UFO Hall of Shame 2019 - Knitting Edition

A few years ago I wrote a post about all of my unfinished Sewing and Knitting projects you can see it here! I made great strides in to finishing the projects, well, that was until I moved away from London, since then I have been in a crafty stasis, I have made very little in the way of new projects and finished very little of those that were already *lurking* half loved in my cupboards.

Recently I moved home for the third time since decanting my self to the midlands, and yet again I was faced with bags of 'one day' projects. This time I knew I would have to explain them to someone else, which made me feel very self-conscious about all the effort and money that was being waisted sitting in these bags, so I knew it was time for another proverbial dirty laundry airing.

This time I've created a video, as mentioned in my September 2018 Vlog (yes another pre-working-internet creation). I actually filmed this video quite a few months before my most recent move, as that ended up being a little more unplanned than I would have liked, long story, but at least I had some idea what was in these bags this time, anyway waffle over, here it is!

Patterns & Projects mentioned:

Debbie Bliss Land Girl Pattern Book

Lavenda Roll Neck Pullover

1940s Womens Land Army Knitting Pattern

Hermonie's Everyday Sock Pattern 

 My Star Trek Socks

Susan Crawford 'Trimmed with Roses' Jumper

Thank you for watching!

Wendy x

* I don't alf, use this word a lot in this video, goodness only know why, maybe anxiety brings out the lurker in me!

Knit It - Women's Land Army Pullover

I made myself a little promise earlier this year, to try and become a monogamous knitter, you know just one project on the needles at any one time, so that I never have to have such a long guilt-inducing list of UFO's ever again, so far it is working out OK. I should point out I didn't make the same promise regarding sewing projects, I know myself well enough by now to realize I'd fail miserably at that! 

So today's post is about a very special UFO, one that's been on my list since 2011 (only five years) and now complete, it marks the very last UFO on said list to be ticked off! Hurrah!

~ Women's Land Army Pullover ~

Pattern: A V-necked Pullover by Jaeger Hand-Knit No.44, Essentials for the Forces

Size: Pattern 35" Bust -- Size Made 37" Bust

Yarn: Bottle Green 2ply knitting machine yarn

It was February 2011, if Ravelry is to be believed, that I cast this poor jumper on. For years I'd longed for a lovely Women's Land Army Jumper in a glorious bottle green, and as I'd just begun working on my new allotment, I felt it was time to give knitting one a try!

So, I set about scouring the Internet for an original pattern, but being 2011 there was a lot fewer free or paid for PDF vintage patterns available online, so I struggled to find much that was suitable. I'd seen a few of the officially issued jumpers for sale on eBay, so I knew that the original pattern was for a long-sleeved, V-necked, K1. P1. ribbed jumper. I also knew that the standard issue ones would have been machine knitted, due to the sheer volume produced, so I reasoned that there may well not be an original handknit pattern out there and so settled for this V-necked Jumper pattern from the V&A's knitting archive.

When it came to getting the right yarn, here I also struggled. I am going to say it again, but back in 2011, as hard as it is to believe, there was nowhere near the amount of 4ply yarns available as there is today. Much of what was available was in baby shades of pinks, blues, and yellows, there were very few in more grown-up colours. I struggled for weeks, trying to find the right ply to match the pattern with the right hue to match that which the WLA's jumpers were renowned for. In the end, I found a seller on eBay who had some 2ply bottle green knitting machine yarn for sale, so I settled for that knowing once I balled it up, off the massive cone it came on, I could then double it up to reach the 4ply thickness the pattern required.

So I cast on and got knitting, I actually blogged back then about how I was planning to see just how quickly I could knit this up, haha, the naivety! I knitted the back quite quickly, for me, but then I stalled on the front only finishing it in July of the same year. And so that is how it has been left until a few months back when I decided rather than waste any more time knitting sleeves, to turn it into a pullover by knitting ribbing around the armholes and neckline.

The pattern is a very simple one, after the 2 by 2 stitch ribbing for the waist, you move on to the body of the jumper which is knitted in a slip stitch style wide rib, which is what gives the jumper the channels which run up the front. Knitting this pattern was a little tedious, due to the spacing of the slip stitch channel, for some reason I found it very difficult to get into a rhythm with it and so spent much of my time undoing rows where I had, slipped up - Excuse the pun!

