse or lightweight jumper, with a blazer for a suit effect, etc. Unfortunately, I can’t sew well enough to reverse-engineer a no-longer-existent sewing pattern from a photo. Also, what a beautiful knitted doily.

As much as I would love to make the toddler’s walking outfit, I don’t currently know a child of the right age, and starting another huge project seems daunting at the moment. I’ll probably skip ahead or back a few years to find a project from another issue that will help me de-stash. Stay tuned for details, and happy New Year!

December 1963: Overview

Cover photo from Stotchcraft magazine, number 360, December 1963

“Christmas is very nearly here” — where did the year go? As always, Stitchcraft‘s December issue is a mix of warm, bulky, quick-to-knit winter garments for the family and little handcrafts for presents and decorations.

Our cover model is wearing a hat in trendy “high-crowned” style with matching muffler. It uses “Glenora”, Patons new tweedy-multicolour wool. Unlike the “tufted” hat from last month’s issue, this one needs no millinery wire to keep it from flopping — the wool is relatively thick and is used double on the hat to make it really solid and windproof. The buttons are purely decorative and are made by covering button moulds with velvet cut from a strip of ribbon.

Other cold-weather accessories include these mitt(en)s, crocheted in a spiral to make the backs and fronts. Aside from the stripes on the fronts, they are almost identical to these mittens from February 1960. The full-size garments are all made of bulky wools for wamth and quicker knitting. There are pullovers for men and women in Big Ben or Ariel wools, a check-patterned pullover in double knitting weight and a cardigan “in larger sizes” (39-42 inch bust). Both of the bulky pullovers as well as the cardigan use variations on twisted or mock-cable stitch patterns, where you knit stitches in the “wrong order” in order to cross them. Big, pointy collars are still very much in fashion and the colours are bright and bold for winter: “Lipstick Red”, “Strawberry Ice” and “Royal Blue”.

Children get “Christmas sweaters” in holiday colours of red, green, and white, with bold snowflake motifs in stranded patterning.There’s a frilly bed jacket in lightweight 3-ply and a waistcoat variation on the men’s pullover, as well. They’re photographed in colour on the inside back cover. Funny that, with all the brightly coloured garments in the issue, they chose the one beige garment for the colour photo! You do see the tweed flecks better, though. That amazing creation at the top of the page is the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, reproduced in fine embroidery in felt appliqué. This isn’t the first huge, complicated wall panel project we’ve seen and I can only assume that Stitchcraft had a really good appliqué designer.

The other homeware/decoration projects are small and easy, intended for little gifts, holiday bazaar sales or to brighten up the festive table. You can knit a little puppy doll complete with its own fully dressed bed, or make some silly but nonetheless cute egg cosies (the human-looking one is supposed to be Friar Tuck.) There’s a “pinny” apron to sew for a child, party table mats with a star motif, and these stuffed and embroidered felt stars to hang on the tree. I made one of these last year and will probably make some more this year — they are quick to make and just the thing for a mini-present.

If you have a little more time (but don’t want to tackle the Brighton panel), you can knit a knitting bag, crochet a floor mat, or make a hard-wearing cushion in a standard “ribbon” needlepoint design. If you’ve really got some time on those long winter nights, you can make a set of dining-room chair seats in tapestry, or a large pile rug in a “Byzantine” design. (Beautiful leather satchel in that photo as well! It’s a just a prop, though, of course — Stitchcraft‘s crafts didn’t extend to leather-work.)

Then there’s this design for a little sewn bag with an embroidered horse named Archie on it. Archie, since you asked, is the horse in the children’s comic “The Smuggler’s Sack”, which has been running on the back pages of Stitchcraft for the past few months. It features children Joe and Jenny, who live in a waterfront town whose mystery pirate/smuggler treasure has never before been discovered. Will they be the ones to find it at last? As of yet, they’ve found a mysterious box … which has a false bottom … which contains a map and a key .. which leads them to .. an inn called “The Smuggler’s Sack.” They’re disappointed, but could the inn hold the clue they’ve been looking for? Shades of Daphne du Maurier!

