[ be sure to click for the sources of these gorgeous images! ]

Happy Friday, everyone! How did your week go? Like so many other bloggers, I have mysteriously been feeling under the weather all week. I don’t know if it’s a collective “blogger bug” that is going around (oh no! Now germs can transmit through our computer screens!), but I had a sore throat that left me feeling a little run-down. However, it was conducive to getting some much needed knitting done; both on testing some snood designs and my own projects. The latter has been quite a comical process, a sweater that I posted about a little while ago. I seriously have not gotten much further than when I posted, because I keep ripping out the yoke rows. Why, you may ask? Well, firstly I did not like the original “lace” pattern for the yoke; it wasn’t lacy enough for me. Not that I want something super-open and sheer, but it just looked chunky and un-lace-like. I tried a few more patterns, and like a goof, didn’t swatch them but just plunged ahead on the sweater. So, three pattern tries later, I finally found one that I like on the Vogue Knitting site. Hopefully that means it’ll actually show some progress!

[ a fantastically cheerful ad for shoes from 1950 ]

This week’s inspiration image is prompted by my latest search for some practical shoes for the summer. I’ve found a few pairs, but nothing nearly as adorable as these (although Remix has a few that come close…)! Really cute for $2.98 (a little over $25 in today’s dollar–still not too shabby!). lol! Have you found an fun shoes lately?

Have a lovely weekend, all!

[ black 40s snood, knit on 11 needles with #3 crochet yarn. ]

I’ve been determined for awhile to make myself a few 40s style snoods. They’re definitely an accessory that isn’t for everyone, but I’ve always loved the sporty look they lend to 40s style outfits! Snoods were not only extremely practical (as evidenced by the many photos of female factory and farm workers during the war who wore them to keep their hair neat and tidy), but cute with a sporty look or even elegant with a gorgeous dress and hat perched atop. Plus, let’s face it: some days I’m lazy and just don’t feel like dealing too much with my hair. I get tired of doing endless variations on Heidi braids, so this little item does nicely to change things up.

[ the plain cream snood. knit on 11 needles with fingering weight yarn. ]

[ another view. ]

It’s actually taken me a couple tries to get a snood that I could actually wear. Between experimenting with stitch patterns and yarn thicknesses, I finally found a happy medium. I made a black one embellished with a black velvet ribbon bow (using this pattern), and then a plain cream one (instructions here). I found some patterns online to guide me a bit, but the basic stitch principle (an open pattern on big needles; I generally use US 10 1/2 or 11’s) is easy. For attaching the round elastic to the edges, I just do a double crochet around 3 sides, catching the elastic between the edge of the snood and the dc stitches. I think by the time I made the cream snood, it too me only a couple hours to make! Easy!

[ black knit snood, modeled by my slightly creepy foam head! ]

Now I’m eying some variations… I think these will be great for keeping my hair up during the summer or while dancing (yes, thanks to a lovely reader, we’ve found a swing dance club in our city!)…

[ how I spent most of last weekend while nursing my cold! ]

I’m sure you all have heard by now of the insanely cold temperatures we’re experiencing in the southern portion of the East Coast. It actually got so cold I had to pull out all my super heavy winter coats! This time last year, it was solidly in the 70s; it always amazes me how quickly nature changes from one thing to the next… kind of like life! The chilly air has made me want to hibernate with endless pots of tea, under my favorite quilt, with my knitting. Of course, I can’t do that all day long, but I have been spending inordinate amounts of time in the evening working on a new sweater. (I actually have just finished another and need to stitch it together. Pictures coming soon!) I found a great site a few months ago with free vintage knitting patterns, and this one has been calling to me. I changed the yoke up a bit and started it sooner than the pattern called for so that the lace pattern would be more prominent; wide yokes have been appealing to me of late.

[ subtle, yet pretty. ]

I’m such a silly girl: I always get excited when I hit the “interesting” parts of a knitted project. Cables, lacy patterns, neckline shaping–I find it way too fun. I think it has something to do with seeing the yarn start to take on shape and form into intricate little twists and bumps. The lace pattern on this sweater isn’t terribly fancy: I’d hesitate to even classify it as a lace (at least in my book), since it doesn’t have the characteristics of lots of open spaces. In it’s simplicity is a certain charm that has emerged as I knit each stitch and slip them off my needles. I have quite a ways to go with this sweater still (the question is: will it get completed before the really warm weather hits Florida?), but for now I’m happily wrapped up in the gentle rhythm of the needles and the yarn.

[ my striking green dress. I adore this color! ]

Oh dear… I vanished again from Blogland for a bit! I have an excuse though: I spent my weekend testing a super secret, new pattern from this lovely lady. That meant locking myself in my “sewing room” for a few days, unplugging the computer (well, not really–I listened to a lot of podcasts and music!), and drinking lots of tea to stay alert. hehe! I wish I could show you the finished garment, ’cause it’s super cute, and as with all of Sarai’s designs is quite flattering and has that vintage vibe that I love so much. I promise, once she officially launches the new patterns, I’ll show you!

[ the red, cashmere sweater I refashioned--two years after I got it! ]

What else have I been doing? Well, to be honest: lots of creating! I altered a red cardigan that has been in my pile for almost two years (tutorial coming soon!), whipped up a skirt last week as well (the gray one in my fall sewing lineup), finished altering and hemming this dress, and have cast on a snood on my knitting needles. You may remember earlier this year I said I was knitting a snood, but I never said it was finished to showed any photographic evidence. Mostly because it was one of those projects that just crashed and burned–due in part to selecting the wrong sort of yarn. This time I grabbed something a bit more suited, and have been happily (if not slowly–I find larger needles are hard to manipulate in my smallish hands!), knitting for a half hour or so in the evenings. I hope to have some pictures very soon of the finished piece!

So, my dears: what have you been up to?

[ still in bits and pieces, waiting to be sewn up. ]

Hmm… looks like bits and pieces of something being knit, doesn’t it? Things have been hopping on my knitting needles lately, as I try to finish this cardigan up before the weather truly cools down.This is the exciting part of any knitting project: the pieces are taking shape and things are waiting to be assembled! I just have to sew the seams up at this point, and pick out some buttons. My heart is set on sparkly, vintage glass buttons, but I have been having the darndest time finding 8 that are the right size!

The thing I have found about knitting with vintage patterns (the two sweaters I have knit so far–so I am not an expert by any means!), is that they really are not that difficult. Certainly, there are times when I have had to scratch my head and wonder what the directions are getting at, but overall the experience has been less daunting than I anticipated when I initially took the plunge into knitting with old patterns. This particular project has been surprisingly quick when I get into the rhythm.

[ the stitch pattern is so simple, but I love the texture. ]

Being the “bad” girl I am (at least when it comes to crafty things. Sailor Husband maintains that I really cannot pull off a “bad girl” impression no matter how I try! lol), I of course have been dreaming what knitting project I’d like to tackle next. I think a cream cardigan might be just the thing my closet needs. I’m a bit terrified to knit with light colored yarn–I have visions of it somehow getting dirty (though I’m always careful to wash my hands before I knit), or spilling something on it (knitting and drinking tea are a favorite pastime). But I need a cozy little cardigan in a cream or ivory color, and darn if I can find anything like what I want in the thrift stores! So knit one I must… hehe!