Also due to me using knitting machine yarn, the feel of the jumper as it was being worked was very rough and itchy, this is partly to do with it being 100% wool in its makeup, but also due to the fact knitting machine yarn tends to be coated to make it smoother helping it to glide through the machine without snagging, and so once washed and blocked the finished garment should soften up, which this pullover has, but not by much.

Now it's done I am really glad, but now it's done I can see just how bad my re-sizing was and how it really doesn't fit me that well at all! The shoulders are too wide (something sleeves would have distracted from I think) and so is the main body, it's all just a little bit too big for me and is way off from being a 37" bust more like a 42". If I am honest I know there are two simple reasons for this. One, I think that rather than just adding 2" overall, I added 2" to both the front and back. Two, I didn't do a test swatch, I just assumed that by adding more stitches it would all work out OK, but as I never checked to see how loose my tension was compared to the pattern, it was always unlikely it would come out the right size! Again, the naivety!

So there you have my last UFO. I can't say that I love it, but I'm not too disappointed, as I ought to point out that this was the second ever jumper I'd attempted to knit and my first attempt resizing a vintage pattern, so perhaps I can forgive myself for its inaccuracies. It is still wearable, with a belt, and I guess you can't always love everything you make. I have since stumbled upon the official handknit pattern - find it for free here - and as I do still really want a Land Girl Jumper, I think I'll give it a try, finding a 4ply bottle green yarn should certainly be much easier in 2016 - well at least I hope so!

Wendy x

Wendy's Week - An Island Escape

Hello you lovely lot, I hope you have been having a wonderful July so far!

Last week I decided to take myself off to the Isle of Wight for a few days, to spend some quality time with my parents and for a little bit of Island tranquillity in the summer...err...sunshine? Well, at least I was hoping so!

~ An Island Escape ~

Mum and me at I.O.W Railway // Freshwater Bay // New Knitting
Appledurcombe House //  Off to see a show // Clematis in my folks garden

I decided to head down to Portsmouth bright and early on Friday morning, as I'd been lucky enough to snag a super cheap train ticket from Waterloo to Portsmouth with Megabus (a site really worth checking out if you can be a little flexible with your travel times and are able to book in advance). So after a couple of early morning buses to get me to Waterloo, a train and then a ferry I arrived at Ryde pier head more than ready for a few days holiday.

View Across the Bay

The first stop on my trip was to Freshwater for a bit of charity shopping at the Wessex Cancer Trust Shop and to grab some fish and chips for lunch. I managed to get a relatively new copy of Winifred Holtby's South Riding (I blogged about the BBC adaptation here), for a whole 75p and some little black buttons for £1, which should hopefully work well with the next sewing project I have planned, so left Freshwater rather happy with my little haul. Dad drove us over to Freshwater bay, to one of my favourite viewing points on the island, where we sat to eat our lunch and the sun started to shine for what felt like the first time this year. It was bliss!

Dad as a station guard // Wartime Cheese Sarnies // Mum looking very chic in my beret, it really suited her!//
Stop Look & Listen // taking a ride on a train // US Army camp

It was the Round the Island Yacht race on Saturday but we decided to forgo an early morning start for a good vantage point to watch the boats, in favour of popping along to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway for the first day of their annual 1940s weekend.

If I am honest this was actually the main reason for my trip, it's something I have managed to attend every year for the last few years and now that I am a member of the railway's club it means that I get three free passes into the station a year, one of which I always save for this weekend. I've actually been visiting this railway since I was a tot and so it has a special place in my heart; as a child I used to pretend as we rattled along, with the wonderful smell of smoke and the smuts blowing in my face as I stuck my head out of the window, that I was back in the 40s or even that I was one of the Railway Children, so as you might imagine, the child in me is very happy that I get to pretend for real as a grown up, even if it is just for one day!



This year I wore my vintage style tea dress, which I bought many years ago from ASOS and thankfully even with all the stress eating I have been doing lately it still fit! The beret was a last minute change; it was a bit windy I didn't want to spend the day fighting with my hat so swapped it for the beret. Annoyingly I forgot to pack my newly finished Sunday Pictorial beret which was actually knitted to go with my fab late forties coat, which would have topped off all the blue and purple in my outfit perfectly! Mum's dress is a lovely floral one I found in one of my favourite (and much used) Etsy stores, Secondhand Rose Worcester, it's a lovely 80s cotton dress which really does look perfectly 40s too and as she loves it,that means it's a win all round! My dad wore the Stitchcraft Fair Isle Pullover I knitted for him many Christmases ago, he even had two ladies compliment him on it, which I think he was rather chuffed about!