“Archie” will in fact feature in my December project, where I will be embroidering him onto a modern soft case / traveling bag for a pocket synthesizer.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Extra: Show and Tell Knitting

Cover photo from Stitchcraft magazine showing two women under an umbrella, April 1961

I was invited to be a guest on Show and Tell Knitting, a wonderful video podcast about vintage knitwear (and accessories, vintage styling, and more) produced and hosted by billietoy. Her guests are all amazing knitters who share their favourite or most noteworthy projects and explain their process and the stories behind them.

Billie and most of the other guests focus more on 1930s to 1950s styles in their knitting and collecting, so I believe I was her first guest with a 1960s collection. We had a wonderful chat about 1960s fashion and history, I showed some projects and some vintage magazines and explained a crazy local tradition in my town that you probably won’t find listed in a tourist guide. (Hint: it involves kale, cold weather and lots of alcohol.)

The link will go live this Saturday, November 20th, 2021, at 17:00 GMT (18:00 in western Europe, 9:00 US west coast, 12:00 noon US east coast, check your time zone to make sure…). There will be a live chat at the premiere if you want to check in and say hi.

Here’s the link as a link, as well: Show & Tell Knitting, ep. 64.

November 1963: Overview

The autumn months are always the best for knitting magazines, with a mixture of heavy garments for colder days, easy-to-make holiday gifts, warm accessories and a few glamorous items for parties. Stitchcraft‘s November 1963 issue puts the focus on “warm family fashions… with the emphasis on colour and attractive textures that are interesting to knit and very becoming to wear”. There’s something for family members of every age and “for the petite to the not-so-slim.” The homewares and little projects are quick and fun to be finished in time for holiday decorating and/or gift-giving.

The “country jacket” on the cover continues the tweedy, variegated colour effect in fashion this fall, using Bracken Tweed wool for the main body and Totem DK for the collar and cuffs. I finally know what colour Totem “Oakapple” is! The other women’s outdoor-wear fashions include a zip-neck sweater with textured pattern bands in turquoise, an “overpull” with cabled neckline in flecked “Cantaloupe” colour (sadly, no colour photo, I have no idea how it looked in real life) and a simple brown top made glamorous by knitting the wool (Cameo Crepe 4-ply) together with a strand of sparkly Lurex thread. There’s also a warm, soft cape for winter reading in bed, knitted sideways in an easy zig-zag pattern. Aside from the green and white bedcape, shades of autumn brown as well as bold blues and red are the season’s trendy colours. Stripes, zig-zags and textures complete the Autumn 1963 look.

Men’s fashions are just as colourful as the women’s, or even more so (less use of plain brown…) and show more of the zig-zag trend. Here are some bold designs for “him and her” using bulky Big Ben wool (and photographed in front of…). The construction is the same for both, with the smaller design for bust sizes 33-35 inches and the larger for 39-41 inches, with the advice that “Plumper girls could follow his size”. The man’s pullover in “Italian colouring” uses stripes and textures, toned down by the use of more neutral colours. The blue-and-white cabled sweater in the photo next to it is for teenagers.

School-age children get their own “tough, tomboy sweaters” in Bracken Tweed wool. The suggested colours are “Black Olive” or “Gorse Heath”, which I assume is a sort of green-yellow tweed (no colour photo). Babies get a lovely shawl to match the layette from the September and October issues. It’s easy to knit, as the centre and borders are made separately. The other baby/nursery-age items are crocheted, sewn or stitched: a pram cover with a teddy-bear motif, a little nightcase with fluffy appliquéd kittens, a knitted doll, an embroidered “feeder”, sewn and appliquéd pinafore smocks…

There are fewer designs for accessories, but the utter fabulousness of this loop-stitch crocheted hat makes up for anything else that could be missing. The model in the photo features in many issues from this time period and always looks either quite sad or has that alluring Mona Lisa smile that’s she’s sporting here. (Am I mean, or wrong, to assume that she probably had bad teeth?) I would smile widely if wearing that hat, and I hope everyone who saw me in it would too. Also, knit your man a tie!

