The More We Knit, the More Things Stay the Same

If you love vintage knitting patterns like I do, you might want to check out Iva Rose Vintage Reproductions. This online store, which ships internationally, carries a vast selection of knitting, crochet and other needlework pattern and instruction books reproduced from original patterns dating from 1850 to 1950. The reproductions appear to be quite high quality as the store owner goes to a lot of effort to restore the appearance of the very old and often very worn and fragile original patterns. And the prices aren't unreasonable. The highest-priced book I've seen so far was under $25, and there are many booklets selling for under $10.

Even if you don't knit, or even if you do but have sworn on your own grave to NOT buy any more knitting patterns because you have so many already and your project list is already insanely long, if you are at all interested in what people wore in the first half of the twentieth century, this site is a must-see because of the array of beautiful photos for each of the many booklet offered for sale. I've barely begun to explore the listed titles, and so far I've seen patterns for Victorian outfits for 18" dolls, Edwardian capes, flapper-style beaded bags, thirties sports wear, and forties swing coats that are all perfectly usable by today's standards. And I've discovered one book containing a pattern for the famous fair isle worn by King Edward VIII.

Anne of Blue Cardigans

I've recently finished re-reading the first volume of L.M. Montgomery's journals, and as a long time L.M. Montgomery buff, I found myself wondering if there were any L.M. Montgomery knitting projects out there. After all, there's an Anne of Green Gables Cookbook, compiled by her granddaughter, and Aunt Maud's Recipe Book, which is a selection of Montgomery's own recipes. Montgomery was by all reports an excellent cook, and she was also a very able needlewoman. Montgomery, a minister's wife, once remarked in her journals that the one good thing about having to make endless tiresome calls on her husband's parishioners (many of whom she found very boring) was that she could do fancy work during these visits, because otherwise as a famous author with sons to raise and a household to run, she would not have felt she could take the time to do the needlework she loved. I've read that there are examples of her needlework in various archival collections.

But I'm sorry to report my internet research turned up no possible L.M. Montgomery knitting patterns. If you're a die hard Montgomery fan and knitter, the best I can offer you is some screen caps of sweaters in the eighties-era CBC Anne of Green Gables mini-series, and there are no patterns for them online or in a published volume. However, I will say there were quite a lot of hand-knitted items worn in Anne of Green Gables, many of which are quite wearable by contemporary standards, and that it would certainly be possible for a good knitter to write a patterns for them based on the pictures below, and to turn out sweaters that are very close replicas. Otherwise... well, searching out similar patterns is possible if you've got the time and patience, especially with Ravelry's excellent pattern search functionality. If you know of any patterns very similar to any of the items shown here, please feel free to share links or publication information in the comments.

Beautiful, classic sweater pattern. This is probably my favourite of all the knitted items in the miniseries. I wish I'd written this post before I chose the pattern for the cardigan I am currently knitting.

Another nice pattern. I wish we could see more of it.

Another pretty cardigan on Anne in a similar colour to the first.

This mini-vest would perhaps not be so flattering on some women (you'd need to be small-breasted to wear it), but it's attractive enough in its way.

This one is also wearable. I'd make it in any colour other than that dreary tan and skip the tie underneath, since ties for woman fortunately haven't been in since Dress for Success was a best seller. A lacy camisole would make for a more attractive overall look.

Another classic cardigan on Marilla.

This one, on Katherine Brooke, is actually quite contemporary-looking - it's a lot like the drape-front cardigans that are in now.

Cute little vest on "Emmeline". You might not want to make this one if you're a Montgomery purist though, because the "Emmeline" character was an invention of the screenwriter's, not of Montgomery's.

Too bad we can't see the front of Matthew's sweater, but it's probably a cardigan with the same pattern on the front. Making his tuque is another possibility.

Classic sweater vest on Matthew. The man in your life might like this one even if he refuses to so much as listen to you talk about Anne of Green Gables.

Mmmmm. So handsome. And the vest on Gilbert is nice too.

Classic gray vest on Gilbert.

Of course we all hate the petty, tyrannical and general disaster of a schoolteacher, Mr. Phillips (stop flirting with your sixteen-year-old pupil Prissy Andrews, you perv!), but this is a nice, classic man's sweater. I'd knit it in a sharper colour. Almost all the shades of yarns used in these sweaters seem so drab, with the exception of the soft, pretty blues on Anne. Yarn dyes have probably come a long way since the 1880's, when Anne was a young girl.