This year there were many more exhibits than at past events, plus lots more of the visitors had dressed up in 40s style clothes this year, which is great as it really adds to the atmosphere and makes the day a lot more enjoyable! There was also many more vintage clothing stalls this year, which me and mum had a good old rummage through. I was quite restrained and so only bought a few pairs of vintage clip on earrings, which were real bargains from one of the charity stalls. We also bought some rag rug supplies from the lovely ladies at The Pig & Lion so that we can try our hands at making a 40s style rug with all the leftover scraps of fabric we have accumulated over the years, which should be fun!

Charity shop treat and a gift from mum // my now undone shawl //
I'll Be Seeing You at the Winter Gardens // Earrings from the 1940s event

On Sunday after a trip into Shanklin for a little lunch and a wander around Rylstone Gardens, we headed back to Ventnor to take in a show. The local theatre group were hosting a 1940s musical called 'I'll Be Seeing You' which was being performed in the very appropriate 30s built Winter Gardens. Mum thought it would be a nice way to end our 40s weekend and so treated us to some tickets. The atmosphere in the theatre was great and the show was fabulous. The story was really rather lovely and focused on a fictional family living in Ventnor during the war, I even got a bit teary in places and the ton of songs they filled the show with were all classics from the 40s and 50s, which were beautifully sung by the amazing cast, it really made the perfect afternoon treat!

A change of Plan

Monday was grey and cloudy, which meant plenty of time for knitting. OK, so this is where I need to confess to something, something I have a feeling I may live to regret. I took along my shawl project (see it in the last collage) which I have been slowly working on over the last few weeks. As I have been working away on it I have been becoming less and less enamoured with it, not the pattern, that's fabulously fun and very easy to knit, it was the pink and purple stripes, they were reminding me a little too much of a stick of rock and so I decided to rip it all back; I just couldn't see myself ever wearing it! I did cast on another, though mum had two 100g balls of lovely navy DK glitter wool which she couldn't think of a use for and passed on to me, so I used this to cast on a new version and with more time and less distraction meant I rattled through knitting and even managed to cast it off just minutes before I had to leave to catch my ferry home! Mum was rather enamoured with it so I gave it to her as a gift and as I still have another ball I'll cast on a matching one for me!



Before I left for my ferry on Tuesday morning I did manage to fit in another little walk 'around the block' as my parents call it, which it's actually much nicer than it sounds, as once you get to the bottom of their road it's all hilly valleys and lanes. Also you get to walk past my favourite place on the island Appuldurcombe House, (pronounced Apple-der-combe, we were reliably told by a local many years ago) it's an 18th century ruin, now maintained by English Heritage, which is set back into a small secluded wooded area with fabulous views across Wroxall village and the hills beyond.

Appuldurcombe House

It is so beautiful and sad, that I fell in love with it the first time we visited when I was a child and always hoped that one day I might live near it. I am also hoping that one day, weather permitting, I'll be able to pop up there with a picnic and a Jane Austin novel and sit in the derelict tranquillity of the grounds to pass a sunny afternoon Oh, and just between you and me, if I ever did get married I'd dearly love it to be held here as it looks like the perfect place for an elegant party!

"Who are you...where's my dinner"

After a long journey home I was expecting a lovely warm welcome from the little furry one, he usually runs in and jumps on my lap for a few minutes attention, but the best I got was this sceptical peering from around the sofa before he ran off to find his dinner, haha, he is a fickle little beast!

Wendy x

Knit It - Sunday Pictorial Beret

~ Sunday Pictorial Beret ~

Pattern: 1930s Sunday Pictorial Beret

Designer: Susan Crawford

Yarn: 2 balls of 4ply Rowan Cashsoft in Loganberry & Deep

Needles: 3.25mm / US 3 / UK 10

I started this beret as a quick project to use up some stash yarn way back in 2012 (January 22nd, 2012, if Ravelry is to be believed), but it has taken me four and a bit more years to actually call it finished and put it on my head!

