Adventures In Stitchcraft - Still in 1933

This week, I will be sharing some of the women's knits and homewares from the February 1933 issue of Stitchcraft.

Luckily for me, the Chicago World's Fair was held in 1933. A street was designed overlooking Lake Michigan, where a number of houses were built to showcase new design and building features for modern homes.

They featured such modern conveniences as central heating, air conditioning and time-saving kitchen appliances. I love that the octagonal home (called The House of Tomorrow) even had a hangar to park the family airplane! 
And some interiors:

The White House kitchen, 1933

From a 1933 Sears and Roebuck catalogue

Designed by Alvar Aalto, 1933. The chair on the right looks exactly like the ones they still sell at Ikea.

Glass furniture was the latest fashion.

 One of the features in this issue was 'Modern Bathrooms'. 

Having the bath in a niche was typical of the era.
I found this article about how the owners updated an original 1933 bathroom, while keeping the original feel. I love it!

In other homewares, the issue featured this gorgeous embroidered bedroom set.

Love the advertisements as well!

An article in this issue states that knitted items are very much in fashion and there are some lovely knitteds to show this.

I just love the shape of the jumper (sweater)  on the cover.

This sweater is called 'Pointing To Smartness'.
'The lime green yoke of this navy jumper drops to a point at the back as well as at the front. The draped handkerchief effect at the neck is exceedingly smart and becoming.' Agreed!
It is knitted in Patons Super Scotch Fingering 2ply, which I seem to recall reading somewhere (pretty sure in one of Susan Crawford's books) is equivalent to modern 3ply. But still!

This lovely number is 'Knitted Tweed' and includes the pattern for the crochet cap with feather trim. So stylish!
It uses DK tweed wool in a brown and white mix for the body and dark brown for the trim. I just love the triangular clip fasteners.

And this is 'The Chic of Check'. 
'The check pattern of this attractive garment is extremely smart in nigger brown and natural, fastening down the front with tiny silver buttons.'

Knitted in Patons Super Scotch Fingering 4ply - I really love this one!

As this is an English magazine, the word 'nigger' seems to not have had the negative connotations that it had in the US by this time. According to the Collins Dictionary definition of nigger brown, it is an old-fashioned British term for a certain shade of brown that is now considered offensive.
Still, the use of the word made me cringe. But, as I tell my daughter who is currently studying Australian history for her final year, you need to look at historical documents from the viewpoint of the time, not from our world view. At the moment, she is studying the history of the Aboriginal people under British settlement and there are (from our world view) some horribly rascist and totally illogical justifications for removing the Aboriginal people from their land. But at the time they were considered perfectly reasonable.
So we must just ignore words like this that seem terrible to us, but at the time were just a word in common usage and were not used with any intended malice.

Here is an update on the first completed project from Adventures In Stitchcraft, the baby vest.

If anyone wishes to knit it as well, it is a very simple project. The pattern is as follows:

The pattern calls for 3 ounces (85g) of 3ply but I used 4ply sock yarn. 100g was not enough, however, (oops, so much for that experiment!), so I estimate you would need about 130g of 4 ply. The needles are No 5 US or 3.75mm. I would probably go down to 3.5 or 3.25mm needles as well, which would make it closer to a 3 month size. 
As you can probably see in the photo, the sleeves on my vest were slightly thinner and shorter than the Stitchcraft pattern, due to the fact that I was running out of yarn! When I reached the sleeves, I divided the yarn I had left in half and knitted a sleeve with each until I ran out. This is why I estimate you would use about 130g of 4ply.

Front and back in one:
Cast on 76 stitches.
1st row: k4, * p2, k2, repeat from * to the end of the row.
Repeat this row until work measures 10.5 inches from the commencement.
Next row: k4, (p2, k2) five times, cast off 28 stitches, (p2, k2) six times.

Work on the last 24 stitches as follows:
1st row: k4, * p2, k2, repeat from * to the end of the row.
Repeat this row for 2.5 inches.
Leave this stitches on a stitch holder until other shoulder is worked.

Join wool at neck edge and work on the remaining stitches to correspond, ending at the neck edge, casting on 28 stitches and working the stitches which were left on the stitch holder. (This, of course, makes the 'window' for the head hole!)
Continue in rib to correspond with the front. 
Cast off.

