It´s a vest, It´s a vest, made from real….

(Sorry for the pun in the title, some might get it and some don´t…but it is constantly in my head)

This month i didn´t finish a lot (still haven´t started on Christmas Knitting…but this year it is only a pair of mittens). But i did draft (or started) some new patterns, which need to be tested. And i made a bag from two pairs of old jeans. Which came out quite nice.

But first my knitting project, which i started at the end of October and finished on November 8th. The pattern is called Sleeveless Pullover, i would call it a vest (well in german we call it “Pullunder”), by Jack Frost. It is a free vintage pattern from 1951. You can get it on Ravelry, or if you don´t like Ravelry you can also get it HERE.

The yarn was the same i mentioned in my last post (and probably will mention in my next post, because right now i´m knitting mittens with it). For that vest, the yarn was perfect, that´s why i´m sure this yarn is not really a DK weight but an Worsted weight yarn. As usually i didn´t make a gauge/yarn swatch, because i never do that and most times i´m lucky…(don´t be like me, swatches are important!).

And it was quite an easy and fast knit. The front and the back are the same except the neckline, which was a first for me because i never ever tried to knit a v-neck.
The funny thing with vintage patterns (or patterns in general actually), if i “find” a mistake, i´m never sure if it is a mistake in the pattern or i did something wrong. With this pattern, i think it was in the pattern. When you are in the front – casting off sts for shoulder shaping it says = 6 sts every other row 4 times. You start with 28 sts for the first side. Knit 2 together – 27 sts. Than dec 1 sts every 4 rows 10 times – 17. I only was able to cast off 6 sts 2 times and 5 sts one time. Weirdly enough i think in the back there were enough sts.
I also tried to make the neck band three times (Instruction: taking up 57 -1 -57 sts), i couldn´t manage it, there were too many sts in my opinion,in the end i managed it with about 45/47 sts ( i was so frustrated, i didn´t write it down.)

This is the back…it looks amazing. The pattern is not a cable pattern just a variation of purl and knit stitches!

And this is the finished vest from the front.

It is cozy and it fits very nicely!
As i mentioned in my last blog post, i wasn´t (and i´m still not) really sure about the hat i knitted. I probably won´t wear it , but i don´t want to frog it as well…which is a stupid situation. I´m now knitting some easy mittens (also a vintage pattern) and then i won´t have much left of the yarn for anything else. Which is quite a nice feeling to have finally knit up (nearly) everything of that huge ball of yarn.

Did you ever have had a project where you weren´t really sure, if you should frog it or leave it?
Thanks for reading and have a nice beginning of the last month of the year (oh god)!
(The upcycle bag will get its own blog post…)

Winter Knitting….and more

I know i didn´t post in a long time, but those last two months have been a bit stressful. First of all, one of my cats had an huge accident. We still don´t know what happened exactly, but somebody drove over her with a car…
There have been a lot of days of worrying, that she might die and the caring and recovery took some weeks, BUT she is alive and well, thankfully. Weirdly in those times you met a lot of people, who say instead of paying for an operation you should have put her to sleep, because “there are so many cats around”. Mildly put, i´m disgusted by those comments and views. For me, my pets are part of my family and i have to care for them.

Secondly, it is autumn now, and we have a lot of pear and apple trees, which fruits want to be harvested. And the garden needs to be in order before winter comes around…there is/was a lot to do. I was still able to knit and sew some things, but i had hardly any time to write about it (nor had i a lot of motivation to do so.)

After finishing some big birthday knit for my mother (someday i will post about it), i started knitting for winter season. I needed some cozy hat, a cowl and some new mittens or fingerless gloves. I already finished the hat (i´m not quite sure about it) and the cowl, which i really like.

I had this yarn in my stash, which i bought last year i think. It is called “Schnellstrickgarn Mia” and it is from KiK. It is on the cheaper side and it is not as soft as some of the modern acrylics i have worked with before, but not as bad as they used to be. Because of the stitches given on the banderole you need for 10 cm (22 sts x 30 rows), I would categorize it as DK weight yarn and this point is one of the things i´m still a bit annoyed(?) with in knitting. It is a tiny bit thicker as most DK weight yarns i have used, but it is not actually a “real” worsted. On the other hand, i recently knitted with a yarn from Schachenmayr, which was thinner than this one, but with 19 sts x 26 rows, i would have categorized it as worsted weight. So confusing!