The pattern comes from Susan Crawford's fabulous knitting bible A Stitch In Time Vol.2 and has been adapted from an original 1930s pattern published in the Sunday Pictorial. When I first saw it I instantly wanted to make it, but as usual, I couldn't decide what colour to choose. After a bit of stash raiding I initially picked a soft browny-beige shade, which looked almost identical to the original in the book, but as I was knitting, I was gradually falling out of love with it, as it wasn't a colour which felt very 'me' and I knew I if I didn't love it now then I certainly wouldn't wear it when it was done.

So I frogged it and went back to my stash to find this wonderfully squishy Cash Soft yarn by Rowan, in a gorgeous dusky blue shade and cast back on. I realised pretty quickly that I wasn't going to have enough yarn to finish, so I ripped it back again and this time added in some stripes, in another Cash Soft shade, a lovely purple hue called Loganberry.

The beret is made up in a garter stitch pattern (knit every row, no purl rows) which means it is very simple to knit and would be great as a starter project for those getting into knitting. Also, unusually for berets, it is knitted flat; on two needles rather than four, so it is wonderful for a bit of quick, mindless knitting with just a bit of row shaping every now and then, to create the wonderful spiralling centre crown!

If it's so easy and quick to knit, I hear you ask, then why has it taken you so long to finish?
Well, it spent most of those years lurking in my UFO pile, simply because I could not decide on what to do about the embellishment that should be sewn over the seam. If you look at the original pattern here, you will see that there are two delicate bows, which I believe are stitched over the back seam to disguise it and to add a fabulous bit of 30s flamboyant flare to the beret.

Well, I knitted the bows up: one in blue and one in purple, attached them to the beret but they looked a bit ridiculous. They were so floppy that they just hung limply at the back and didn't really look flamboyant at all! I learnt later from a conversation with Mim, that the reason they didn't work was that the yarn was too soft and didn't have enough structure to be able to hold its shape, she suggested getting some fine florists wire and work that in as I knit them, which I thought was a great idea, but I just never got around to actually doing it. So this weekend I called it quits on these bows and decided to move on. After dragging the beret back out of my UFO pile, I redid the back seam as the stripes were not matching up to my liking (my standards have obviously improved since 2012) and tidied away the loose ends before I giving it a quick wash and block over a dining plate which I left in the sunshine to dry.

So now my beret is complete and I can actually wear it, I really like it! It's a floppy beret with a loose style which means you can position it on your head depending on your mood or era you are trying to recreate. I actually really like how the stripes make it a little more interesting and are totally in keeping with its original 30s style which means it should look great with my dark blue original 40s fit and flare coat! I did buy a little more of this yarn in both colours before it became discontinued so I am toying with the idea of making up some matching stripy gloves, though I'm not convinced I'll have enough yarn to do the job so I might have to play a bit of knitting roulette and see if I win!

Wendy x

Wendy's Week - Patterns & Packing

Hello, I hope you are having a great week and looking forward to the bank holiday that is just around the corner here in the UK (sorry if there's no holiday where you are I'm sure you'll have a lovely weekend anyway)! Thank you for all your get well wishes it's very kind of you all, I can confirm I am feeling much better now and have been super busy to make up for my much needed lazy spell last week!

~ Patterns & Packing ~

- 18th - 24th April -

Beautiful Spring Blossom // Officially a geek // Lots of new old knitting patterns
// A gift of sewing patterns // My Anderson Blouse // Packing for a trip

- Renewed my membership to the I.O.W Steam Railway. I haven't already made myself sound like a teenage boy what with Airfix kits and my love of sci-fi, I have gone one better and I am now a member of a steam railway too! OK, I've actually been on and off been a member from birth as my parents have been members since I think the 70s, but now that I have started regularly attending the annual 1940s weekend, it seemed only right to join up myself and help support them all year round, as nothing beats a steam train ride for a little bit of time travel!

- I went to the cinema! On Tuesday I went with my best friend Diane to see Disney's new version of The Jungle Book. It was great I won't lie I wasn't expecting very much but it was really good, it even had a couple of the original songs which was a nice surprise, my favourite character had to be Baloo played by Bill Murray, his voice was perfect for the part! How similar it is to the original cartoon I can't say as I have actually only ever seen the first half, due to it being the video of choice at Junior school for filling in the last day of term when we were all too demob happy to be expected to do any work which also meant it was always, without fail, turned off before it reached the end, so I know the beginning very, very well. The end? Well, that's still a mystery!

