How did they do that? Studying a Vintage Hand-knit Sweater || Craftmas day 10

[@RetroClaude]

I occasionally give talks to craft groups about my vintage knitting and research into WW2 rationing in the UK. The one thing I always stress is that women in the past were BUSY! Knitting wasn't a relaxing hobby it was the cheapest and most coupon effective way to cloth their families, but it's very labour intensive. I reckon that's why the Rainbow Jumper was so popular because it's knit on 4mm needles. I also suspect whoever was making your sweater was in a similar position. You can just imagine them finishing the colour work on the body and going, 'this thing needs to be done ASAP!' Also so glad you've been enjoying Clodmas! Take your time, we'll follow along with you 💚

[@vinnie_451]

I love collective curiosity of everyone simultaneously thinking, "can we see the inside?"

[@retrocraftdreams]

Whenever I'm making one of my vintage things, if ever I start to feel like I'm being a perfectionist about it, I love to remind myself that the original crafters were just as prone to mistakes. Nothing is more "historically accurate" than messing up! 😆 Getting it done and calling it good! It really is a shame people never got into the habit of dating and signing their knits the way they did quilts and embroideries. It would be fun to know when the sweater was made. Claude seems pretty familiar with vintage yarn, I wonder if she could help date it. But it wouldn't matter if it was made last year - it's an incredible find no matter what!

[@tammyt3434]

Pretty sure the core of the Ugly Sweater tradition is mistakes! XD

[@retrocraftdreams]

@@erssiemajor8010 I do have perfectionist tendencies, and definitely frog plenty of stuff, too. For me, it's about not being so precious about the project that I can't move forward. In some cases, it's about recognizing that some flaws are okay, In other cases, it's about recognizing that, even though I may have put in hours of work, if I'm going to be really bothered, it's worth fixing. I'm still working on myself in this regard, but I can tell when I'm taking the wrong approach by whether I get so stuck that I shelve the project.

[@RetroClaude]

Oh also another theory about why the triangles at the bottom are missing. A band of colour around the bottom of a sweater can draw a lot of attention to what may be a person widest bit. Or if they were going to tuck it in they might have been like, "I'm not bothering with that then!"

[@emilenegalvin]

I’m with you. I think the alternative neckline and the omitted brighter colours band at waist suggest adaptations to make the jumper more flattering. I don’t like polonecks, turtle necks, cowl necks, scarves….

[@Johanna.EG.]

Forensic knitting! I love it.

[@lianapalumbo8457]

I absolutely love buying something handmade secondhand or new, and seeing little "mistakes". I think this absolutely humanizes the person behind the item. Turkish rugs that can cost many many thousands of dollars, have mistakes woven on purpose, so people know that they're handmade. I make lampshades and do all the beading by hand and I will purposely make a mistake. The jumper looks perfect and I doubt anyone would notice any flaws 😊 xx

[@RockinTheBassGuitar]

This was so interesting! I know you did this analysis ecause you're making your own but I think it would be cool if you did this with your other vintage knits.

[@bonniecolleenpappin8807]

Thank you for that in depth analysis of the vintage pullover. I love looking at other's work! I suspect that the original pullover was knitted in the round and then the instructions were interpreted to flat knitting. Elizabeth Zimmerman says in 'Knitting Around' (Schoolhouse Press, 3rd Printing, 1994, p164) that Gladys Thompson's publishers made her made her change all her knitting instructions from round knitting to flat knitting in pieces. I'm sure I read somewhere that Mrs. Zimmerman told the story that Vogue Knitting also made her do the same. The color work on your pattern would work so much easier if the body were knitted in the round to the underarm and then divided. No purling, no cut ends to weave in on the body of the garment or on the sleeves to the underarm. I really recommend getting her books as she was designing and knitting in the '40's and '50's. That type/height of collar is called a 'crew neck' and is my favorite style. Thanks again and have a Merry Christmas!

[@robintheparttimesewer6798]

That is so lovely. I was just saying on Lady Rebecca Fashion that if we were all given the same pattern, materials and tools there would be differences. You get to a point where you say “I’m not doing it that way or I need to change this up”. People always change things up. It can be as easy as saying no to the colour work on the sleeves or making a button placket to avoid the zippers. Patterns are guidelines. Embrace the chaos!

[@KelseyDrummer]

Maybe the original knitter forgot the triangles lol. That's something I'd do haha!

[@Melissa.Monique]

There is a white version on eBay right now, without the little white design. They kept the diamond stripes and the turtle neck.

[@MsSagittariusA]

That inside is immaculate. I audibly gasped at how neat it was!

[@laurawalsh632]

I love your analysis of this sweater! And how you find the humanity in each stitch. Thanks for the lovely video :)

[@KnittingLulu]

I have a few hand me down jumpers from my mum, which her mum had had knitted by someone in their town. I just love the concept of "here is the yarn I chose and I would like this jumper for this person out of it, can you make it? Thanks". It is so amazing to look at those jumpers someone "professional" made in the 60s/70s/80s. Living pieces of history.

