The Quick Knit 1940's Style Sweater - Redux

As always, Cupcake watches over my knitting and keeps me on track.  This last week has been a really rough one here.  Starting on Valentines day, I came down with a migraine that lasted a solid 5 days before I decided that I needed to go to the ER.  I'm no stranger to migraines, I get them about twice a year and they usually last for 2 days.  So on day five I figured it was time to involved the professionals.  By then, I had already missed out on Valentines day plans and had completely ignored this weeks homework and was running out of time to get it done.  So a trip to the ER and an IV filled with steroids, nausea meds, and Benadryl and I went home to sleep for the rest of the day.  Thank goodness I woke up the next morning feeling quite a bit better.    I still feel like it is right there behind my forehead just waiting to come back, but I have at least been able to catch up on my homework and get some knitting done.  It's now been over a week since the onset of this damn headache and I still don't feel like it's completely gone but I'm managing through it.

I've been working on the The Quick Knit 1940's Style Sweater by Flossy and Dossy.  This was a free pattern published on the Flossy And Dossy blog, but it has now been deactivated.  After it was deactivated, it was written on the Ravelry project page, but even that is gone now.  Thankfully, what they say is true about the internet.  Once you put it out there, it's out there for ever.  After a bit of googling I was able to find it on an archive page here.  In true vintage fashion, the pattern is very sparse, only comes in one size, and assumes that you have knitting intuition. However, it's been easy enough to alter, so far and it's coming along nicely.

My friend Terri and I are working on this one together.  She just finished up her very first sweater and has wanted to make this one for a while.  Since I made this once before and liked it, I though it would be nice to work on it together.  I am making some alterations and hope to post them when I'm done.  I am looking to a new book for help with the neckline and think it is going to work out well.

 

I got this book for Christmas from my dear friend Barbara and I'm excited to put it to good use.  It is not a pattern book, but rather, a work book for adapting vintage patterns and adding vintage touches to modern patterns.  I can see this book coming in very handy.  I have an ever growing list of vintage patterns that I want to make but need to up my skill set to make up for the fact that I am not an 'average size' 1940's-50's gal.  My boobs have a few inches on all those ladies.

 

Until next time, what do you do for a migraine? I usually hide in my dark quiet bedroom for 2 days with lots of fluids and rest.  I guess that is no longer working for me.

 

XOXO,

Cherry



Kiri Shawl

Here is my lovely Mother modeling the Kiri Shawl that I made for her for Christmas.  Can you see the family resemblance?  So often I am told how much I look like my mother and I love it.  She often reminds me of a time when I was just a little girl, sitting on the bathroom counter watching her put on her makeup.  I would intently watch her and marvel in her beauty and tell her how much I wanted to be as beautiful as her when I grew up.  Well, I got my wish, and I couldn't be happier.

I've often said that I am a very selfish knitter.  When I spend so much time and energy making something beautiful, I often want to keep it for myself.  However, if there was ever a person who is worthy of such time and dedication, it is my mother.  She is a talented knitter herself, and knows and appreciates all the love that goes into any handmade gifts.  She also loves lace shawls and although I really enjoy making them, I don't usually wear them.  It's a knitting match made in heaven. 



This is more true to the color

The Kiri Shawl is a lovely free pattern on Ravelry by Polly Outhwaite.  A gorgeous, lacey triangular shawl that would work with a variety of yarns and can be made to what ever size you'd like.  I chose a 2ply lace weight yarn by Jojoland yarns called Consonance.  This is an amazingly soft and delicate 50% cashmere, 50% silk yarn that knit up beautifully.  I bought 2 skeins of it (at 40% off, does it get any better than that?) and ended up using just a little of the second one.  I don't know what I'll do with the rest of the yarn yet, but you can guarantee that I'll be using every inch of this stuff.  It's that lovely.

Here, Cupcake and I are contemplating weather or not I can get 2 more rows out of the tiny little bit of yarn that is left there.  I did not.  As the rows get larger and larger, they take a surprising amount of yarn and I was forced to add the second skein in for the last row and cast off row.  Thank goodness I had gotten that second skein, which I couldn't have done if it weren't on sale. 