- I Bought some knitting patterns! My obsession with that Home Fires Fair Isle is still going strong and thanks to the amazing Liza from The Vintage Knitter I now am the proud owner of the original pattern (amongst a few others which I couldn't resist, see header photo)! I lucked out when found the original pattern on The Vintage Knitting Lady website so I knew it had to be mine. The original cast on and ribbing that I did for the jumper has turned out way too big so I will need to rip that back and start from scratch anyway though the pattern that I originally charted matches up perfectly, which means all I need to do now is work out how many stitches to add for a (much) bigger size and I will be ready to get started! If you are as besotted with ITV's Home Fires as I am, then do pop over to Liza's blog where she has created the most fabulous 'Home Fires: The Knitwear' post matching up the knitwear in the show with its original patterns, it is really wonderful and is making me want to add them all to my must-knit list!

The mini wheelie bin is a belated birthday present for my brother, if you have ever been to Liverpool you'll understand why!

- Started Packing for my trip Tomorrow I will be heading off up to Liverpool to meet my parents and brother, before flying off on Friday to Amsterdam for the bank holiday weekend! I need to stop for a second to appreciate the fact I have typed a sentence that has the word 'flying' in it without the usual stomach-churning terror, yes my nails are still bitten in anxiety, but the therapy I am taking is certainly starting to work! We are going to explore the city and to take a trip to the Keukenhof to see the tulips in bloom. I am really looking forward to our trip as it's somewhere I have wanted to visit for many years, especially the Keukenhof, as if it is in full blooming glory it should be really magnificent. Expect lots of pictures on my return!

- I was gifted some Vintage Sewing Patterns! Last week I got a message from one of my Facebook friends David, who I met (albeit virtually) through writing this blog over our shared love of the history of WWII's home front. He contacted me to ask if I would like some old sewing patterns that he had been given in a house clearance and were only going to be binned if he couldn't find a home for them, obviously, I snapped his offer up and so they arrived this week! They are fabulous, mostly they date from the 60s & 70s and most are in larger sizes, which is wonderful for us more curvaceous gals! I am honestly blown away by his kindness in thinking of me, it's really touching just how generous people can be, so with this in mind, once I am back from Amsterdam I will be hosting a giveaway so that I can pass kindness forward to you lovely lot, so watch this space!

- I finished my Sew Over It Anderson Blouse! As usual I could look happier about it in this photo, but honestly, I do really love it! I will write a more detailed/waffelsome post once I can get some better photos of it but it's done, I think it's great and I've already worn it twice! The fabric was a challenge at times, more so in the poor cutting out than in the sewing together, and basting the pieces before stitching worked a treat, thank you, Cate! It's by no means perfect, there are some dead wonky seams, but it has certainly given me the confidence to start on the dressing gown soon which is all I was really hoping for anyway, and now I have a bonus top to boot!

Have you any exciting or crafty plans for the bank holiday weekend?

Wendy x

Wendy's Week - Swing & Swatching

Hello, lovely people! I hope your week has been wonderful so far!

This is what I got up to last week...

~ Swing & Swatching ~

- 4th - 11th April -

My Hurricane is progressing // Watching Home Fires with Beau // Getting ready to go out in my new 70s dress
 // Swatching sweaters // Swing! // Fabric tester extraordinaire

- I cut out a new sewing project! When I bought the gorgeous Cloth Spot floral satin a few weeks back, I bought it to finally make a version of Butterick B5152, a luxurious 40s dressing gown, which I have been dreaming of for years! Well I finished cutting out the last pieces this week, the fabric is very lightweight and a bit fidgety so it was a little more time consuming to cut out than I had anticipated, so I have been taking my time to do it slowly and cut it as neatly as possible. Of course, Beau was there to help me, never let it be said that any fabric has entered our home that he hasn't given the furry butt of approval to!

I'll be honest am anxious about sewing this up as I haven't sewed with such delicate fabric before, I'm thinking I might try something a little smaller first and thanks to the thoughtful ladies at Cloth Spot I do have a few meters left over (they spotted a flaw in the fabric and gave me a few extra meters to help me work around it, what service!) so I'm hoping to squeeze in a Sew Over It Anderson Blouse which as it's loose fitting it will be a good place to practice my slippery fabric stitching skills! Oh and any advice will be heartily welcomed!