The sleeves:
With the right side of the work facing, commence 8 inches from the lower edge of the garment and knit up 68 stitches evenly (34 at each side of the shoulder seam).
1st row: k4, * p2, k2, repeat from * to the end of the row.
Repeat this row, decreasing once at each end of the needle in every 6th row until 62 stitches remain. Work 3 rows without shaping. Cast off. 
Work another sleeve in the same manner.

Join in the wool and using a fine crochet hook, work around the neck as follows: * 1 tr, 2 ch, repeat from * evenly all round.

Sew up side and sleeve seams. Thread a ribbon through holes at neck.

What I really love about this pattern is the wonderfully forgiving nature of the 2x2 rib. As the pattern states, the vest should fit a baby for its first year as it will stretch as the baby grows. This must also make it comfortable for baby to wear and would make it very warm as well. 
I definitely will be using this pattern again!

Before I start knitting any patterns for me, I will be going through this measuring and resizing process from Tasha's blog.  I have made so many garments for myself and been disappointed with fit, so am going to do it properly this time. Especially considering vintage magazines have super slim models with fitted garments! - not quite what I look like!

If you haven't visited Tasha at By Gum, By Golly before, head on over for a vintage treat! She has lots of lovely free vintage knitting patterns, as well as heaps of other vintage sewing, wardrobe and hairstyles tips and tutorials. 

Look forward to seeing you next week!

Easter Happenings

Easter was celebrated with lots of chocolate!

The Easter table, as designed by Whirlwind.

Hope your Easter was special!

Blessed Easter To All

All my best wishes for a blessed Easter to you and your family!

 He is risen, indeed!

Prayers Needed

My daughter had her ultrasound on Monday and found out she is having a little girl. 

But the doctor called her back today as they were not happy with some of the images. He is sending her to the Foetal Medicine unit at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne (3.5 hour drive from our country town) as they have better imaging equipment. 

The doctor said they had not been able to see the nose properly or the valves in the heart and the baby was smaller than expected for 20 weeks. 

My daughter is holding up so far but is pretty upset. Please remember my daughter and little granddaughter in your prayers - I would so appreciate it.

Adventures In Stitchcraft - 1933

The first issue of Stitchcraft that I have is Issue No 5 from February 1933.

Before we begin though, let's take a look at the year 1933.

In 1933, England was considered to be over the worst of The Great Depression, whereas in the US and Australia, the effects were felt right up until the declaration of war. Thus it does not seem strange that a new magazine was launched in England in 1933, whereas it probably would not have succeeded if launched in the US at this time.

Historical events for 1933 include:

• Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany and soon bans all other political parties, turning Germany into a one-party state.

• The first concentration camp was opened at Dachau.
• Prohibition was repealed in the US.
• Unemployment in the US reached its highest level in the winter of 1932/33, with 1 in 3 being unemployed.
• Overall, Americans have about half the income they had in 1929.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected President of the US and institutes the 'New Deal' to address the Great Depression.

• Albert Einstein emigrates to the US from Germany.
• Neville Chamberlain visits Germany and returns to announce there will be 'peace in our time.'
• Mass starvation in China due to crop failure caused by flooding of the Yellow River.
• Japan invades Jehol Province in China.
• The Loch Ness Monster is sighted for the first time in modern times.

This photo is now known to be a hoax.

In popular culture:

• Shirley Temple signs a contract with Fox at five years old.

• King Kong is released at the cinema.
• The first drive-in theatre is established in New Jersey, US.
• Lone Ranger begins a 21 year run on radio.



Advertisement for board games from 1933

• The board game Monopoly is invented.

The first 5000 games of Monopoly were made by hand by a family who could not find employment during the Depression.

• The chocolate chip cookie is invented.
• Bing Crosby and Duke Ellington topped the Billboard charts.

What things cost (US price comparisons):

• Average cost of a new house: $5,750 (this converts to approx $103,000 in today's dollars)
• Average yearly wages: $1,550
• Plymouth 6 car $445
• Loaf of bread: 7 cents
• Pound of hamburger meat: 11 cents

This is a Dodge, not a Plymouth 6, but it has Shirley Temple in the ad!

