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.

WIP Wednesday: Seaming Sweaters and Mock Ups

This has been a momentous week for my making, friends. I'm officially finishing the Susan Shaw cardigan! I have one sleeve "tentatively" sewn on and I just have to sew on the second one to be finished.

At first I had excess to make a slight poof at the top of the shoulder, but once it was sewn on I saw I could use a little more room at the back of the sleeve, so I had to undo this and ease it in over that portion. 

I also got the ribbon sewn on the button bands and the buttons installed just because I wanted it to be totally done when I finish the sleeves. 

And here it is opened, which is how I will realistically wear it. Honestly, there are still some fit issues, but nothing to keep me from wearing it. I'll give a full rundown once I get photos and everything, so stay tuned if you want all the deets. I'm mostly just ecstatic to finally call this one done.

I've also been working on a mock up of the bodice on the Decades of Style New England dress, which has been more confusing than I anticipated. I was trying to sew a quick mockup while I was on the phone the other night, but I couldn't wrap my head around it and needed more focused attention, so I stopped. Hopefully that will be ready to go soon because I already have my washed fabric waiting to be cut out. I'm also trying to avoid looking at the Knit Picks Big Sale, lol. You're welcome if you didn't know about this already.

Any big milestones in your making this week? I'm shifting into my other knitting projects now in hopes of getting a few more things finished before I focus on gift knitting only for a while. My Sentro will be cranking away very soon!
 

WIP Wednesday: Restlessness and Determination

 

This week has been a bumper for knitting my Susan Shaw cardigan. I managed to get both of the fronts re-knit and seamed together on Saturday night, but then a try on showed me that the armscyes were too tight. I had picked up around the neckline for a button band, but decided I would rather fix the fit on the sleeves now, so I took the shoulders apart again and added 2 more repeats of the faux cable pattern, then put it all back together. The shoulder seam is now about 1 inch too far back, but I'd rather have it be comfortable to wear than worry about the placement of the seam and the fit is much better now. Then I decided to knit the button band separately like the pattern calls for since I liked the look in the photo and I'd never done one that way before. 

The button band was majorly tedious - you knit just 13 stitches to be long enough for the entire opening of the sweater. In reality, it didn't take that long since I managed to make it all in a day, but it sure felt like longer than that. Not enjoyable to knit. Also seaming wasn't very enjoyable either. I do like how it looks now that it's on the sweater, but definitely not my favorite construction of a button band.

In sewing news, I finally got grommets for my stays mock up. Even though these were technically too big, I still wanted to get them officially finished. I've as given myself a reprieve on Regency sewing for now. Originally I had wanted t make it up for Halloween, but having the snags I've had on the last few pieces I made have really just sucked my excitement for this completely away. I still have to hem my chemise and fix the neckline (because of how the pattern illustrations looked, I put the drawstring opening on the back thinking it was the front :/), and I made myself cut out the bodice petticoat, which was quite the challenge in and of itself because 1) the pattern was not "tiled" so I had to make acrobat tie it and then just hope I was lining things up correctly and 2) the skirt pieces are just enormous - so big that they couldn't even fit fully on a single A0 sheet so the pattern itself has to be pieced before you even cut things out. I've had a ton of things with this project that just had snags or took extra figuring out, plus I have a bunch of other modern clothing I really want to make and wear. Because of this inner conflict I found myself not sewing at al last week and just knitting instead. So I've given myself permission to just make what I want to make. The regency stuff will get done eventually - I just want it to be because I genuinely want to make it up, not because of some arbitrary deadline. No sense in making yourself miserable with something that is supposed to be a fun stress reliever :)

So now I have a black Fiore skirt sitting on my table ready to be sewn up and I actually want to sew something again. Anyone else have project regrets? Because here is your permission to just do what you want to do in case you feel you need that. (p.s. you don't need permission)

WIP Wednesday: Knitting Progress, Mistakes, and Dying Adventures

 

Let's start with the good making news. This week I've been moving right along on the Playin' My Song MKAL with Sweet Georgia Yarns and it's looking really cute thus far, I have to say. This yarn is just SO SOFT and squishy. I just love it. It's turning out much better than I ever thought some yarn from Temu ever would. I just started the 2nd clue on Tuesday morning - just in time for the 3rd clue to be released, lol. Oh well. I'm a week behind, which is actually much better than I thought I'd be doing at this point. I will have more knitting time this week, so we will see how far I can get.