- I swung along to the Syd Lawrence Orchestra. On Friday it was finally time for me, Alan and some of his lovely friends to go to see the Syd Lawrence Orchestra. I'd been looking forward to this for weeks and it didn't disappoint! The band was marvellous and as it was such a small venue we had a wonderful view of the stage and the band. The music was fantastic, including lots of Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie. Their singer, Angie Mills was fabulous and she belted out amongst others two of my favourite 'shower singing' songs (sung badly by me mind you!) Love me or Leave Me and Secret Love both Doris Day classics. The band also did a rendition of Benny Goodman's arrangement of Sing, sing, sing, with the most outstanding drum solo I have ever heard!

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend an evening and something which I would recommend, having never experienced a big band like this before as I am more used to seeing guitar bands in sweaty clubs this certainly seemed much more sophisticated! The only small negative for me was due to the event being in a theatre all the enthusiastic foot tapping from the audience was making the sprung floor bounce rather allot which did make me feel a little queasy, to begin with, eventually, I got used to it but early on it was touch and go!

- And I wore another (new) 70s, Maxi Dress! I blame writing about my last maxi dress, as when I went to get the eBay link I spotted this gold sparkly number being auctioned off with only a few minutes left, and seeing that it was in my size I thought I would give it a go and blow me down I won!! The dress in the listing (see it here) looks so different in reality and by that I mean it's so much nicer. I was actually surprised how lovely this dress is. It's also a lot larger than the listing suggested, so I have had to add a few stitches in the front wrap to stop my underwear constantly being flashed. I'd intended to wear my Sew For Victory 2.0 Dress to see the SLO as I wanted to finally give it a proper outing, but I fell in love with this dress so much that I decided to wear this instead, as, despite its intense nylon content, everything about it screams 1930s evening dress. Plus it being floor length, yes even on 5'10" lanky me, it meant that my poor bruised shins (combine a clumsy nature and a push bike and well, lets just say my legs are more blue than anything else currently) could be hidden a bit more stylishly than by wearing my thickest of thick black tights!

- On Sunday I caught up with Home Fires, which inspired some knitting. I'm so glad Home Fires is back! I really loved the first series, it is great to finally have a show that focuses on the women on the home front during the war, which obviously also means lots of fabulous forties fashions! The new series is no different and as I was trying to follow the plot the fab knitwear just kept popping up, one jumper in particular caught my eye and that was the gorgeous Fair Isle, sported by Frances Campbell the Drs Wife (see it better here). I was so smitten that I immediately grabbed some graph paper and my (overflowing) bag of odds and ends and spent the rest of the evening trying to chart out and swatch the pattern. I have made a few changes to my initial chart but I am so smitten that I have already cast on for the jumper, using as the base this free pattern by Subversive Femme, which I am hoping will work well, especially as it's in a larger size, fingers crossed!

Wendy x

Wartime Farm Goes to...Petra

My little brother has once again been on his travels around the globe, this time, he has visited Jordan. As always he has been keeping me and my parents updated with photos of his trip - We have finally got them to use Whatsapp, this is a serious achievement for my folks who are both in their 70s and anti-technology, but now they both have smart phones they are getting braver at using them, incidentally we seem to have created two emoji loving monsters they use them for everything!

Photo Credit  JPTB

As usual, he looks to have been having a wonderful time, he's been trekking into the desert, ridden a camel, seen lots of Roman ruins and even camped out with the nomadic Bedouin.

Photo Credit  JPTB

But the bit that has made me really, really jealous is his trip to Petra and a visit to the beautiful treasury, it's been somewhere I've longed to visit ever since I watched Indian Jones as a kid! Only the penitent man shall pass, only the penitent man shall pass!!

Photo Credit  JPTB

He knew how jealous I was of this trip (because I kept on telling him) and so he was thoughtful enough to send me now what is becoming something of  a tradition, and I love him even more for it, a photo of his Wartime Farm Pullover in front of the Treasury building! 

Arghh, it's so cool!! I am currently working on conquering my fear of flying (well all my many phobias actually) so hopefully in the not too distant future I'll be able to make the trip myself, but seeing this makes up for the fact I'll have to wait a while longer!