This doll, at $3.45, was quite an expensive purchase.

The 6th Academy Awards were held, with winners including:

Best Picture: Cavalcade

I'd never heard of this movie, but it sounds like one I would like. It follows an English family during the years 1899 to 1933, so covers the Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic and WWI. Sounds a bit Downton Abbey to me!

Best Actor: Charles Laughton in The Private Life of Henry VIII

Not surprisingly, nearly all the images I found from this movie had Charles Laughton eating huge legs of poultry!

Best Actress: Katharine Hepburn in Morning Glory

My favourite though: Little Women won Best Adapted Screenplay. 

The Store by Thomas S. Stribling won the 1933 Pulitzer Prize for novels. It is the second book in a trilogy about the American Civil War and its aftermath.

Books published in 1933 included:(for a complete list, see here)

• Lost Horizon by James Hilton
• Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Down And Out In Paris And London by George Orwell
• The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack
• Doctor Dolittle's Return by Hugh Lofting

And in Australia:

The first Australian Women's Weekly from June 1933.

Blinky Bill by Dorothy Wall first appeared in 1933 and has remained in print to this day.

The Ashes cricket series between Australia and England was played over the summer of 1932/33, which became the infamous Bodyline series.

Bert Oldfield ended up with a fractured skull

Fashions from 1933: Lines were long, sleek and angular. Muted, deeper colours were popular. Wool, silk, cotton and rayon were the most common materials used.
 

Some wonderful clothing advertisements from 1933.

I would love to own any one of these pairs of shoes.











Maybe it is just me, but I love looking at all this information from prior years. I am a methodical, list making kind of person, I guess! Hopefully it wasn't too much!
In future I will spread the years' facts over a few posts as I will have more issues from future years (plus I was having so much fun and finding so much interesting stuff, I just couldn't seem to stop!)

Now on to the magazine itself!
As I have spent so long on 1933, I will share some of the magazine this week and some next week.

I bought this issue as a PDF from Subversive Femme's wonderful Etsy shop. Bex has lots of Stitchcrafts available in PDF format. And do check out her wonderful blog here. There are heaps of free vintage knitting patterns, so if you want to find something to knit along, have a look! I found a pattern for the Swagger Coat which is from 1933.

Some baby related advertisements from this issue:

The very first project I have embarked on for Adventures In Stitchcraft is a baby one. Very simple pattern, very quick to knit. Anyone who has visited me in the last week has already seen it in part, as I must admit to getting ahead and starting it last week.
It is a 2x2 rib baby vest, with the front and back being knitted in one piece and the sleeves picked up afterwards.

The pattern calls for 3 ozs of White Heather Vest Wool 3ply, made by J &J Baldwins. I could not find anything about this yarn, although I did find an advertisment for it from a 1933 Australian newspaper.

1/- means one Australian shilling, presumably per ounce but I'm not sure on that. 

As I have mentioned previously, I am not intending to be 100% historically accurate in my choice of yarns or fabrics. In 1933, this vest would have been knitted in pure wool in off white or cream colour. But my vest is being knitted in a 4 ply sock yarn that I had in my stash, unfortunately with no label, but more than likely contains nylon/polyamide. And it is variegated. 

Nylon/polyamide was not manufactured commercially until 1938 when DuPont launched nylon toothbrushes. In 1940, nylon stockings went on sale, with approx. 5 million pairs being sold on the first day!

Nylon is added to yarn, especially sock yarn, to improve durability and prevent pilling as it is the strongest synthetic fibre. It is, however, water resistant and so doesn't breathe as well. 
I cannot find any reference to when it was first added to knitting/sock yarn. If anyone does know this, I would love to hear from you.
Similarly, I cannot find any information as to when variegated yarn came onto the scene, but I am thinking 70s or 80s. I don't really remember seeing it during my childhood and my mum was a test knitter for Jenny Kee in the 80s, so we had a lot of yarn in our house!

Next week, I will be sharing the women's fashions and homewares from this issue.

I would love any comments, especially suggestions and your vintage knitting projects.
I hope you enjoyed Adventures In Stitchcraft!