With all this bounty, the homewares are mostly standard: embroidered table mats and a Christmas-design tablecloth, a decorative panel with the Star of Bethlehem for more religiously-minded households, and a very impressive tatted doily and crocheted trolley-mat. The show-stopper is a lovely decorative panel “taken from a book of Oriental designs” embroidered in Filoselle silk on linen. (The design is allegedly of Persian origin, though of course neither Stitchcraft nor its typical readers of the time gave much thought to questions of authenticity, nomenclature, exoticism or any related issues that we would regard and discuss today.) It is a pretty picture in any case, and was probably not too difficult to embroider, consisting mostly of standard seed and straight stitches, French knots, and so on.

That’s all for this issue! I am going to make that wonderfully ridiculous hat.

Design Extra: The Valiant Tailoress

This has nothing to do with Stitchcraft, neither is it vintage, but I had a design published in a brand-new magazine and just wanted to share that with all of you.

The Valiant Tailoress takes its name from the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale “The Valiant Tailor” (or “the Gallant Tailor” or “Brave Little Tailor”, original title Das tapfere Schneiderlein) and combines sewing, knitting and crochet to create outfits that look great together. The theme of the first edition is “The Enchanted Forest” and was, fittingly, photographed in the beautiful Black Forest area of Germany.

I hesitate to call it a “magazine” because it is really a book — 260 pages long on glossy paper, with articles on unusual fibres, traditional hat-making, different techniques for lining a sleeveless dress, and pages and pages of gorgeous photos. Seriously, even if you don’t knit, crochet or sew, you could use it as a coffee-table book — it’s that beautiful. The knit/crochet patterns are excellently tech edited with full charts, schematics etc. and the sewing patterns are printed on real paper.

My design was a long, lacy cardigan called “Lemon Leaves” and was paired perfectly with a floral bustier dress.

As an only semi-professional designer (I’ve had one other pattern published until now, a stranded tam and mitts set in Knit Now magazine), I was really honoured that my design was chosen to be part of this project. And I love the idea of combining sewing and knitting/crochet in one publication! In a way it does tie back to vintage publications like Stitchcraft that combined knitting and crochet with embroidery, tapestry, rug-making, etc.

The Valiant Tailoress is available to purchase in print form from their website, www.valiant-tailoress.com. It’s published in Switzerland (in English) and can be shipped around the world.

October 1963: Overview

Cover photo, Stitchcraft magazine, October 1963

Tweed! Remember last month’s post with the advertisement for variegated-colour yarn? This month’s issue presents Patons’ new variegated wool, “Glenora Tweed”, a slightly thicker DK-weight wool with dark tweedy flecks. It appears to have been made up of 80% wool and 20% synthetic fibre. The twelve colours were chosen to be as vibrant as tweed can be (and very 1960s…) with rich shades of red, green, orange and yellow.

As it knits up fast at about 4 stitches to the inch (but promises to still give a “beautifully firm crunchy texture” i.e. hopefully not sag too much under its own weight), it is showcased with larger garments — the “pinafore-style” over-dress and men’s cardigan shown on the cover and two two-piece suits for women. There’s also a pinafore-style overdress with pleated skirt for a older girl and a boatneck sweater for men, both in similar Bracken Tweed wool. In keeping with the newer, looser and more square-shaped style, the garments have minimal or no shaping (except the girl’s outfit) and the skirts come to just above the knee. To me, the women’s Glenora garments look so similar that I had to check twice to assure myself that the pinafore dress on the cover (with high scoop neck) and the two-piece set with skirt and “overblouse” (V-neck) were in fact different designs.

There is a matching 4-ply (women’s) or DK-weight (girl’s) jumper to go underneath the pinafore looks or the overblouse, which, combined with the thick over-garments, must have been suitably warm for outdoors or poorly heated rooms in October. (The girl, of course, is going to have cold legs all the same.) For those who resist the tweed craze, there’s also a bright, fun colour-block sweater in a three-colour slip stitch pattern. I love the matching orange head scarf!

