There were surprisingly few projects that had less than a rating of 3 out of 5. If I include the ones that I didn't finish (DNF) there are four.
Next week I'll start the 2024 theme!
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Welcome to the best and worst of 2023. This week I have the best; next week will be the worst. I try to score these at least consistently if not always objectively. For the best and worst I'm going to leave out the ones that weren't neckwear or dolls. Those vintage patterns I did were chosen specifically for a purpose so they're trending higher. Each bullet point has a link to take you back to that blog post where you can see the photo of the project. 5 out of 5:
Between 4 and 5:
4 out of 4:
Did you have a favorite pattern from the list above? Next week I'll have the worst of 2023! This week I have the dress from the Alice Brooks mail order pattern. The drawing of the dress is the middle bottom outfit below. This pattern uses three different colors and a C hook. I used the Mayflower Cotton 8/4 in yellow and green and pulled a third color but decided not to use it when I realized that the pattern wanted me to change colors for every row and I'd have to sew all of those ends in. Instead, I chose to do it mostly in yellow with some green accents. The pattern itself is easy to follow and I had no problems until the the last row was finished off. Unlike the other patterns in this pamphlet, the dress doesn't have any finishing directions and the back is open from the neck to the waist. I'm not sure if it's an issue in the original pattern though. The pattern website I bought this from transfers the instructions to an easy-to-read format in a pdf instead of the text these usually come with. It's possible that a line or two was missed in the transfer. I assumed that it would have you sew snaps in the back so that's what I went with. Here is the finished dress. I think this is my least favorite out of the outfits from this set of patterns. Not just because of the missing directions or, that I would have had to sew a lot of ends in if I'd gone with their color pattern. It's just not that cute. Maybe if I'd used a softer yarn it would have had more drape but I think it still would have been a little loose fitting.
This one gets a 4. Is the pattern easy to understand? I'm marking it down a little for the missing directions 0.75 If there is a gauge, could I match it? 1.0 Does it look like the photo? It's enough like the drawing that I'll give it the full point. 1.0 Would someone wear this? Maybe they would? It's fine, just not great. 0.5 Did I enjoy making it? I would have enjoyed it less if I'd had to sew in more ends. 0.75 I'm taking the rest of November off so I can work on holiday gifts. I'll be back in December with the best and worst of the year and to figure out what to do next year. I've found so many weird and interesting hats that I kind of want to go back to those. I might not have enough for a full year but I can mix in a few other things along the way. As promised, I have more outfits from the same mail order pattern leaflet that we looked at last week. This week I have the flared pants and the vest and shorts outfit on the right in the photo below. The shorts and pants were both variations on the bikini pattern that I did last week and were easy to do. I skipped the elastic on the waist again for both of them and they were done in cotton 8/4. The surplice vest was a little different. I used some scrap yarn for this one. The back is a granny square and the two sides are triangles. The assembly wasn't quite clear to me but the photo above made it a little easier to see how the vest was supposed to look when finished so I could work backwards and make sense of the directions. There are only so many ways to make it work so it doesn't seem like it would be that complicated but somehow it didn't seem right the first time I laid the pieces out based on where the armholes needed to be. The tie is worked at the very end of the assembly across the bottom of the vest. The single crochet tie seems a little thick for the vest and probably could have just been a chain for the part that wasn't attached to the vest. I think these turned out pretty well. Overall, I'm giving this week a 4.5 mostly because of the vest assembly. I may have one project more from this leaflet; the dress almost done, After that, I'll be taking a break to work on holiday gifts. And then I need to figure out what to do next year...
