New thoughts and blah blah blah for 2020

Well, I suppose that it's that time of year when we all start making plans and setting goals for the forthcoming year. In all honesty, I'm really bad at this kind of thing. If I was planning something for work, getting the site sorted and developing a strategy I boss it like no-one else, but personal plans and goals have often eluded me.

I have things that it would be nice to do. It's been a while since I have sat near the sea just looking out. I'd like to be a bit fitter. I'd like to start making clothes again. I'd like to knit more. I'd like to less frustrated in my job. I'd like to have a little bit more money in my pocket at the end of the year. I'd like to be happier. I'd like to be easier on the planet. I'd like to start and finish a Nebosh Health and Safety qualification. I'd like to design some more knitted things things. I'd like to start outdoors swimming. I'd like to get a pet. I'd like to finally get my cave archaeology data online after over a decade. And a whole load of other things.

So where do I start? Maybe the way to go is to try it all at the same time. I think when I make a plan, that becomes the only thing but I think that I'm too butterfly brained to concentrate and I get bored so the thought of only having one thing fills me with dread, but if I spread my self, maybe, just maybe, I might actually get some of my things finished.

It's a plan - not necessarily a good one, but one that I am happy to give a try. I suppose that I should also add I'd like to get to sleep at a reasonable time as I'm currently sitting here are 2am and have just over 5 hours before I start on site. Wish me luck

Updated Vintage Knitting Map

I'm a total nerd. Just spent the past couple of days adding to my vintage knitting places of the UK. There are independent stores (purple), pattern and wool companies (blue) and have started adding the almost 300 stores for the Scotch Wool and Hosiery Stores (red.)

I get the places from the old patterns, often independent stores would add their stamp to the cover. I also try to add the patterns they supplied and the approximate decade. For the companies that's a simple matter of taking the address from the back of the patterns and I add a note for the decade and sometimes a little bit of their history if I can find it.

The Scotch Wool and Hosiery Stores info comes from a small booklet they sold in the 1920s "Handbook of Knitting and Crochet" that details the nearly 300 stores they had across the UK and Ireland.

Easy and Quick . . .

. . . . well until I get distracted again and start something else.

I have been working on a pinwheel cardigan and it's gorgeous but it takes so long to go round now I wanted a rest. And I found this wonderful late 1930s beauty to give me some quick and easy relief.

It's a great blouse that is made from thick yarn and big needles so shouldn't take too long to make. I have 2 of those huge 400g balls of aran something with wool and hunted down my 7mm needles and away I went. In just over a day I have made the front so if I'm lucky I might even get to finish is this weekend.

Free Pattern Friday - 1930s Garter Stitch Jacket

How wonderfully chic is this gorgeous jacket? I love it as it subverts the idea that older clothing was knit in a standard way. The body is worked from side to side, decreasing slight under the arms then increasing for the back so it sits right. Once you've done that you pick up the stitches along the top of the body for the yoke. Finally you knit the arms and just sew everything together. The pattern suggests patch pockets of garter stitch but placed across the body to make them stand out. 

It's a lovely early 1930s example of knitted perfection (there are a lot I know). As knit, it's for a 36" bust - using 4-ply on 3.25mm US 5 needles, but I think that increasing the weight of the yarn and the needle size might bring it up to a couple of inches. To be frank, the pattern is that simple that it would only take a little bit of maths to make it larger using 4-ply. 

If you'd like a copy, click on the link below and knit your own 

Garter Stitch Jacket

Free Pattern Friday - A Child's Sun Suit and Cardigan Bestway 1525

Look at this little cutie, isn't it a sweetie? And the kid isn't bad either.

I like how this is such a summer image with the sun-suit and the parasol but the designer also knew about the British summer so included a cardigan.

Not sure how such a baggy suit would keep shape when paddling. Surely this would be on the ground by the end of play but these were very popular so there are loads of designs out there. My dad tells of my gran trying to get a 3 year old me into one she had made. Every time she tied me into it, I stripped it off  - he thinks it went on for about an hour. In the end my gran relented and let me run naked across the beach 'cause it was the early 70s and kids did that then.

Anyway if you have a toddler that you think would love this click on the link below to download the pattern
Sun Suit and Cardigan

Free Pattern Friday - A 1930s Crochet Gnome Cap

I love this sweet crochet cap. I realise that it's meant to be chic and smart but I kind of like the idea that it's a dragon or dinosaur cap. I might make one up to see how it look. Reading through the pattern, I think it needs an aran weight - the original says 3-ply held double but there is no indication of the hook size so you might have to play around until you get the right hand.

