FO: Susan Shaw Cardigan

Friends, the saga is complete! I have officially made my very first actual vintage sweater. This pattern is from a 1943 Bestway pamphlet and was modeled by actress Susan Shaw, thus why I've called my sweater that. I started this project back in March, but I had purchased the yarn last September when I was inspired by Retro Claude's version on YouTube. I still cannot find which video shows her actually making this one (and I've honestly tried pretty hard, so maybe it was taken down?). Either way, I made note of the pattern when I saw hers, found someone selling the digital file on Etsy, and even purchased yarn with this in mind during a great Knit Picks sale (I still wish I had bought more because it's never been that cheap since). So when I had other projects and obligations taken care of back in March, I cast this on.

Here's how the sweater looks open, which is realistically how it will be worn most of the time. The yarn being on sale is actually what sparked this sweater going from "I'd like to make that" to an actual possibility. Knit Picks had a random fantastic sale on my favorite yarn - this is Stroll, which is a 75% merino superwash/ 25% nylon blend. It's intended for socks, which I've made a few times in this yarn, but it's just so soft and wonderful. It's honestly my favorite Knit Picks yarn to work with and wear. They had this yarn in certain colorways for just $2.50 per ball last September, which I've never seen before or since. I grabbed 6 balls of the Hollyberry colorway specifically intending it for this sweater. This was a total guess going by other fingering weight sweaters I've made. I was making an order this summer and decided to order 1 more skein because I was nervous about finishing the sweater in my size, and this turned out to be almost exactly enough - I literally have just scrap pieces left and I didn't have to skimp too bad on the sleeves. If I had only 6 skeins, I don't think I would have even been able to make 3/4 sleeves, so this extra skein was a wise decision. Being a stash knitter, sizing up vintage sweaters adds that yarn constraint challenge to the mix.

This became a saga because of how the pattern is written and then how my body changed while I was making it. First off - I was a 45" bust in March when I started this. The pattern doesn't mention the size it is written for anywhere and you have to do the math yourself to find out, but Retro Claude had listed it as a 34-36" bust size. I did a gauge swatch and did the math to increase it to 45" at the bust and started knitting. This is knit from the bottom up, so you start with 40 rows of ribbing (ugh) but after that it was just knitting the back piece without any issues. I moved on to the front pieces, which were fine, and it wasn't until I was literally seaming the body and trying it on as a vest that I realized it was too big. I lost weight this year and am now a 40" bust, but that thought never crossed my mind until I tried this on. I had also made the shoulders too wide and the armscye was pulling weirdly. I detailed all the issues and showed photos in this post at the end of August. In the end I decided to pull the fronts back to the ribbing and knit them again, but I left the back exactly as it was and it worked out just fine. This is the one advantage I can see about a seamed sweater - you can make alterations on the fly when you sew it up. So this is technically too wide in the back, but now one will really know that but me.

Originally I had like 3 extra columns of the design at the top, which made the shoulders way too wide. At first I toyed with just folding them under and making it a seam allowance, but the other issues with fit were just too much and it really needed to be re-knit. It's still a bi wide at the shoulder, but that is now caused by the wider back and the armscye shape instead of too much fabric at the shoulder. It's not bad now, though, so I'm fine with it. I just try to make sure I pull the shoulder area up when I put it on in hopes of it sitting better when I wear it.

I knit the neckband before I knit the sleeves because I was working with a certain amount of yarn and the sleeves are the area I can alter as I go. The neck band is knit in a long strip as a separate piece, which I've never done before. I was inclined to pick up stitches all around like I usually do, but I liked the smooth look in the pattern photo so I decided to just go true to the vintage and knit it as written. I had to do a bit of math to get it extended for my extra length and then I misread the instructions for attaching. You're supposed to sew it on and pull a bit at the back of the neck so it keeps things snug there. I thought it said to tug a bit all over, which is why mine pulls up a bit at the center front compared to the rest of the sweater. It's not bad enough to make me want to re-knit that band, lol. It would also mean taking off the backing and everything. Yeah, it's fine. Not doing that. I also love the faux-cable-ish design - I say they look like cartoon red blood cells.

Speaking of backing, I did my usual finish of adding rayon Petersham ribbon inside the back. I machine stitch buttonholes on the back of the receiving end to line up with the holes I knit, then hand sew the ribbon in place. I then hand stitch a corresponding ribbon on the button side and then sew the buttons on. This makes the whole thing SO much sturdier. I always say I don't like t look like I'm Hulk-ing out of my sweaters, and since I like a fitted look, this is prone to happen. Adding the ribbon makes it smooth and sturdy and it is absolutely worth the time. I'm thinking of doing a tutorial on this if anyone is interested. My buttons are from my stash and I liked that they kind of looked like balls of yarn. They are a bit more textured than I would usually like for a sweater, but so far everything is fine.

The sleeves were another experience. These were knitted top down (thank heaven) and it was complete guess work in making them the right size at the sleeve cap. I honestly didn't really know what width of sleeve would be comfortable and I never thought to just measure one I liked (duh). So I knit about to my elbow a few times on the first sleeve and ripped it out once I wrapped it around my arm and saw how loose it was. This was entirely preference for the look I wanted and it wouldn't have been the end of the world had the sleeves been looser. I really do like the fit I finally achieved though. I just measures the width of my Honeybee sleeves and after that it was smooth sailing.

I originally planned this to be 3/4 sleeve since that is my favorite length, but when I was knitting the first sleeve I decided to make them long sleeves since I don't have a single hand knit fingering weight sweater and I knew it would be useful to have at least one. I had to fudge the length a smidge in the end because of how much yarn I had left and they turned out just a little shorter than would be ideal, but still long sleeved and fine. That's the problem with sizing up a vintage sweater - you don't know how much yarn you will need. At least now I have a reference with how much yarn this took (about 1600 yards) and I can file that away for future vintage sweaters.

All in all, I'm happy with this sweater. It is very cozy and soft, the size is comfy (if a little more fiddly at the shoulders), but overall for this being my first time sizing up a vintage pattern myself, I'm pleased with the result. I may have technically knit the whole thing 1.5 times, but I have a very wearable sweater for my efforts and it's done just in time for the cooler season. I learned a lot in making this, and while vintage patterns are still not "easy", I at least have a better idea of what I need to pay attention to when knitting one. Now I need to sew more bottoms to wear with this!

Summary:

Yarn: 7 skeins Knit Picks Stroll in Hollyberry - $22.21

Pattern: Susan Shaw Cardigan from 1943 Bestway Magazine - $2.56

Notions: rayon petersham ribbon - $6.50, 6 buttons - $ 2.50

Time: 8 Months

Total Cost: $33.77

*My Knit Picks links are affiliate links and I receive a small commission if you make a purchase, but all yarn for my project was purchased with my own money and all opinions are 100% my own.