1933 Has Finally Arrived!

 It is finally time to begin 1933! 

As I have still been unsuccessful in finding anything to do with December 1932 Stitchcraft (I still hold out hope of one day finding this unicorn!), I have moved onto January 1933. 

I have begun the Jumper That Is Kind To Extra Inches. 

I always love how these size jumpers are described as being for the 'matronly figure.' So different to our modern size inclusive patterns!

Yarn wise, I am using Bendigo Woollen Mills Athena in a colour called Gunmetal. This was a limited edition yarn that has been in my stash for a long time (more on stash busting in another post!) so is no longer available. It is a wool/bamboo/silk blend. The contrast yarn is also Bendigo yarn, the standard favourite Luxury 4ply in Cream. 

Progress so far is on the right front.

It is impossible to see the pattern without blocking and I am also hoping that blocking will improve the way the button band is sitting. Not sure if it is due to using two different yarns or whether blocking will make it look more cohesive. 

While knitting on my 1933 pattern, I have been watching a 1933 movie, as you do! A search on Youtube found many full length 1933 movies available to watch, so I may have a few more viewed before this pattern is completed. Especially as there are a few Clark Gable movies - he was a busy man at the studios in 1933!

The one I was really hoping to find is Dancing Lady, starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford and with Fred Astaire making his acting debut. But no luck! 

It is about a burlesque theatre and is pre-code so would make for some interesting viewing, I am sure! 

Anyway, the movie I am watching is called Deluge, an apocalyptic science fiction in which New York is levelled by an earthquake and subsequent tidal wave and we follow the survivors.

Way before the days of CGI! Models of New York had to built for all the disaster scenes. I hope they managed to get all their footage in one take! 
It is good so far, rather over the top, as you can imagine, but interesting to watch and compare to the plethora of disaster movies that are prevalent at the moment. 

Off to spend some more time in 1933! 

2023 - The Year To Get Stuff Done!

Again, I have been away for AGES - why does this always happen?!

I have started a new job and it is keeping me very busy. After being a SAHM for 25 years, it is taking a little getting used to juggling all the housework, kids' stuff and work.

But I still want 2023 to be the year of getting stuff done. All those languishing WIPs, project plans that I really want to make but never quite got to, books I have been meaning to read for ages, organising the spare (aka junk) room, all the things! 

So let's roll up our sleeves and get to it! 

Knitting

I will be continuing on with my 35c earned per 10g knitted rule. Believe me, there is no way in this world that I need any more yarn, so I may allow my 'earnings' in different categories to be spent across any of the categories. 
It is 38 degrees C here today (100F) so knitting is not really on my mind today! But autumn/winter will be on us soon, thank goodness, and then the real knitting can begin.
And I will continue, slowly, slowly, with my vintage knitting, in particular from Stitchcraft magazines. 

Quilting

While I do not have any specific earning goals for quilting, I certainly have projects that I would like to finish and fabric stash that needs to be used up. Some of this fabric will sneak on over to the cross stitch category to use as finishes. And I really want to make some project bags using Elizabethanncanstitch's Youtube tutorial.

Cross Stitch

Again, I will be continuing on with previous earnings projects for cross stitch, using the guidelines from the Stitch From Stash Facebook group. 
I will also be participating in WIPGO, hosted by Jessie Marie Does Stuff  (this link will take you to the How To WIPGO video).

I do not have enough WIPs (in cross stitch, anyway!) to fill all the squares on the board once, so have chosen to add projects multiple times. Hopefully this will lead to at least a few finishes in 2023.

I will be working on each project for 14 hours in the month it is called.
So January's calls were squares 6 and 10 - the 2020 Pandemic Sampler by Sarcygurl and Ice Angel by Lavender and Lace. 
Ice Angel is one of my oldest WIPs. I couldn't say exactly how long I have been working on this. Let's just say, the last time I remember stitching on it was when I was in hospital for the birth of my oldest son and he turned 18 last year! It needs to be finished! 

This is my progress as at the beginning of January on the 2020 Pandemic Sampler.

And for Ice Angel.

Let's see how far 14 hours of stitching on each can get me! 

I picked up these planners from Amazon (using Christmas gift money) to help keep me on track. 

Reading

I have a ridiculously high Goodreads goal this year - feel free to friend me over there. 