Wendy x

Wendy's Week - Fabric & Family

Hello! I hope you have been having a fabulous week and are looking forward to the Easter holidays!

Here is what I've been getting up to...

~ Fabric & Family ~

-14th - 20th March -

In Retrospect Magazine Issue 06 // Fabulous floral fabric // BBC Film Suite Francaise //
Pictures of Paris // Working hard or hardly working // Mum and Dad's Wedding Anniversary

- Said hello to my parents My folks were staying at my aunt and uncles in London for a few days to attend a family funeral, so as they live not far from where I work I was able to pop round for a few hours on Thursday and Friday for a quick chat and a bit of cake. It was lovely to see them despite the sad reason for their visit especially as they celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary this week!

- Worked on a Saturday The company I work for had an open day event at our warehouse in Enfield on Saturday, and so it was all hands on deck to keep everything running smoothly. It was actually a great day, since I spend most of my time working in an office on my own all day I don't really get to interact with many people so it was rather fun to get to chat to people and to be able to hold my own with collectors who love our models and know much more about them than I do! I made a little video of the day which has come out quite well considering I have not done that kind of thing before, which is tempting me to perhaps make more use of the video feature on my camera!

- Bought some beautiful new fabric from Clothspot! After reading Cate from a Vintage Gal fabulous post declaring her love for Clothspot, I decided to pop over and have a look at some of their fabrics, blimey they have some lovely stuff! After a spot of deliberation as what to choose I eventually opted for some slinky black and red floral satin, which I bought up the last of and some 1940s style blue and pink floral lawn which I am hoping to turn into a summery 40s tea dress very soon! I have to say I am really very impressed the fabric is very reasonably priced,the customer service was really excellent and the fabric arrived very quickly and beautifully wrapped, I am sure it wont be long before I am tempted again!

- In Retrospect This week the latest copy of In Retrospect magazine hit my doormat which is always a wonderful moment, as it is one of the only vintage specific magazines that I truly enjoy reading.  I shamefully have a post still sitting in my draft folder about my love of this magazine which hopefully I will post soon, but if you love all things vintage, then this might be the magazine for you!

- Watched Suite Française After work on Saturday I opted for a quick veggie dinner and to plonk myself in front of the TV for the rest of the evening with a massive bag of Monster Munch! So I was delighted when I spotted that Suite Française was being streamed on Amazon Prime as I've wanted to watch it for ages (Charlotte I think you might be psychic)! Based on a unfinished work by Irène Némirovsky, (who sadly died in Auschwitz before she could complete it) it is set during the occupation of France in the early part of WWII, and tells the tender love story between Bruno a German officer played by Matthias Schoenaerts and a French villager, Lucile Angellier played by Michelle Williams. It is a beautiful and sad film which reminds us there are good and bad people on every side of a conflict, which considering the fate of its author it makes it all the more poignant and of course there are some beautiful costumes too!

- Finally started editing my holiday pictures from last year! As you will see from the little picture of the Eiffel tower in the header, from my epic holiday last year with my family, I had promised them a CD slideshow of all the pictures ages ago, but as between us we took about a million photos I have been putting off editing them until now,  I might share a few here soon that is if I ever get to the end of them!

Wendy x

Film Fashions - The Imitation Game

At the first mention of a film about Alan Turing, I was as keen as mustard to see it, once I learnt that Benedict Cumberbatch was going to be playing Alan I was chomping at the bit - am I the only one who watches Sherlock on a loop? So the very week it hit the big screen, I booked my ticket, grabbed some popcorn and headed off to my local cinema.

(Source)

Knit It - The Perfect Christmas Jumper

I hope you all are having a very Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and if you don't I hope you have at least had a lovely rest!!!

I have been at my parents home in Liverpool for the last few days where I've come to realise, my favourite part of Christmas is actually the days in between Christmas day and New Years Eve. If your lucky enough not to have to work, they are the least pressure filled and most relaxing of any time of the year, perfect for self-indulgent crafting whilst watching films you've loved since childhood, feasting on leftovers turned into ingenious meals, and spending time with the ones you love, it's bliss!