There’s also a fun 4-ply jumper for a child with some easy stranded colourwork blocks at the waist and yoke. The accessories continue the bulky, easy-to-knit trend, with a cap and scarf in Big Ben wool and a big, cosy scarf for men in an intriguing reversible cable-moss pattern.

Rounding out the family’s fall wardrobe is a matinee coat and “helmet”-style cap for a baby, matching the dress from the September issue. The November issue promises a warm shawl to match again, thus rounding out the set. Judging from the photo, “dear little baby Alicia” seems to have realised that the purpose of a helmet-style cap is to prevent the baby from removing it and flinging it around the room, and is suitably disappointed. It’s a great design, though, with the sides and chin strap done in garter stitch to accommodate movement and growing heads.

The homewares are plentiful and here again, there are some larger projects to be tackled at home during the colder Autumn days. The bright red rug in Soumak stitch and traditional design is vivid and cheerful, as is the Jacobean cushion “for the skilled needlewoman” which I would love to make if I didn’t already have two unfinished embroidered cushions in the WIP pile. (Not to mention that I am not skilled enough to make that elaborate a design, especially without a transfer.) The Autumn-themed acorn cushion is definitely easier. There’s a Regency ribbon design for tapestry or cross-stitch, too.

For those who want a quicker, easier homeware project or are already getting started on the Christmas presents, there are more embroidered acorns on cutwork mats and some knitted and crocheted goodies: a “Scottie-dog” night-case, a crocheted bag, and… a hippo, yes, a friendly knitted hippo stuffed animal. Well, why not? It’s cute. An older child might embroider her own Little Miss Muffet picture in cross-stitch.

The very last project in the issue, tucked way back in the “Readers’ Pages”, is the one I will make. In fact, I have been waiting for this issue to come up specifically so that I can make it! It is a very simply constructed and embroidered “Apron-cum-Knitting-Bag” where the front panel and waist ties of the apron fold into the bag part along with your knitting. Pull the drawstrings closed and carry the bag around, then when it’s time to knit you can undo the strings, pull the apron part out of the bag and tie it around your waist, Presto, you are ready to knit in any situation, standing or sitting, and your ball of wool will not fall down and roll about the room. Stay tuned for a project that will actually get finished on time, as well as progress on those projects that didn’t.

September 1963: Overview

Cover photo from Stitchcraft magazine, September 1963

“Knitting Time starts with a Sparkle” is Stitchcraft’s motto for the September 1963 issue, and the editress’ note assures us that “this is going to be a particularly interesting Autumn-Winter knitting season.” What does that mean for us? Lots of interesting use of bolder colours in traditional or not-so-traditional stranded and geometric patterns as well as subtler use of colour variation in tweeds and toning changes.

1963 was the year when variegated yarns, so beloved by modern knitters, first came into fashion (hence the “sparkle”), and although Patons doesn’t yet offer a truly colour-variegated yarn, here’s one from the competition: Bernat Klein No. 1, as featured in this stunning eight-page advertisement in Vogue Knitting Book No. 62 from 1963:

(The Lux and Opti-lon ads should look familiar to Stitchcraft enthusiasts as well.)

The tweedy look starts with the three-piece suit from the cover photo, consisting of a skirt, long-sleeved jumper and high-buttoning cardigan with stripe accents to bring out the lighter blue tweed flecks. Apropos “fleck”, that’s the name of the yarn: Totem Fleck. The jumper is made in the lighter, solid blue color with ribbing accents in the tweed shade. It seems to be a “switch-around” ensemble, i.e. you are not intended to wear the cardigan over the jumper as you would with a twin-set. Bracken Tweed, the somewhat bulkier tweed wool of the season (Totem Fleck is DK and Bracken is more like Aran-weight at 18 sts to the inch), is featured in this blazer “for young men who like comfortable clothes”. You know, the kind of clothes you can play ball sports in: a button-up shirt with tie, short wool trousers and a hand-knitted tweed blazer. Of course.