I would like to focus on more Australian authors and nonfiction this year as well as continuing with my reading from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die by Peter Boxall. 

I participate in a number of reading challenge groups as I always like a list or prompt to follow! 

Walking

Not a crafty goal but I am finding this to be a lot of fun and quite motivating. I found this free app (or you can use it on your computer) called World Walking. It links to the health app on my iPhone so I can add my steps for the day to my chosen walk. 
And always one to take on the biggest challenge, I have of course chosen to 'walk' from London to Lapland! 
It is fun as you can look at a street view of where you are currently (except for when you are crossing an ocean!) as well as follow on the map. 

As you can see, this will take a while! My movement is hardly registering on the map but I am almost at Canterbury. Looking forward to reaching Dover and heading across to the Dunkirk Ferry Terminal. 

You can also set up walking groups, so you can walk with friends.

I may walk Transylvania next - after I make it to Lapland! 

So that is some of what I have planned for 2023 - I will expand on each section soon. I am attempting to publish two blog posts a week - fingers crossed! 

Happy crafting, reading, walking, or whatever you have planned! 

It's A New (Vintage) Year - 1933, Here We Come!

 

After finally, finally, finishing my red and white diamonds jumper from the November 1932 issue, let's hop over to 1933!
(I still hold out hopes of, one day, getting my hands on a copy of December 1932 - it is my holy grail of Stitchcraft magazines now!)
But until then, 1933 it is! 

Once again, thank you to Barbara at the UK Knitting and Crochet Guild for scanning this magazine from their archives. Without the access that a very reasonably priced international membership gives me to this archive, I would never be able to afford (or find) all these early issues of Stitchcraft. 
Do head over to see Barbara on Instagram and check out all the amazing pattern photos - believe me, you will want a membership as well! 

Well, let's take a look at the knits in the January 1933 issue. 

OK, the first one is not knitting, but Irish crochet. But this jumper certainly makes me want to learn how to crochet. It is just stunning. It says a novice can tackle it with confidence - I'm not sure but I guess like most crafts, it looks very complicated until you know how to do it. 

Engineering Knits has a video on making an Edwardian Irish crochet lace collar. All her videos are fabulous, if you like vintage knitting and sewing. A particularly fun one was where she taught herself tatting from a Victorian book. Youtube tutorials just make it so much easier for us now! 

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These next-to-the-skin undies were apparently a much requested item, with the original being knitted in a pale green. 

"This engaging little affair is in royal blue and white and the vest goes right up to the neck with a gleaming silver "Lightning" fastener finished with a tassel of blue wool."

Of course, we know these fasteners now as zips or zippers, the Lightning Fastener being a term used from the Lightning Fastener Co in Ontario, Canada. 

The cover jumper is very tempting. But I have already made a leg-o'-mutton sleeve jumper with a tie from the first issue. Hmmm, decisions!

Woollies for the school children, including regulation-shape cardigans and gym knickers.

Another reason for me to learn to crochet! The cherry and grey colour scheme sounds very appealing.

A knitted plaid set which consists of bag, scarf and glove gauntlets. 

This jumper is called 'A Jumper That Is Kind To Extra Inches'. It measures 42". I really like the simple look of this design, the square neckline and the off-centre button band. 

I really love the look of this coat. The original is knitted in navy, red and saxe grey, with navy being the main colour. 

And the last project from the magazine is this simple beret and scarf. Maybe I should give myself a quickie project as I took so long on the last one! And it is knitted in DK rather than fingering like the jumpers are!

Well, this issue certainly has a wealth of projects and there are quite a few I would love to tackle. But I feel that the front runners are the 'extra inches' jumper and the coat with the striped collar. The benefit of the extra inches jumper is that I would not really need to do any resizing of the pattern, maybe I may need to go down a needle size, as I am definitely closer to 42" than the 36" of the coat. 

We will see, we will see!

Do any of these projects catch your eye? Which would you choose and what colours? 

I will let you know which one I think I will make next week! 

Well, It's Been A Whole Year (and a bit more)!

 Can you believe I have let a whole year (plus!) pass by without a single post?! 

Admittedly, the last two years have been an up and down experience for us all and many routines have been disrupted and replaced with new habits and routines. 