Then I swung by the library to pick some things up last weekend and the lovely librarian who dabbles in crochet held some of the decommissioned library books out for me that they were giving away. Isn't that awesome? I've actually checked out that Knitting Vintage book before, so that was a cool surprise. She showed me where the other free knitting books were, so you know I grabbed a few more. Also - someone donated their entire collection of Sew Beautiful Magazine to the magazine swap at the library, and I've been picking up every issue I see in there any time I go in. I just can't help it. This is a magazine from the 80s and 90s that focused on heirloom sewing techniques and Victorian style - think adorable kids smocked dresses and ruffles on everything. They have a pattern included with each issue, so I just have to grab them.

Now for the not so great news: I finally grabbed my Susan Shaw cardigan after letting is sit partially seamed together for 2 weeks and assessed the issues. I'm trying not to be too hard in myself about the mistakes since this is my first time grading up a vintage pattern, but I also was a dummy and didn't measure things compared to my body as I went along. Being a person who sews clothing, you'd figure I would not make such a rookie mistake, but here we are. 

The shoulder area is way too wide and that stems from the side boob area also being too wide. Two weeks ago when I seamed it and tried it on, I tried to tell myself I could just fold out the excess into my seams, but when it really came down to it I knew that wouldn't look good.

So on Sunday night, I faced the facts and decided to rip back the sweater fronts. It also really doesn't help that I have lost 4 inches in my bust since starting this project, but ANYWAY. I don't want to pull out the back, and that is 22 inches at the bust, so I just kept ripping back until I was closer to 10 inches on the front panel... well that meant going almost completely back to the waist, lol. Yeah, I basically should not have increased at all after the ribbing - apparently I am lego brick shaped. So instead of being mad about it, I just bit the bullet and pulled it all out. I'm going to knit one of the front pieces and seam it on to check the fit, then do the other front panel. At least this is enjoyable to knit :)

I also decided to dye some heavy weight natural linen chocolate brown on Saturday night, and the results were ... not as expected. Somehow it turned a purply gray? Still don't understand that one. So now I have to come up with something to sew with 2 yards of heavy weight purple-ish linen. Good times. You win some, you lose some.

Have you had any successes this week? I hope so, lol. I'm glad at least not everything I've been working on turned out badly. But we can fix it! I'll just get back to knitting, I guess.

WIP Wednesday: New MKAL, Seaming, and Refashioning!

Well, my kids are officially in school, which means I have just bumped up my knitting time in a huge way. Due to when their school starts compared to when I have to be at work combined with the distance I live from said school and work, I wind up with a couple of hours of time to kill each morning now. PLUS I have the car pickup line to knit as well. I've been frustrated about not having much knitting time this whole summer, but now it's been a huge consolation for having to wake up so early. 

I decided a month ago that I would join the Sweet Georgia Yarns' Playin' My Song mystery shawl knit along, so I pre-purchased the pattern and then waited for August 15th for the first clue to be released. I've gone a bit rogue with my yarn choices - they recommend sock yarn, but I've chose this set of lace weight Swan Lake by Lotus Yarns that I got from Temu a few months ago and I just really want to work with. These are a cashmere/wool/angora blend and they are just so soft and lovely. The lace weight makes for a light and airy shawl, but living in Florida I could use a little airiness for sure. So I'm about to cast on my shawl and have fun with the mystery :)

My car knitting has been to finish the second front panel of my Susan Shaw cardigan. I followed the original vintage directions and pressed the pieces with a damp cloth and it actually worked very well. I've only ever soaked and pinned out to dry for blocking before, but I was pretty impressed by the results with this method and it was so much faster.

Now I'm working on seaming the panels together so I can try it on and then I have to decide if I want to seam the sleeves like the pattern calls for or just knit the sleeve on the arm hole. I'm still undecided. I've never really made many seamed designs before (not intentional, I just have always been drawn to designs that are seamless), so I'm hoping this goes well.

