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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?

The missing blouse

Remember this? It all spurred from the image above. I had started by planning to have the blouse done (left hand side), then naturally needed a skirt to go with it. When that was done too, there was just about enough yarn left for a 1936-1937 style cardigan which took the ensemble to the new heights of a trio.

Mine is not quite so wide at the base and sleeves as in the pattern below right due to the fact that there was a limited amount of yarn left. It came out like something in between the two shown here, and it has raglan sleeves too, though it's hard to tell in that pic.

When I first showed it on this blog last November I photographed the skirt and cardigan only (as above) and the left the blouse out as I hadn't put any buttons on it, and I was waiting for some vintage glass cuties to turn up in the post. Well, those turned up a bit of a disappointment, far too tiny and the wrong shade of green. I eventually abandoned the hunt for the shade of lime that I was fantasizing about in terms of an ideal contrast with the yarn, and settled for simple mother of pearl buttons, which, if less exciting, at least go with the detail in the long cardigan and do the job of keeping the short sleeve blouse closed.

 

As you can see mother had to slightly modify the design and while I still have the fitted waist band, my blouse fastens all the way down from neck to waist with functional buttons. We kept the sweet little pocket (I need a tiny pocket square to go in there), and the detail is repeated on the opposite side of the skirt.

It was mother's favourite yarn to work with so far, a mix of 75% wool and 25% silk that lent itself beautifully to the task at hand. 

As for me, I am loving the end product, it turned up pretty much how I wanted, looks and feels great, has a lovely texture while remaining fine enough, it's easy to wear and, as with most knits, I feel at my most natural while doing so.