[@999Giustina]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who uses patterns as suggestions. Don't think I've ever followed a pattern 100%

[@Midge5184]

I love seeing your progress on your makes! You actually gave me the motivation to buy myself a knitting machine and I have been knitting sweaters for my family members! Thank you for inspiring me and helping to motivate me to continue with my passion for yarn crafts!

[@janehealy2351]

Unfortunately arthritis has stolen my ability to knit. But I love watching your videos, as I can live vicariously 😂 On the colour work, I think the creator of your vintage jumper used a technique call "fair isle", at least that's what it was taught to me as. It's quite a bit of preparation, but well worth it as you hardly have any ends to weave. It uses bobbins for each colour, and all colours are woven in as you knit. I have been really enjoying your "Craftmas" videos, Thanks for making them 😘

[@kersenzomer2194]

I think you're mistaken to call the technique fair isle. Often 'fair isle' is used as a catch all term for al kinds of colorwork in English. Actual fair isle is a style of stranded colorwork with specific motives and colors from Fair Isle in the United Kingdom. What you're describing sounds like intarsia which is another way to do colorwork.

[@Lady_dromeda]

Maybe you could try machine? There's a large possibility that I gave the onset of arthritis and I've been planning on getting a flatbed machine for when it's too hard for me to hand knit anymore, don't know what I'll do about crochet though

[@janehealy2351]

When I was taught this technique, it was over 50 years ago! We called it what our parents taught us to call it. I can no longer knit, so it's a moot point.

[@lizzieburgess674]

@@Lady_dromeda and @Jane Healy - I took up machine knitting a good few years ago when arthritis made it too painful for me to handknit. I find that - with the consequent massive reduction of the constant stress on my hand - especially my thumb - joints, that I can now knit a few rows for a nice finish and have been able to manage some pretty crochet on the edges, too. As long as I am careful and have plenty of breaks in handwork, I get no pain. I have several machines now as I love machine knitting so much!

[@mikhaylaschull5913]

Another thought about the turtleneck, maybe the knitter was like me and really didn't like the feeling of a turtleneck on their neck. This is so delightful to look at!!!

[@aly_b]

Super interesting, as you said it's so nice to see the individuality that a pattern can provide. I really want to see you make the hat, the first time you showed us the project I felt in love, idk, I'm use to see this sort of hats as 'babies hats', and to see them on a grown adult is super sweet and I definitely want one 😅

[@crpuravida2]

That's so awesome you found the same sweater .

[@paper_maiden]

I loooove your videos. Your insights are touching and precise and I really love them. I cannot knit for the life of me, but I really, really love hearting you talk about it. And I also agree that small mistakes make things more human and charming.

[@silvipeppers]

ooh, the decision of the knitter to cut a row of white off makes the colourwork look like little clouds! that makes me think the skier is sky-high; very fun (-:

[@trixieknits]

Great video! Thanks for taking the time to do this one. 🎄🕯️🌟

[@sekaihatsu]

I can imagine the knitter was several rows up or a couple inches up from the "extra" white stitch and thought "Snow it, I'm not going back to fix it." Unlike tinking down in plain knit to fix a dropped stitch, color work must be frogged. Being so close to finishing the sweater, and maybe a deadline (present)?, it probably wasn't worth trying to fix that extra stitch. As you said, it's so human and can bring us closer to this knitter through their work with the choices that were made.

[@plinkiplonk]

Such a fun project to watch and follow along. My own experience with vintage patterns is that, because the skill level used to be so much higher generally, a lot of the instructions we nowadays depend upon were simply taken for granted. Knitters used to know that floats had to be caught if they got longer than, say, an inch, so this was not mentioned specifically. They also NEVER cared about convenience it seems, hence why we have a lot of patterns that did colourwork back and front, even though this really is the devil's work...😄

[@ceraphi717]

that's a gorgeous sweater!! i can't wait to see yours worked up too!! the sock im working on has some purls in the knit ribs from being distracted working on it during a really fun school field trip that i didn't have the heart to fix

[@petiteminipizza]

Thank you for sharing this piece with us, such a great find! Could you maybe show us how you knit the sleeves two at a time?

[@lindagoesel3815]

I really enjoy your videos. I don't knit but i love knits😊 please keep up the great content. Merry Christmas.

[@cassiehall479]

My thought goes to it being an 80's recreation pattern based on the 50's based on the overall shape and colour work placement

[@rainieraine1192]

So fascinating, watched it again to see all those knitting nuances. Not sure about the caught floats as they did, it is very neat inside but you can see those floats when the sweater is stretched when wearing. Looking forward to seeing your sweater.

[@SarahJo]

I love their decision to do the blank sleaves! IDK if I'd ever make this, but if I did I'd want to do the same thing after seeing this!

[@emilycuneo42]

This is so interesting! Thanks for showing us!

