Friday 4 April 2014

Knit one, purl two, knit...wait...What??

vintage knitting pattern turquoise red nails bakelite bracelet yarn 50's fifties


A couple of weeks ago I started my first real knitting project. Yup, that's right, the first. I had learnt to knit at school when I was around ten, but it never really "caught on". I mean, I did knit the obligatory scarf and dolly blanket back then, but as far as I was concerned, knitting wasn't something I did. I would drool over vintage knitting patterns and items made with vintage patterns, but that was it. It always seemed like too much faff to even begin a project.

But when I was looking at vintage patterns a while back, I suddenly realised "Hey, I could do that. How hard can it be?" Bahahaaa. No but seriously, it's not hard. There are only a limited number of things you can do with a knitting needle and yarn and they can all be learnt.

vintage knitting pattern 50's fifties
Easy peasy...


With me it was always a lack of motivation that stopped me from beginning. I wanted to knit something I'd actually use, like a cute vintage cardi. This meant I'd look at patterns calling for a thin cotton yarn and teeny-tiny needles. Sometimes, I'd even get as far as casting on and knitting a few rows. But then...couldn't ...quite...get...further. And stopped. I know quite a few knitters and it always bugged me that I wasn't one of them. It was like a club I wanted to join, but couldn't quite muster up the inspiration to fill out the application form, if you get my meaning.

The beginning of a.....err...Nope, can't remember.


Luckily, like I mentioned, I know knitters and they guided me towards a suitable pattern. And I found one on Subversive Femme's blog: The Target 'Quick-To-Knit' Cardigan from the 50's. The size is right (no alterations to width needed), the yarn and needles are a reasonable size ( which means I'll make quick progress despite my slow knitting speed), it has some flourishes (which will be a nice challenge) and it's QUICK-TO-KNIT. Perfect!

Targer quick-to-knit cardigan 1950's knitting pattern


So this is what I've been doing with some of my free time. Only change I'm making is that mine will be shorter so that it will go nicely with full skirts as well. I've already finished the back and am currently knitting the left front. Look, I even did popcorn! The whole popcorn-border-bit took some figuring out to begin with but it looks so cool that it was definitely worth it. Anyway, I'll show you how it turns out once I'm finished.

vintage knitting pattern 1950's fifties target quick-to-knit cardigan turquoise
Popcorn!

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