Well, but back to my main point. I thought it would be nice for a hat. So i chose an easy project, the “Three by Three Hat by Galzanne Knits. (Which is free on Ravelry : https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/three-by-three-hat)
And it was an easy project! It only took me a few hours distributed over two days to start and finish it. But i´m not sure with the end result. Because the yarn is a bit thicker than DK, the hat got a bit more voluminous than i thought. I mean, it is surely warm and that is great for winter, but i don´t know if it is not too much for my head…if you know what i mean.

The Cowl, which is the Bynx Cowl by Hayley Quinn (also a free pattern), on the other hand has the perfect size for my taste. Not to tight and not to loose. It took me a few days longer than the hat, but you could easily knit it faster than me. The cable repeating is quite easy, but don´t knit when you are sleepy…of course i made one mistake while knitting the bigger cables. It is hardly noticeable, so i didn´t go back.

For the mittens/ fingerless gloves, i don´t have a pattern yet.
What are you knitting for winter? Any favourite patterns or don´t you need anything because you have enough winter knitwear or you don´t have winter at all?

Thank you for reading and i hope you have/ had a nice weekend!
Till next time.

Knitting Adventures: Top by Initiative Handarbeit

My summer knitting craze started with this top and it hasn´t stopped yet. At the moment i´m knitting summer top after summer top. I have lots of fun right now. Sadly my plans for a year of socks didn´t quite “knit” out. I have a few in the making and in the planning, but they are not a priority right now.

And it is weird, that i didn´t stop after this top, because i made a lot of mistakes (rookie-mistakes…although i still consider myself a beginner). Or the yarn was cursed…who knows.

The pattern was this free pattern from Initiative Handarbeit with the simple name Top. (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/top-21)

Notice on the picture it looks much more casual and bigger.

I only had one yarn in sports weight in my stash. This was a yarn i had for at least 15 years. I started (and finished) some projects with it, but i never kept the finished objects or i frogged the started ones. It never felt right, it didn´t really felt right with this top either. But i wanted to make a top (and i wanted to take part in the MAL by “A Visit with Nana and Papa” -> https://www.ravelry.com/groups/visit-with-nana-and-papa?s=tab). So this yarn was it.

I wanted it to look casual, so i made the larger of the two sizes 40/42 (at first). I don´t know what happened with my brain while reading the instructions. I completely misunderstood the increasing and the decreasing. I think i was confused because i couldn´t determine, if the pattern was counting the WS-Rows and the RS-Rows as one row (yes some do that) or as seperate rows. I decided to go for the first option…after a while – well i was nearly at the waist – i noticed that it was option number two (because suddenly i was able to count properly). So i hastily made something up and continued (would i have frogged this project, i wouldn´t have started it again). My second big mistake happened at the straps…apparently i miscalculated the rows or the stitches…i don´t know anymore. But i finished it.

The back

As i looked at the back piece, i also noticed that this looke quite small, but not too small that (wait 3rd big mistake incoming) i thought:”Well, then i could knit a size smaller as well”…. I know, you are probably asking yourself: “what was she thinking?” And i have to answer: “I have no effing idea.”

So the front piece went pretty smoothly (because i followed the instructions…ha!). I stitched everything together and was surprised that it fitted…quite good actually. Not casual as i wanted it, it fitted like a glove.

Sorry for the bad photo quality.

It is a bit on the short side, but guess what, i forgot to add my usual 3-4 cm of length, but i raised the neckline about 2cm (it is still a bit low). That only mistake that is still “visible” are the back straps, they are so short that they pull back the front straps. I think i can live with that.

And i even won the first MAL-Prize! YAY. The prize was a paid-for pattern, which was then my next summer top.
I still have some leftover yarn. I can´t really tell you how much i used up, because i didn´t weigh it before. And “one” ball was the leftovers of a project.

All in all, i do like the top. It is my colour, it fits well and it is good to wear. I´m happy about it, but i´m happier that this yarn i as good as gone.

Thank you for reading, till next time!

Knitting Adventures: Lady’s Jumper by The Argus

For a long time i wanted to try my hand at some vintage knitting patterns. I´m telling you, there are soo many amazing patterns out there…and i want to make them all. But when reading blogs or watching vlogs from knitters who “specialise” in vintage knitwear, i always got the impression, that old patterns are hard(er) to understand than modern ones and that most time the wool used (even if the gauge is given) is not comparable to the wool we have today, (which is true) and that influents the fit. So for my first pattern i was looking for something very simple.