Did you wander in off the set of the Kids in the Hall and wind up in a classic sweater vest before you knew it, Bruce McCulloch? No, wait, I forgot, this was before the Kids in the Hall got together and Bruce become a household name in Canada. It's still pretty funny to see him here as Fred Wright, Diana's fiancé. Although I suppose it's no odder for me than the fact that an ex-boyfriend of mine is an extra in this movie. To get back to the knitting analysis, it would be dead easy to make an exact copy of this vest.

If nothing else, you can always make an Anne doll, adapting a knitted doll pattern to include the red braids and old-style dress and pinafore.

Tangled Fall 2012: A Review

Tangled is another knitting magazine I have discovered thanks to my research for this blog. It's a webzine and its patterns are available via download for $6(USD) per pattern. Let's take a look at their most recent batch of patterns, shall we?

The designer of these socks comments that she wanted to use "striped yarn to the max". And did she. These are a lot more fun and more eye-catching than the usual horizontal striped sock.

This is... okay. I very much like the concept but something about it isn't quite working. Maybe it's that a solid colour yarn, or at least one without a horizontal variegation, would have shown the buttoned princess lines to better advantage. Maybe it's the styling, that it looks more like it should be worn over a blouse than by itself — it's a bit heavy-looking to be worn with a summery outfit. And it doesn't help that it's definitely too small to fit this model — see how it's gaping between each button?

I got all excited about this waistcoat when I saw the beautiful back view, and then an "air hissing out of all four tires" feeling when I saw the front. I'm not a fan of the draped-front style in cardigans, let alone the side-wing effect. It's not terrible, but it just looks impractical and kind of sloppy to me.

I haven't seen too many cowl patterns yet, because it's still a relatively new concept, but this one is definitely my favourite so far. I love the ruched pattern and I love the idea of making it long enough that it can be worn either as a scarf or as a cowl. This item is both beautiful and practical.

I really don't like this "military jacket". The neckline looks awkward (one side is pulling up higher than the other). The mismatched buttons are too kitschy and the shade of brown too understated for an item that's aspiring to a military-style smartness. And the jacket just doesn't look flattering on the whole, although that may be because it's a size too small, which is enough to sabotage any design. I would have made this jacket single-breasted (the double breasted look isn't the most flattering on women at the best of times and doesn't look good at all when worn open), and in a sharper colour, and reworked that collar so that it sits right.

I'm including this cardigan pattern even though it's crochet because it's too pretty to be left out, and anyway there only were six patterns in this issue. It really is lovely, though again... it's a half-size too small on this model. And I'd make the sleeves full-length. Elbow or three-quarter sleeve lengths can look good on some women, but they tend to create a horizontal visual line in places where such a line may not be desirable: a woman's midsection or bustline. Before you decide what length to make the sleeves for your next sweater, think about where the line will fall and whether you want it there.

Petite Purls, Issue 13: A Review

I only discovered Petite Purls when I began this blog, and I was sorry not to have seen it before. It features very cute and clever patterns for children's clothing and toys, and all their patterns are available for free online. Let's take a look at Petite Purls' Issue 13.

Not a bad little doll, though the shape of the wings looks rough, I wouldn't have made the arms and legs that stringy because they look out of proportion with the rest of the doll, and I would have coordinated the colours a little better. Though I suspect any little girl who was given this wouldn't be as critical as I'm being.

This sweater is pretty, but maybe not all that wearable. It looks like a sweater made to be worn only in summer, but I would feel it needs to be layered over something because it'll show a good bit of the skin on the little girl's chest, and putting something under it makes it not practical for summer's heat. Maybe I'm just being a little too prim about feeling a toddler shouldn't wear this sweater by itself?

This vest is a "Pirates of the Caribbean sweater". Creating a theme sweater is one way to get away from the usual "stripe across the chest" boy's sweater pattern.

Really, really like this one! This dress with its knitted bodice would be a good way to use up small amounts of yarn, be quick and easy to make and very cool and comfortable to wear, and is ever so pretty.

This would have been cute to make for a boy in say, 1942, but I wouldn't make it for a small boy in 2012, any more than I would dress him in knickerbockers. It's just too quaint and odd-looking and out of step with how boys dress now, and would make him stand out from other boys in a way neither he nor they will like. The designer does say she lives in Germany, and maybe this look would be quite appropriate there, but I can't see these shorts working for a North American boy. Though I bet the mother in this Onion article would think it "really smart".

These two patterns are crocheted, but they're so adorable and inventive that I just had to include them. Once you're finished making the whale and its little ocean blanket, the blanket can be folded up and stored away in the whale, along with some toys, making it the perfect take-along item for going to the beach or the park.

