Knitting!

Two! Finished knits! That worked! The one on the left is Paris, the one on the right is from Stitchcraft No. 329, and judging by the pattern pic it's early to mid 1960s.

Both knitted in very vintage 4-ply courtelle crepe yarn. As usual, the vintage pattern fits me better; I did expect the cardigan to be longer, and even though my gauge was spot-on, I suppose the model in the photo demanded less width-ways stretch from her garment than I do, so it ends up shorter on me. The sleeves are fine, so presumably my arms are of a reasonable diameter. But overall it's not a disaster.

Don't let anyone tell you that photographing all your vintage patterns and saving them in files tagged 4-ply, 3-ply, cardigan, vest etc is a waste of a Sunday, by the way. I cast on in the turquoise for a different jersey, and we popped in a dvd. About a hand's width into the knitting, I realised it was going to be horrible. I frogged, we paused, and I clicked through my vintage patterns, grabbed the Stitchcraft from my stash (yes, they're stacked in order!) and we got on with the movie. Ten minutes, tops.

While I'm on the subject of knitting.... Helene tagged me with a knitting tag:

1. Are you always happy with your FO's?
2. Are you sometimes so disappointed that you frog everything and start a new project? Why? Color? Yarn? Making? Too small? Too large?
3. Do you wear your knits or do they end up at the bottom of a cupboard? If so, why? How do they age after being washed and worn?
4. Do you always make a swatch?
5. Finally, would you rather work with some yarns you know well rather than others to avoid bad surprises?

1. About 50% of the time.
2. Yes! I have some things that are on their third incarnation. It's one of reasons I like knitting - mistakes can be unravelled and turned into something else. I haven't bought yarn for  years; there's a whole stash of things waiting to be made into other things. It's usually a size/shape problem - but so far vintage patterns are working well.
3. I wear them. I've had a few horrible moments recently upon stepping out the door and realising that everything I'm wearing was made by me, and there's too much knitting. I do tend to knit because I want the clothes, rather than knitting for it's own sake, but I'm learning to sew as well, to sort of vary the outfits. Everything I've made from vintage yarn has aged very well - I'm always on the hunt for crepe yarn. It wears incredibly well, but just doesn't seem to be available any more. Vintage patterns tend to be knitted at a tighter gauge, too, so things keep their shape. I've frogged a few things made from more modern patterns because they became droopy and floppy.
4. I do. Usually because I'm knitting with something other than the suggested yarn - usually something unlabelled I found at a secondhand shop.
5. I'm happy to try knitting with just about anything. There's always a chance of a good surprise!

I'm tagging Janemactats and Asiye.