Good time

Just unearthed these photographs from last February, same happy trio at the promise of food and drink, plus I had shopped (!) a 1930's spring coat which one year later I am yet to show you...We weren't anywhere near Via Vittoria, but a cosy and warm place which served very well cooked, traditional French dishes in ...Ludlow. Can't believe it's been a whole year, we planned to go back a couple of times and then it never happened. We absolutely must take a trip there soon!

Big smile, largely based on the glass of wine in front of me

...and who could be this creepy stranger?...Someone who wanted his overgrown hair cropped out of the picture.

Pink

Here is what I wore today - not only a knitted dress, but also a shawl to protect against the elements of a mid June day - the situation really is that sad. 

Having said that, not so good weather meant I got to wear and show you my "sports" knit dress meant for spring and loosely based on the pattern below.

I had initially planned to have it short sleeved, but the boucle yarn proved difficult to handle on its own, and in the end it was knitted with the aid of an extra bit of fine Shetland blended in. The pockets and belt are made solely in that yarn. But the knit had become heavier by now so I thought I'd have to settle for long sleeve instead, until I discovered that I could have my cake and eat it! A combination of long sleeve with a short cape sleeve detail is not unusual to 30's patterns, and I declare myself perfectly content to be greedy yet look authentic at the same time...

I think it's rather cute if I may say it myself, for a project that seemed doomed when the knit was first cast. But mother did it again! If anything adding the extra yarn improved the colour, it would have been a lot paler otherwise. There's also plenty of yarn left for a jacket, and I can never resist to a 2 or a 3 piece when the occasion presents itself. Haven't yet decided it what design to go for - perhaps you have some suggestions?

For the blue accents I used Czech glass buttons to the sides of the boat neckline and on the pockets. 

I have another blue glass buckle, slightly larger and more interestingly shaped, but this one seemed in the end better suited. I thought I could perhaps use the other buckle on the jacket - should I go for a belted style...Yet looking at the pics the whole look is rather simple, and more straight up and down than I felt looking in the mirror - perhaps I should keep the jacket in line with that... What do you think?

Temptation and fall - knit fashions of 1932

Love at first sight and a long lasting favourite, the magazine illustration above filled me with excitement every time I looked at it - and there were many, many times. Stripes? Check! Bias? Check! Raglan? Check! Add to that billowy sleeves and a cute tie, this surely was going to be a winner... or was it?! 

It certainly was a learning curve, if among the very few to be seen in this dress:). 

One of the big mistakes I made was the choice of knitting wool. Rowan silk cotton was used, in the shades Brick and Fudge, 4.5mm needles suggested. The dress took up a lot of skeins and it is very heavy. As a result it is dragged down by its own weight and instead of adding some welcome roundness to my chest, it flattens this area even more! If we would have picked up on this weight issue in the early days, mother could have knitted this as a 2 piece, which would have been the saving grace for my little chest problem...No such luck though!

The collar too is visibly pulled down, and the weight of the sleeves is such that I have to push up the forearm section where the sleeve is tight quite a lot to sustain the upper fullness, still without achieving much success. So much would be different if this was knitted in a lighter yarn! Why did I have to be so poorly inspired?!...

On a plus note, for those of you who might want to use this yarn (now discontinued, but still crops up here and there), it knits smoothly if somewhat bulky, and has a great drape - it you want it to fall, that is! 

The skirt hangs very nicely (and in this project we seemed to find the right length, Evrika!); was knitted in 6 panels that joined were smoothly and contributed to create what I think is a more authentic look compared to the effect of just two halves, the front and the back. However this method seems to add volume to my lower half, so I need to make sure that when used again I have something on top to balance it (more than just billowy sleeves that fall flat like a bad souffle :)).

Speaking of balance, no more raglan sleeves for me! This acknowledgment was pretty damn painful, especially as I adore this detail, it seems to be part of some of the most aesthetically appealing to me patterns...yet is has proved wrong for me. Particularly in this example - I have a couple of other things where it works better because a single colour is employed and the detail is not so poignant, however here it mercilessly highlights my poor, narrow, shabby little shoulders...bear with me, we are dramatic where I come from :).

To counteract this mother and I thought of shoulder pads (not very thirties - but only if you can see them!) - what do you think? Another option is to redo the top part of the sleeves using only the brick colour thread, like I simulated below. Ok, it sort of spoils the design a bit, but really, the design is rather spoiled on me so far! Any thoughts?

Other corrections will be to redo the collar as it doesn't sit well and lengthen the sleeves so that they actually reach the wrists as they should, allowing for the amount eaten up underneath the fullness of the top sleeve - any ideas to help with this?

One more thing to mind in the future is the belt knitting; this one is double knitted so that the shape is nice and the work is solid, however is on the bulky side...

In terms of my mother's knitting, she has once again surpassed herself, the dress is technically nearly flawless and I was literally in awe to the smoothness of the work and the perfection of the fit, one more reason to feel utterly gutted about my poor choice of design/yarn. And I waited so long to see it completed, not to think about the hours and hours mother spent knitting it! With only a bit more practical thinking rather than day dreaming, all the pitfalls could have been avoided...It was my Christmas present, but I couldn't quite bring myself to post it, especially as mum herself wasn't that impressed when she saw it on me - I know that things don't look so bad in these pics, but that's because they are the best of the lot.

Perhaps it is time to learn to like things that are actually  flattering???...