And i found the Lady´s Jumper by The Argus on Ravelry. I had some wool in the stash, which seemed to fit. (“Seemed” because i got gauge, but the jumper still ended up a bit different then it should. And i think it is mostly because of the yarn..). I used Wollbutt “Asta” from Buttinette (a german online store), which i got very “budget-friendly” during Sale. 100g have 250 meters and i used about 3,6 balls of yarn. I have to admit, the colour isn´t exactly my favourite colour, but it is not bad either. It is 100% Acrylic, but very soft and very good to knit with. I had no problems except the first ball had two knots in it and another ball had also one knot. It is unfortunate, but sometimes inenvitable.
I used straight needles 3,5 mm and 4mm.

I started on January 31, 2023 and finished it on June 7,2023. Mostly because that pattern (mostly knit and purl) was nice at the beginning, but the more i knitted the more boring it became.

There is no ribbing or something (because actually everything is ribbing), but you start with the smaller needles and once you are at the waist, you change to the larger needles for some inches, than go back to the smaller ones. The only “alteration” i made was to lengthen the body (because i know that i have a long torso ), but it is still a little bit on the shorter side. The Back piece is the same as the Front piece and there are also two sleeves.

Looking very…ah…flattering.

The sleeves have a very flat ending at the shoulder, because the pattern says you should add some shoulder pads. Well, my sleeve cap fits perfectly, there is absolutely no place for shoulder pads in there. For my taste the armhole is a bit narrow, but i can raise my arms without any problems, so i´m fine with it.

After finishing all pieces i sewed them together and crocheted one round around the neckhole. Again pattern says twice, but that was a bit too close to my neck. I crocheted two buttonholes (one on each side) and added some buttons. Pattern says two on each side, but i didn´t (i actually don´t know why).

Stretched out (aka worn) it looks really good.

The jumper still ends a bit above my hips, but that is no problem, i just wear it with my high waist trousers and skirts..
It fits perfectly a.k.a very snug. All in all it was an experiment, and if i can say so myself, a successful one as well.

I can´t wait to knit another vintage pattern…

Did you ever knitted a vintage pattern? How was your experience with it? Yay or Nay?
Well, thank you for reading. Till next time!

Knitting Adventures: Heel-Less Spiral Socks (Navy) by Australian Comforts Fund

I have heard of Heel-less Socks for a long long time, but was always quite unsure how they are able to fit without a heel. I was curious, so i searched for a pattern (there are many different available for free). I choose the ones by the Australian Comforts Fund. Here you can find a transcript: https://www.knitting-and.com/crafts-and-needlework/knitting/patterns/socks/spiral/

You need some Sport weight yarn and a 3.75 mm dpn needle. I used Woll Butt Lea, 50% Acrylic, 50% Rayon, 144 meters / 50 grams and a 2.5mm needle, because with a 3.75 those socks wouldn´t fit me at all.
I also made them about 10 cm shorter than in the instructions. Maybe that was a mistake. Because now, they are reaching just the thickest part of me leg and slide after a few hours of wear (but it could also be the rayon in the wool). But you never know, if you don´t try.
There is a standard ribbing at the beginning and i repeated the pattern 18 times, which are 126 rows.
For the round toe i always knitted 1 instead of 2 plain rows in between. They toe fits nicely.

After knitting the first sock (which took me quite some time, although you knit with a Sports weight yarn) it took me forever to start and finish the second one. I mean, i´m surprised that a sock without a heel ‘kinda’ works…it is a weird feeling, at least for me.

BUT it is the most boring sock to knit in the whole wide world!!!

As for many, the heel is the part of a sock i usually don´t like (nearly fear) and it takes me quite some time to start. But after this sock, i just enjoy to knit heels.

All in all, it is a sock i usually don´t wear that often. I think, last time i wore them as bed socks for winter. But well, at least i tried a new to me pattern and i can say never again.

You hardly can see anything with this yarn, but it is always a 4 stitch pattern.

Here you can see the pattern better. I´m sure there are some mistakes, but i couldn´t care less.

Short blog post this time, but still thank you for reading! Till next time.