And on the sewing front, I've been working on what I thought would be a quickie refashion, but has turned into a full reconstruction, lol. I got this Orvis brand linen skirt at a thrift store with the plan of making it knee length and adding patch pockets, but it's turned out to be much more work than that. All worth it, though, to have a good khaki skirt in such a lovely fabric, so I will persevere!

What are you working on this week? Are you feeling the approach of fall yet?

WIP Wednedsay: Sweater Progress + Happy 4th of July!

Holiday weeks always throw me off with posting, but progress is being made on many fronts :) First off, let's check in with my Susan Shaw cardigan. This is a design from 1943 and it's my first truly vintage knit. There has been a learning curve, for sure, but honestly I'm glad this was the first vintage pattern I decided to knit up because it's pretty simple. I've been working on the left front and I really like the mock cable design. I call the little circles red blood cells, lol. 

Thanks to a long drive as well as a day in various mechanic shops, I've managed to almost finish the left front :) I'm slightly skeptical of the length, but since I'm basing it off my Honeybee cardigan (which I love), I'm trying to trust the process. I'll likely finish the shoulder shaping tonight and be onto the right front. 

As Tuesday was the 4th of July, my mom and I made a pilgrimage to our favorite place - The Sewing Studio! I definitely bought more fabric than I thought I would or should, but at 40% off I just couldn't not buy it. I will post a haul of what I got in a few days to share :)

Then we went back to my parents' house for some swimming and dinner. I hung out with my newest little buddy for a while (don't let his face fool you, he was happy with me for quite a while, lol). 

And my girls went swimming, which always makes any day great.

And we finished off the day with toddler appropriate pyrotechnics lol. My older nephew has reached the age that he was bored with my sparklers and pop-its, but my girls had a lot of fun.

I hope you had a great Independence Day! 

WIP Wednesday: Vintage Knit Check In and Summer Planning

I'm not the greatest at diving into a fingering weight sweater and working on it monogamously until it's done. Fingering weight sweaters tend to be my background knits - the project I always have going that I can grab in between the gift making and other shiny things that take my fancy. Since starting this sweater on March 7th, I've knit a shawl and 2 amigurumi, finished a bolero and a different fingering weight sweater, and crocheted an amigurumi and a tote bag. Not bad, frankly, lol. But I've managed to get all those other projects finished so I've had more time to devote to knitting this up.

I knew when I started this that it would be a background item because it would take a little more brain power than I'm used to. Being a vintage pattern from the 1940s, this doesn't exactly hold your hand, and I'm adjusting the size up for myself since this was only written for a 34-36" bust, which I am not. I figured the back would be the easiest piece to start with, and so far it's looking very nice. I'm about to shape the area above the arm holes. Also I just love this yarn. Knit Picks Stroll never disappoints with me. It's so smooth and soft, I just love it, so I'm very excited to have this as a finished object.

I also managed to make my first ever actual project on the Sentro knitting machine! It's so adorable, seriously, and I will share all the particulars here soon. I just have to weave in the ends before it goes to its recipient on Saturday.

In new ideas (or at least resurrecting of older ideas), I watched a podcast yesterday about plant based fibers for summer, and it really got me thinking about the Cotton et Lin yarn I have in my stash. I picked up several skeins of coordinating colors in the Hobby Lobby clearance this spring figuring I would make a striped cardigan of some kind with them. 

I have 4 colors - 3 skeins of Apple Cider, 2 skeins of Chintz, 1 skein of Fern, and 1 skein of Rouge. I'd rather not use the Apple Cider color simply because I have enough skeins to make a separate project on its own in that color, but I'm trying to decide. These are much more muted tones than I usually go for with knitting, but I am really liking the combo together. I'm trying to make a lacy cardigan so I can get decent wear out of it in Florida. I'm thinking either the Hetty pattern by Andi Satterlund (which I've made before here) or the Liesl cardigan by Ysolda Teague, which I've always wanted to make. 

I had still have the Tierney cardigan by Andi Satterlund in this lovely Bernat Cassino I thrifted several months ago on my mind. This one feels more fall in color than the Cotton et Lin, so who knows. We will see how the mood strikes me.

What are you working on this week? Anything exciting?