The other adult or teen garments feature bolder colours and interesting stranded or textured designs, like this intriguing dolman sweater with the stranded stripe running horizontally across the yoke and down the sleeves. I feel like this use of colour would look terrible on me (wide chest and long arms), but I love the idea! The man’s sweater uses a more traditional placement of the colour bands, but in contrasting green and orange tones and a spiky geometric diamond design (continuing the trend from summer 1963). The sweaters on the inside back cover have a more muted colour palette and subtle diamond texture pattern. Textured patterns make a showing in the other women’s garments as well: a bobbled raglan pullover, mock-cable cardigan and nubbly “Rimple” jumper. I want those glasses! The diamond-shape trend shows itself here in more subtle form via V-neck openings and pointy collars.

This issue also starts a new layette set for the youngest members of the family, starting with a warm dress, hat and bootees. Next month’s issue promises a matching matinee coat and cosy “helmet” cap. The caption for the modelled photo reads, “Jonathan is just 2 months” and reminds us that babies of both sexes wore lacy dresses with both pink and blue embroidery on them. 1963 was definitely a more sexist era, but also a more practical one in some ways.

There’s an interesting selection of Autumn-themed homewares as well, like a leafy fender-stool and chair-seat set, some blackwork finger-plates for the door (reminding me that I still have not finished my blackwork butterfly cushion from April…) a cushion and runner with Chinese motifs (I cannot vouch for any kind of authenticity — the motifs look very similar to the traditional European “Jacobean” designs to me, but what do I know), a pair of crochet-appliqué trolley cloths and a crochet-motif cushion.

And then there’s this “practical idea” — cover an old box (they used a wooden margarine box of about 16×12 inches and 8 inches deep, which sounds like a lot of margarine ha ha) with embroidered Binca canvas, cushion the lid with foam rubber under the embroidery and strengthen it with a piece of wood on the under-side and voilà: a “magazine tidy” which can also be used as a little stool to sit on. Very practical indeed and reduces clutter. I like it.

That’s all for this issue! I’ll be making the quick ! easy ! uses up leftovers ! crochet cushion. How quick and easy is it, you ask? I’ll tell you: it is so quick and easy that I started working on it last night, September 1st, and am already more than half finished: (Working on both halves of the cushion cover alternately so as to gauge how much wool I have of each colour.)

So there will definitely by a finished project in September, and hopefully this will give me some time to finish up the rest of the WIPs. I did also complete a retro-themed jumper of my own design which is not technically from Stitchcraft, but I’ll post about it anyway, because it was fun.

August 1963: Man’s Cable Cardigan

Man modeling a cardigan, from Stitchcraft magazine, August 1963 issue

UPDATE November 2021: Finished!

The August 1963 issue had some nice projects in it, most of them pretty labor-intensive. None of the women’s garments spoke to me and while I liked some of the embroidery projects, I still hadn’t finished my blackwork butterfly cushion (From April. April !!) and was not going to start on a huge tablecloth. I loved this cabled men’s cardigan, though! It has a nice classic form and just enough detailing to keep the knitting interesting. And it’s made in DK weight wool, so it should go fast… right?

Incompletely knitted sleeve of a cardigan in blue wool

Ha ha. No, of course it did not go that fast. I had been trying to finish up a lot of other wips (not necessarily vintage or Stitchcraft-related) and the pandemic had eased enough in my corner of the world that my work started up again, so the cardigan was not nearly finished at the time of the first draft of this post. As of August, I had knitted one sleeve completely and was quite a ways on the other sleeve and that was all.

I would be happy to wear this design myself and could have juggled the proportions and made it in a smaller size for me. At the same time, I have so many clothes and a close family member who would love to have a nice hand-knitted cardigan has a “big” birthday coming up later this year. At his request, I made making the cardigan in a lovely shade of deep blue in lovely Drops Garnstudio Lima (65% wool, 35% alpaca.) He hasn’t seen the design (that part will be the surprise).