Click below to download the pattern and please post here if you do make it up as I think that it's great fun

Crochet Cap

Free Pattern Friday - A 1930s Bathing Dress

Knit yourself a fabulous bathing dress and be part of the 'Bright Young Things' set. Throughout the late 1920s and early 30s magazines showed the glamorous side of life and fashion changes from the 1920s meant that women were not restricted with their clothing as previously. This meant that legs were seen for the first time and not just in the privacy of your home, you could go out to the lido or beach and strut your stuff for the world to see. 

Suddenly there was the need for a garment that covered the important bits but gave you the freedom to play. This dress is in 2 parts: the long-line vest with a pair of knitted panties underneath, but there are also instructions on how to join them if you wanted a bit more security or to stop you from losing your kecks when swimming. 

You have to wonder how practical a woolen swimming costume would be but they were incredibly popular so women must have been willing to put up the any slips that happened. I also like that women of every size took the opportunity to embrace the fashion. From this photo, I think that the women were actually swimming and their hair is under wraps and they obviously gave no figs about what others thought.

So if you give no figs either, or just want to revel in the glamour of the 1930s then have a go at the pattern - just click on the link below

Bathing Dress

Free Saturday (meant to be Friday) Pattern - Men's Gloves and Socks Woman's Weekly 25

That Bank Holiday on Monday has completely thrown me so I am a day behind. With storm Hannah blasting out overhead, I think that something appropriate is needed and this time it's for the blokes (well not just for them but you know what I mean). This men's glove and sock combo seemed just the thing to remind us that spring still can have a bite.

Click below for the pattern 

Woman's Weekly 25

Free Pattern Friday - Bedjackets and Bedsocks Patons 678

I don't know why but I have a fascination for bedjackets. Possibly because they call to my 'lady of leisure' side who would be brought breakfast in bed on a chilly winter's morning, possible by the maid. The fire not having quite warmed the room, means I need something to cover my upper body as my delicate silk negligee just isn't up to the job. But I think that it's also because they tell of the history of a rather chilly island.

They tell of houses with no central heating and austerity and form part of the 20th century (and earlier) social history of Britain. Most of the fancy old houses in Britain are still freezing as it costs a fortune to heat such a large space but it would be hasty to think that bedjackets are an item of clothing for the wealthy. Until recently most British homes were poorly heated. A small heater or open fire might warm the bedroom on the coldest nights and a fire in the living room but the rest of the house would be cold. A bedjacket was a practical solution to women of all classes to combat chilly times just before bed and first thing in the morning.

The patterns have their heyday in the 1940s and early 50s with just about every pattern company producing them. The light and airy nature of the bedjackets created a warm garment using larger than standard needles and would have also used less wool, which was rationed until the late 1940s. Many of the covers show quite a glamorous setting which I think was deliberate to give people a glimmer of pretty and feminine during a dark period of the world's history.

The patterns start to dwindle in the early 1950s which also ties into a boom in housing. Nye Bevan, the joint health and housing minister, insisted that there was a link between the health of the nation and housing. He insisted that good quality materials were used in new builds and that council built homes were linked to gas, water, and electric. Many of the council houses of this period were warmer due to better design, advancements in building technologies but also fuel prices had fallen so it was cheaper to heat the whole house for longer. The era of the bedjacket had passed and by the late 1960s they were seen as fuddy-duddy and only for old ladies.

I still have a soft spot for them though and hope that you do too.

Well that was longer than planned so here's your reward. This is a pattern from the very late 1940s or early 1950s judging from the hair styles. Click on the link below to get the pattern

Patons 578 - Bedjackets and Bedsocks

Free Pattern Friday - A Simple Rib Bestway 912

This Friday is a nice and simple pattern that a beginner could handle with easy and makes a great bit of telly knitting. The back and front are the same and it has those wonderful boxy sleeves of the early 40s that makes it a much have.

Although this is for a 34" bust, the finished garment is 29" so lots of negative easy and this should be easy to up-size if needed. One of the easiest ways is simply to go up a needle size but you could also use a thicker yarn to get the next size up. I think a combination of both should give you a couple of sizes difference but be careful that you don't get the fabric too loose or those sleeves could go floppy.

Click on the link below to get the pattern
Bestway 912 - A Jumper in Simple Rib