Another practical idea: a pocket on the front of a sweater to hold the baby's toys. It reminds me of the sleeper I gave one of my nieces when she was born and that had a squeak toy sewn into the front of it. It made playing with the baby very convenient. Though my niece's two older siblings (then aged 3 and 15 months) did get a little too into squeezing their newborn baby sister to make her clothes squeak.

Quite like this one. It'll look just right with a dress and be the perfect cover up for summer evenings. The XO cable on the sleeves is cute in a age-appropriate way. The sleeves are too long but when you're making clothes for children it's a good idea to aim for a size too large so they can get two years' wear out of it instead of just one.

I wouldn't have included these sweaters as they are just generically nice (although those colour combinations are unusually sharp and crisp) but for one detail: the strap that allows for the rolling up and fastening of the sleeves. It's very practical and will help you keep your child presentable right through sandbox time and finger painting... until lunch gets spilled down the front of the sweater.

Another cute, cool, comfortable, easy-to-make summer dress with a knitted bodice and fabric skirt.

The two knitted bodice dresses in this post reminds me of a similar one I made for my little grandniece, using a pattern from Vogue Knitting's Spring/Summer issue from 1990, though I just used the basic instructions and did not include VK's intarsia pattern or go with anything like its colourway. But I made it entirely from materials I had lying around and even had enough yarn left to whip up a matching purse. I'm not going to be posting much about my own projects on this blog, but just for this once, here's the picture.

This is Not Your Mother's Pantsuit. Although it Might Have Been in 1969

One of my many favourite things about this picture is that it includes all those four views of the outfit, as though we might otherwise miss an aspect of its full glory. I'm trying to figure out when this photo dates from. My best guess is that it was published in the late sixties. If I'm right, I'd love to see this outfit make an appearance on Mad Men, worn with that sublime unconsciousness with which the talented Mad Men cast carries off all their hilarious-to-modern-eyes outfits.

Why I May Have to Rethink My Stance on Knitting Machines

In the video above, which was shot at World Maker Faire in 2011, artist Andrew Salamone is shown demonstrating the knitting machine he's programmed to knit images and displaying some of the amazing work he's produced with it: a ski mask with an image of his face on the front, a "break beat" scarf, and a sweater featuring a picture of Bill Cosby wearing a sweater with a picture of Bill Cosby on it. Bill Cosby, for those of you too young to know or remember, wore a series of dreadful sweaters on The Cosby Show in the eighties. Salamone hopes to someday get Cosby to accept and wear the sweater he's designed, and I hope he succeeds. I'd just love it if The Cos did something so meta and self-deprecating, and God knows Cosby can't reject this sweater on the grounds that it's in any way inferior to the sweaters he's worn in the past.

Check out more of Andrew Salamone's knitted art on his web site. In my favourite piece, Salamone recreates a still from "The Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody".

Knitting the Cute

Fiona Goble is an unstoppable monster designer of theme doll knitting patterns. She's published books of patterns for a number of sets of dolls. They're amazingly detailed and very, very cute. And as a bonus, all these books also contain a child's version of the illustrated story they are based on.

You can knit your very own Knit Your Own Royal Wedding. I love that Charles looks slightly dour and that a couple of the corgis are included.

You can knit your own nativity scene with Knitivity: Create Your Own Christmas Scene. Those sheep are just too adorable.

Or if you prefer to stick with secular holiday ornaments, as I do...

Goble has offered us a way to knit the twelve days of Christmas with The Twelve Knits of Christmas.

There's also 'Twas the Knits Before Christmas.

And then there's Fiona Gobel's Noah's Knits: Create the Story of Noah's Ark with 16 Knitted Projects, in which Noah wears a sou'wester. The book probably doesn't include every species of animal on the planet, but I predict that you'll feel as though it did by the time you're done knitting two of all the patterns included. Animals do seem to be Gobel's strong suit.

Will I be making any of these dolls or toys myself? Probably not. They don't quite meet something I call the Utility Quotient. By which I mean that everything I decide to make has to be useful enough to justify the hours put into it. And anyway my decorating tastes don't run towards the cute. I bet they'd be great for little kids to play with, but I don't have any children. Though conversely, if I had children, I would probably not have the time to make the toys.

I do have a friend who collects British Royal memorabilia and who might just swoon for joy if I made her a set of the Royal Wedding dolls (one of her favourite gifts that she ever got from me was a book of Charles and Diana paper dolls that I found at a Value Village for $1, and she told me she forces everyone who comes into her house to look at it), but much as I like to see her that happy, it still seems not worth all that effort.

I do look forward to seeing whatever book Fiona Goble publishes next, though. I may not be into cute toys myself, but I'm not made of iron either.