The sleeves are quite straightforward stocking stitch, so not much to report. I really loved the wool.

I made the body in one piece to avoid having to seam more than necessary (likewise, I made the sleeves in the round). The cable pattern is quite standard, but used here in an effective and interesting way to narrow the top yoke. The hem at the bottom is neat and tidy and does not flip up.

The intended recipient is slightly bigger than the largest size given in the pattern, so I made the cardigan on 4 mm needles for a bit looser gauge. Recipient is also more square-shaped than the “rectangular” model in the photo, but it will fit him with the same amount of ease.

That’s pretty much all there is to say! It came out perfectly and will be delivered on time for the big birthday. I’ll also definitely keep this pattern around to maybe make another one for myself some time.

August 1963: Overview

End of the Season! Sadly, yes, the “holiday” season is drawing to a close and although it’s only the last day of July, it feels like autumn is around the corner. On the bright side, the late summer and autumn issues of Stitchcraft are always the most fun, with a good range of lighter-weight and warmer garments, children’s things for school, and more intricate homewares.

“The trend for colour use is in these bold clear motifs” writes “editress” Patience Horne, a trend which is reflected in “chunky”, boxy shapes, bright colours and simple stripe or geometric designs. The cover illustration shows two of a three-piece “his and hers” set — cardigan and mock-layered turtleneck for her and a buttoned-collar pullover for him– that all make use of single bold stripes. The woman’s matching pullover is made to look like a deep V-neck over a turtleneck top, but the under-layer is just an insertion knitted separately and sewn in.

There’s more use of simple, geometric motifs in the other women’s garments: a classic pullover with a wide check stripe down the front in double knitting and a colour-block cardigan with diamond motifs made in bulky “Ariel” wool. Diamond shapes are still trending from last month. There’s a bulky indoor-outdoor cardigan jacket in Big Ben wool, made in a slightly less simple striped waffle stitch. Necklines are high, whether buttoned or not, and collars are either big and square or non-existent.

Continuing the interesting neckline/collar trend, we’ve got unisex “tomboy tops” for children, with a cute “tie” decoration on one of the pullovers. Simple, bold stripes and pointy diamond patterns show up here as well, whether in colour or as a stitch pattern element. The one lighter-weight design is a square, buttoned-neck pullover with double stripes near the hem and a coordinated skirt. Rounding out the garments is a lovely classic cardigan for men featuring cables on the upper yoke and — you guessed it — in two simple lines down the fronts.

Unlike the knit designs, some of the embroidery and tapestry projects are quite elaborate and ornate. Look at these Chippendale chairseats! That seems quite out of place to me in a modern 1963 home of clean lines and unfussy decoration, but of course many of Stitchcraft’s readers were older and/or conservative in their style, and probably not on the cutting edge of home redecoration even if they had the money to spend on it (which I’m guessing most of the readership didn’t.) The “peasant motif” tablecloth and cross-stitch place mats have more of a clean, colour-block aesthetic. I really love the tablecloth design! It can also be adapted for a cushion. Speaking of cushions, here’s a fancy one made of essentially two very large, intricately knitted lace doilies joined together around the cushion base.

And let’s not forget that standby of every proper 1960s home… the fluffy hand-made bathmat and matching well-dressed “pedestal” aka toilet! Hats off to every grandmother and great-aunt who kept true to this amazing home furnishing concept throughout the rest of the 20th century. (Seriously, one of my great-aunts had a setup like this in her guest bathroom in the plushiest, fluffiest, yellow and black shag carpeting you could imagine, and I’m pretty sure it stayed there until the turn of the millennium.)

That about wraps it up for this month’s issue. The ads are unspectacular and a new children’s comic is starting up, featuring twins Joe and Jenny on their hunt for the legendary “Smuggler’s Sack” that just might be waiting to be found in the caves near the beach. Good luck, little friends! My project for this month will be the men’s cabled cardigan.