My knitting definitely suffered during the rounds of lockdown - with everyone at home all the time, it just seemed to be more difficult to carve out those pockets of quiet time for crafting.

Looking at my knitting journal, I managed to do a little bit of knitting until July 2021 - and then, nothing! No knitting at all until I finally picked my needles back up in February 2022.

Do you ever find that you stop doing something that you love and you end up forgetting for a while just how much you love and rely on it? Until you pick it up again and are astounded as to why you stopped in the first place! 

So during the second week of February, I suddenly picked up my needles again (I cannot even remember why) and quickly knitted up four dishcloths to get me back in the zone. 

Dishcloths are the perfect project for when you need to feel accomplished, as you get the feeling of accomplishment that comes with casting off, sewing in the ends and finishing. I tend to knit at least half a dozen a year to add to my drawer so I will always have new dishcloths at the ready. 

My go to pattern is the Waffle Knit Dishcloth by Debbie Andriulli. I have been knitting this pattern for years! It has the perfect texture for cleaning. Much as I love the picture dishcloths, they just are not as practical for actual use as the Waffle Knit Dishcloth.

I will also be continuing (oh so slowly!) with Adventures In Stitchcraft.

The diamond jumper from the November 1932 issue of Stitchcraft is finally finished. Again, why do I get SO CLOSE to finishing projects and then leave them languishing for months? I had finished the neckband and sewn up half the seams and then put it aside. I can only think it is a psychological blockage whereby I am worried that the finished object will not work out as expected or fit properly. So I would rather leave them unfinished than face issues such as these! 

Anyway, here it is! My Diamonds Are Trumps jumper (the scarlet and white jumper from the second ever issue of Stitchcraft - November 1932).

I knitted this with Bendigo Classic 3 ply in colours Cranberry and Pussy Willow, which come on 500 gram cones.
The yarn cost $15.88 (209 grams) of Cranberry and $13.15 (173 grams) of Pussy Willow, for a total of $29.03 (382 grams). No buttons or other notions were required, so quite a good value knit. 

This was a LOT of colourwork knitted flat, so I think it will be a while before I want to do that again. But I love the look of this jumper and the two colours are great together.

Roxanne Richardson on Youtube featured Finish It February, and I did try to get some of my WIPS out the door. Technically I only finished the one WIP, but better than nothing!  Finishing WIPs also serves the purpose of helping to increase my grams/metres knitted total as I am refocusing on my project of earning dollars to spend on yarn based on how much I have knitted. I have not purchased any yarn for a long time, so it will be exciting to make some new purchases. 
And just because I have not met a spreadsheet / tracking planner that I do not love, I will also be keeping track of stitches knit per day. I wonder what would be a good number of stitches per day to aim for?!

18th February was cast on day for The Woolly Thistle's Colorwork KAL 2022. This year you need to knit an allover colourwork accessory - so socks, hats, cowls, scarves, mittens, gloves, leg warmers, whatever else you can think of as an accessory. The only real requirement is that it must contain an allover colourwork pattern, not just a colourwork band or small amount of colourwork.

I decided to knit a mitten pattern in worsted weight for quick knitting.

These are the Maine Woods and River Mittens by Pat Higgins, a free pattern on Ravelry. I used non-superwash Wool of the Andes, so felted them a little, as they were definitely too big. The pattern is for men, so I have gone down to 3.25mm needles. Even after going down a needle size and felting, they are still slightly roomy. I also did not make the inner cuff; it just does not get cold enough here! 

My current WIP (well, one of!) is the Pray for Ukraine mittens by knitting lotta, also a free pattern on Ravelry. I love her designs but even when I go down to 2mm needles, I still find them too sloppy a fit. I do have tiny hands! 

Hopefully blocking will improve the fit somewhat. 

More knitting and vintage content will be coming as I plan for my next Stitchcraft project from the January 1933 issue (I have had no luck at all finding a copy or any patterns from the December 1932 issue - if anyone has one, I'd love to see it, please!)

See you soon! 

Diamonds Really Are Forever!

 

Literally forever! 

Although I am enjoying working on this jumper, I;m sure we would all like to see a new Stitchcraft project soon! 

But there is progress to report. The front and back are completed. I will block them while I knit the sleeves and hopefully there will be at least one sleeve next week as well.