Blocking this sucker was an absolute bitch.  Some of the points came out very nicely and others I couldn't pull out well at all.  Things might have gone more smoothly if I could have used my blocking wires, but unfortunately they have been packed away.  They are 'some where safe', which means they I have no idea where the hell they are.  So, I did the best I could with what I have.  Meaning lots of sewing pins on a towel, on my living room floor.

See what I mean about the points?  It's not perfect, but when worn, you can't see all the little imperfections.  From this point, it was just a matter of keeping Cupcake from running over it.  Of course, this was the point where she thought a round of 'fetch the squeaky toy' was absolutely imperative. 

This wraps up the gift knitting and I am now back to knitting for myself.  I'm already working on  a spring cardigan and am actually almost done with it.  I look forward to sharing it soon.  Even if spring is a long way off.  Maybe it's wishful knitting to be working on a project for warmer weather when the temperatures are in the -40 below region.  I leave you with a picture of what -42 degrees looks like here in Alaska. 

Looks like a perfect day to snuggle under a blanket with Cupcake, my knitting and a hot cup of tea.  Which is exactly what I did.  Stay warm, my friends.

 XOXO,
Cherry

Marion Cardigan - Finally Finished

 

Well, after almost 4 month, this outfit is finally finished.  It was actually finished about 2 weeks ago, but with school and the current plague that is going around, I haven't been able to blog about it till now (not that I haven't blogged about it before here and here).  After 2 weeks of feeling like I was knocking on deaths door, all the while trying to keep up on school work, I am starting to feel a bit better.  And after spending 12+ hours yesterday doing nothing but school work, I feel it's ok to devote a tiny bit of my time here.  There have been a few days that I have been fully intending on blogging "just as soon as I get this chapter done".  Only to realize that it was some how 11pm and I was too exhausted to do anything other than crawl into bed and zone out to Netflix. 

 

 

After an unusually warm winter, here in Alaska, we have finally hit our normal winter temperatures of -30* to -40*.  Which leaves it all but impossible to take nice outdoor pictures.  Especially in a thin cotton skirt like this one.  So you'll just have to deal with horribly lite, indoor photos from my phone.  Hey, it's better than nothing.



 

 

Since I've already blogged so much about this outfit, I won't go into too much detail here.  The sweater is the Marion Cardigan by Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots.  I usually try to stick to free patterns, but when it comes to Andi's patterns, they are always worth it and I am never disappointed.  So many other patterns I need to alter the hell out of, but hers I can follow strait through and not have any problems (as long as I remember to pay attention to ease).  I used Malabrigo worsted, a lovely 1 ply merino wool.  This is a VERY poor choice for sweater knitting as the 1 ply makes it less durable and is likely to wear out quickly.  It is also 100% wool and will felt if you look at it the wrong way.  That being said, oh it is so cozy, like wearing a hug from a cloud.  I will have to be extremely careful with it when laundering, but this will not deter me from wearing it.   I am completely in love with it.  Which is seriously surprising, I have never been drawn to anything in the yellow range.  Maybe it's the lack of color in the dead of winter that is making this sweater the ray of sunshine that makes me smile so much.  Whatever it is, I am pleasantly surprised.  It also helps that I had the vintage buttons already in my stash to finish it off.

 

The skirt is made from a vintage (WWII era) fabric that I acquired from a friend of mine who was moving to Hawaii.  She believes it was in her grandma's stash.  It was made completely without a pattern but I managed to do decent box pleats, a side zipper (vintage) and a button closure (also vintage).  Now I just have to wait for the temperatures to get up above zero for me to wear the whole ensemble out of the house.

Well, it's back to the homework.  After over a year of being unemployed and not attending school, it has been a real challenge to get back into the swing of things.  It's hard to believe that 2 years ago I was working 2 jobs and going to school and now I'm struggling with just school. Even as my back has been feeling a lot better, I am still surprised at how much a chronic injury takes a toll on my daily life. I'm working to get the new schedule under control so that I can still keep my head above water with my school, home, crafting and blogging. 

XOXO,
Cherry