This year I decided against making myself a Christmas outfit for the big day, as to be honest I already have lots of dresses which seldom get an outing, it seemed extravagant to add another one to the collection. Plus after the trouble I had with last years dress (I'll actually be blogging about that soon, better late than never I guess!) I didn't much feel like another battle, so instead of showing off something wonderful and new I am going to give you a better look at a stalwart of many Christmases now, my 'Perfect Christmas Jumper'.

~ Perfect Christmas Jumper ~

Pattern By: 

Susan Crawford

Yarn:

5 100g Balls Robin 4ply Red

1 100g Ball James C. Brett Supersoft Baby Shimmer White

The pattern is another of Susan Crawford's wonderful takes on an original vintage pattern, Susan takes such care over resizing and updating them, that you can always be sure the fit and finish will be as true to the original pattern as possible, and this is no exception, the lovely puff sleeves and colour work, really make this pattern a 1940s classic.

I first blogged about this jumper back in January 2011, I'd endeavoured to finish knitting it by Christmas a few weeks earlier but managed to miss that by just one month! It was the first time that I had knitted anything with Fair Isle and Intarsia so I found it a bit of a struggle, but once it was done it was certainly worth all of the tangled messes I got myself into, as it's been worn every Christmas since!

It was also the fist time I'd knitted long full-length sleeves, which I remember at the time being never ending. I am so glad now that I persevered as they are lovely and long and just the perfect length, something which I have struggled to achieve since, I think my eagerness to get wearing my latest project can make me a little optimistic on how much I have actually knitted and so the sleeves tend to come up a little on the short side (I am talking about you, Date Maker).

The one drawback with this jumper is my choice of yarn. I didn't much care for it at the time but it was a cheap acrylic option when there were very few cheap options available (it's amazing how much more choice we have in 4py yarns a mere five years later!) so it was purely a practical choice, though I do wish I had invested a little more money into it, as the squeaky feel of the fabric has not improved with multiple washes and fabric conditioning, and the colour in real life is a little more brassy than I would have chosen in hindsight, but I still love it and it's certainly striking!

There is one other side effect of this cheap yarn, and perhaps my loose style of knitting, which is the jumper seems to grow a little with each wash. Potentially this could be a problem, however as I only wear it a few times a year it only needs a little washing, and as I have put on a little more weight over the years since I first made it, it has actually grown with me and so has been more of a benefit rather than a problem.

I am actually tempted to knit this up again, in perhaps a just as festive green and white colourway but considering how slowly I knit, though I am getting a little better, I should heed my advice from my last post about this jumper and probably start knitting soon!

 Wendy x

Free Patterns - 1943 Needlework Illustrated

Hello!

Today is my birthday and so I thought, seeing that I am getting lots of treats today it might be nice to treat you lovely readers as well!! So I am sharing one of my Needlework Illustrated booklets which contains lots of sewing ideas for making yourself and your home look fabulous during rationing, also most importantly four super knitting patterns!

Zebra Striped Shirt

To fit a 32-36" bust

The striped Shirt on the cover of this Magazine is a cleverly knitted version of one of the most popular and charming fashions of the day. These blouses always look fresh and tailored, are attractive under a suit and important enough to wear with an odd skirt for everyday occasions.

September Beauty - Lace Knit Jumper

To fit 32-36" Bust

These days every garment has to do the work of two. Here is a versatile little knitted that makes the prettiest lace-stitch jumper you could wish for, or buttoning all way down the front, can be worn as a cardigan when so needed. The full sleeves are a new and charming feature finishing in deep ribbed cuffs to match the ribbed welt that fits so snugly at the waist. A tiny ribbed border edges the neck and fronts.

Classic Cardigan - Selected for Style

To fit 33-35" Bust

How's this for a bonny baby! The foal, full of fun and frisk, is only three days old! The Proud owner is wearing the classic hand-knit Cardigan. Four coupons were never invested better than in this warm woolly cardigan. It takes 8 ounces of 3 ply wool and is worked in stocking stitch!

Arab Stripes Jumper

To fit 32-34" Bust

Raid your 'muddle-box' for bright bits of mercerised thread or wool left over from your knitting, and work them into the bands of colour that distinguish the sleeves of this novel jumper. Here you have a "Knitted" of great individuality... smart, new and striking... yet so easily achieved.

Download the free copy of Needlework Illustrated here!

I hope you enjoy!

Wendy x