[@kyleebatchelor4083]

I wonder if the original knitter decided to leave out parts of the colour work for economy, like you suggested for the neckline? Perhaps they also didn't have enough red or white. Absolutely fascinating nonetheless :)

[@tainaheljanko820]

I had a bit of a heureka moment this morning and i wanted to share it with you. Your idea of using more than one ball of white yarn and bringing the yarns up the side seams would totally work, if you use three balls. So, knit whit ball1, purl whit ball2, knit whit ball3, then purl blue, knit blue, purl blue, knit blue, and then purl whit ball1, knit whit ball2, purl whit ball3, and so on. I think It really ought to work whit any design where there is an even number of rows of the backround colour in between an odd number of colourwork rows

[@pmclaughlin4111]

This was a wonderful wonderful vlogmas Truly in the spirit of the season The knitter is one after my own heart. I never do 1-1rib, always 2-2 or 3-2 I would skip the bottom triangles - not for ease but because it's not my thing I don't knit turtlenecks Actually I seldom follow the neck instructions... I have a go to double crew neck I nearly always use. I haven't knit a sweater in years (it's mostly socks, mitts, and faroese shawls)

[@sallaisosaari4652]

Really interesting seeing how the vintage sweater was done!

[@CountanceD]

The lovely cardigan you’re wearing reminds me of Stephen West’s Bubble cardigan. I wonder if the stitch technique is similar. I love the shape of yours a bit more; a bit more fitted.

[@BibiClear]

I would have changed the sleeves to a solid as well, since the bit of the sweater where it connects is solid as well. I like the look of that better XD Love the differences in how someone can read a pattern and make it their own

[@eleonorahof1001]

Really lovely video, enjoyed every moment and didnt want it to end. Knitting forensics as another commenter said is so fascinating. You are absolutely welcome to do more of it. I would also be very curious if you could do a deeper dive into the yarn they used.

[@DebiSmithPouliot]

I've always believed that patterns as well as recipes are more of a general guideline. I probably would have tried to knit this in the round.

[@itoshigoto]

This video is incredible! Enjoyed the investigation❤

[@transarchivist]

Where did you find the vintage sweater listed and where do you usually go to source your vintage knits? :)

[@margaretoliver9656]

This is so NEAT to watch! Thanks!! 😍

[@hjkahvedjian4628]

Thanks so much for this video! Loved seeing the sweater inside out!

[@denisegore1884]

I'm getting an 80s vibe from the vintage sweater which might explain the change to the neckline.

[@sjwestmo]

Me too! The changes look very 80s

[@amara560]

This was fascinating!

[@cecilyerker]

I would love to see you knit the vintage sweater too

[@christenagervais7303]

I would suggest that you don't carry your yarn floats for more than 3 or 4 stitches along the back. You may find that you catch your fingers or rings on the longer floats and affect your tension. I do a lot of Danish knitted sweaters with the complicated pattern at the yoke. That is what my Mormor taught me!

[@spwaff.]

if you haven’t finished already, can you show the process of cutting your long floats and weaving them in perhaps?😊

[@sararussell7227]

Wouldn’t you love to talk to the knitter and ask her why she made the choices she made? Or be able to commiserate with her over issues with the pattern? I would think that would be so interesting.

[@wolfgangshuman]

Great video 🎉

[@roleat]

This is far beyond my skill level but i enjoy hearing artisans discuss it

[@famwisso7715]

love your videos😍 thank you so much!

[@malieshaojie502]

Everyone is talking about the knitting and I'm trying to figure out the outline of the skier! Where's their other hand? Which blob is the head? Is that a scarf or hat strings floating in the back?

[@gaby.booyah4338]

Shut up, Engineering Knits posted a new video

[@allclairesbears]

New Project for you. Sit down with grid paper and a pen and examine that cardy you are wearing. Count the stitches and rows and examine how it was put together. Then make a pattern. Then knit 😀

[@nicolaclements1477]

Curious to know what you think the yarn is. A lot of vintage knitting I've come across is done in acrylic yarn, which is very stiff by the time it makes it to me. How does this one feel? Could you find a little tail to sacrifice for a burn test? Thank you for sharing this wonderful find!

[@foleyjp1]

I really enjoy see the work of a beginner colorwork knitter. You are learning some very valuable lessons. What is the name of the vintage book that you are knitting from?

[@pialindeg]

Maybe someone wrote it before, but its definitely a norwegian pattern from Dale garn - made in the fifties to celebrate a norwegian skier who won something big competition. I dont quite remember where I read it - think it was in a book about norwegian patterns - Selbu maybe. Best wishes from Pia in Denmark

[@susanmyrawills]

Very interesting ! Did you mention where you found the vintage skier sweater? Ebay?

[@LeelaBluePins]

I love the sweater/cardigan you're wearing in this video! Did you happen to knit it?

[@crpuravida2]

What is the pattern you are wearing?

[@michellezamaftas1712]

On the close up the skier looks like the disney character "Goofy."

[@tammyt3434]

Me: I need a really nice old fashioned sweater. KZbin: Have you tried this video? Me: Wow! So helpful and exactly fitting! Also; creepy. Really creepy.

[@zark10hi]

So fun video! In Scandinavia you were suppoused to leave a mistake in your handiwork, because a perfect work would be to insinuate that you were Godlike. Religion is weird sometimes😁

[@jolynnwhite7946]

📚👗👌🏾😍🏳️‍🌈🥰👍