And look at this! I picked up Bestway Fair Isle Designs on eBay, a pattern book from the 1940s. 

I will have plenty of yarn left over so I can match a whole matchy matchy set, if I feel so inclined! 

I have knitted exactly one pair of gloves before, many years ago. I wouldn't mind giving them another go. 

Have a lovely week!

Diamonds Are Forever

 

And they really do seem to be forever! 

After taking ten days off to rest my elbows, last night I jumped back into knitting and finished the back of the Diamonds jumper. I love it! 

I certainly will not be knitting as much as I am used to for the next little while but it was wonderful to be knitting at all.

I finished reading a delicious satire, Gone With The Windors by Laurie Graham,  that begins in 1932. The fictional Maybell Brumby is a Baltimore widow who went to school with a young girl called Wally Warfield. After her bereavement, Maybell moves to London as her sister Violet has married a Lord and is now living the boring and uncomfortable life of the aristocracy, rushing from one committee to the next. Maybell finds that Wally also lives in London now. Although married, Wally is 'on the make' and has her cap set at Wales. 

This, of course, describes Wallis Simpson and the Prince of Wales. Maybell's wonderful diary describes their relationship from their first meeting through the abdication of the throne. 

Maybell is the perfect chronicler as she is so delightfully dim, utterly self-absorbed and completely oblivious to others' feelings. She tells us all about the happenings, while half of it is going straight over her head. Maybell's chief concerns are fashions and where to go for dinner and weekends away and more importantly with whom. Her diary is like a laundry list of the best (and often, very boring and stuffy!) of London's elite. 

See you next week for more Diamonds! 

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend!

 

How many more sayings can I find with diamonds in them?! As this jumper is going to take a while to knit!

I am over halfway through the repeats I need to do before reaching the armhole shaping. The more of it I knit, the more I like it. I think blocking will make all the difference to the appearance.

Not much else to say about it - just keep knitting! 

Here is an interesting magazine for you! I am really enjoying finding these free to read online vintage magazines.

This week, we have the November 1932 issue of Amazing Stories. Amazing Stories is an American science fiction magazine which is still being published in some form today.

It was the first science fiction magazine ever published when it began in 1926. Many sci fi fans started to correspond through the letters column and started their own fanzines. Amazing Stories directly influenced writers such as Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.

The cover illustration comes from a story called Captain Brink of the Space Marines, showing the two main characters being attacked by a giant amoeba. You can read the story in this issue!

Enjoy! 

I will be back next week with more diamonds.

Homemaking This Week Was . . . . . .

Obviously, we must begin with a cute granddaugter photo. I cannot wait to see them again! I love how little Willow has her Rosie the Riveter look going on! That turban is too cute! 

The new, very loose schedule is working well. It has been particularly helpful to give myself a blogging limit as I can very easily get lost down the rabbit hole and spends WAY too long looking at blogs. I want to see them all!

The morning tea projects is also working well. I finished one of the projects from last week, the Waiting For Winter beanie. 

My daughter chose this fur pom pom to top it off. It came from Lovely Loops Designs on Etsy. You can get any colour of pom pom here!

This week's three projects are now:

1. Pool Party leg warmers 

2. With Angora Tie jumper - from my Adventures In Stitchcraft project

3. And adding in the Naptime Doll. This pattern is in a cute book I own called Knitted Toys by Tatyana Korobkova. This book has so many adorable patterns. I want to knit them all, just to sit them on my bookshelves!

The Big Project of cleaning out and organising the pantry was not completed this week. Terrible failing on my part as I had  the time blocked out for it. I used all the allocated time but still didn't get it done! It will certainly be organised by next week.

My one recipe a week this week was from Chicken and Egg. I made Warm Village Salad. It was easy and delicious! Not very challenging, I admit, but hey, I need some quick and simple recipes that everyone will like.

I love these multicoloured cherry tomatoes. I want to plan to grow a few different varieties next summer to have my own!

The pantry assignment this week from A Working Pantry's boot camp was to make at least one meal that can be frozen for future consumption. I do normally do this but at the moment my freezer is overflowing! We received lamb from two different farmer friends recently and now there is a lot of lamb in the freezer! But every week I make some spaghetti sauce to freeze for the next week, so in that went. I will often make pizza bases to freeze too. 

How has your homemaking week gone?