For this week and the next two, I have patterns from an Alice Brooks mail order pattern; Design 7355. Alice Brooks (and Laura Wheeler) patterns were advertised in various newspapers, magazines and other publications from 1933 to 1982. These design offerings were more than just crochet. There were also lots of quilt patterns along with sewing, knitting and other needlepoint work. I have several Alice Brooks and Laura Wheeler design patterns that I’ve acquired from friends and estate sales but I did not have any of the Barbie aka “11-1/2” doll” patterns. I purchased the one for these posts from vintageknitcrochet.net and I have no idea what year it’s from. We can probably narrow it down to sometime in the late 60s or early 70s. This pattern came with a bikini, shorts, vest, "dramatic" jacket, dress, pants and a cape. For this week I've made the bikini. In this case, the pattern gives a weight of yarn and the amounts you'll need for groups of the patterns. It said I would need 2 oz of fingering weight yarn in the main color and 5 yds in a contrasting color to make the bikini, shorts, vest and pants along with a C hook. The pattern has a gauge given for the different wardrobe pieces but I didn't really check my gauge. I did make sure I could get it on the doll though. I gathered a bunch of fingering weight scraps I had but after trying a few of the wool scraps I ended up using some cotton 8/4. The bikini came together very quickly and I think it took me just as long to weave in the ends as it did to crochet the pieces. I skipped the elastic in the waist band of the bottoms since those seemed to stay up pretty well. The top doesn't stay up very well but it's cute when it does. Here's the finished bikini: I'm giving this one a 5!
Next week I'll have the vest and shorts! Have you ever made anything from a Laura Wheeler or Alice Brooks mail order pattern? Let's give Workbasket Magazine another chance after last week's challenges. This week I have an ensemble from September 1985. I thought it was interesting that this Barbie appears to be missing shoes. I guess they had a hard time keeping track of those little things too. This Doll Ensemble is a skirt and top set and is described as an easy, “sporty little boatneck...fashioned around a granny square front and back.” It has a simple rib stitch skirt to go with it. The pattern suggests a 3-ply sport weight yarn with a size 1 steel hook (2.75mm). The pattern gives a gauge but I wasn't able to get it right with the sport weight yarn I tried (Premier Cotton Fair) so I dropped down to a fingering weight (Scheepjes Spirit in Dolphin and Berroco Comfort Baby Fingering) and got the gauge with a size 0 (2.5mm) hook. I don’t love sewing squares together but the top only had 16 little squares, eight in each color, to sew together. The squares were very simple to make since they are just one round each and the directions for putting them together made sense. In the next section they add the sides to the assembled squares and I missed where they had one side in color one and one side in color two. I decided I liked the way it looked with just white sides so I left it and made both of the arms white too instead of one in each color. The skirt is 36 rows of single crochet in the back loop, finished with a seam up to within an inch from the top. Add a snap to the waistline and you’re done! I like the way this one turned out especially after last week’s disaster.
Rating: Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes If there is a gauge, could I match it? Yes Does it look like the photo? Yes Did it fit Susan? Yes Did I enjoy making it? Yes This one gets a 5! This week you get three outfits in one post. The January 1984 Workbasket Magazine has three patterns under the title "Doll Wardrobe"; a strapless jumpsuit, a halter dress and a two piece suit. Let's call this experience the good, the bad and the wtf is this. Buckle up, this is a longer post because I have things to say about these patterns. Here are the magazine photos. They don't look great but they don't look terrible either. It looks like it's mostly double crochet so it should go pretty quickly and to be fair, it does go pretty quickly. I made one per evening. I'm using the Fashionista dolls for the modeling because I need to use the smaller dolls for these outfits. You'll see why. The pattern says you need 1/2 ounce for each pattern of either Red Heart Baby Wintuk which is a 3-ply fingering weight yarn or Caron Baby Dazzle Aire which is a worsted weight yarn with a lot of halo. So, they're telling me to use either a fingering weight or a worsted weight? The worsted yarn may be categorized like that because of the halo so I'll try to give them some grace here. At least the pattern gives a gauge of 5 stitches to one inch so I have something to go by. I tried a fingering weight yarn but that was too small. I moved up to a sport weight yarn (Premier Cotton Fair for the second two patterns) and got the gauge right with the recommended C hook. I'm going to do these in order from best to worst. Good: The Halter Dress I had a scrap of unknown light blue yarn that I got the gauge with so I used that for this dress. Many of the doll patterns I've made make size adjustments around the chest to make it fit better. This one didn't. It starts out from the top down as a tube in single crochet, then increases a few stitches at the waist and changes to double crochet for the dress. Fairly simple to crochet and in this case the directions were ok. There is one part where it tells you to increase by four stitches evenly instead of saying something like "dc 5, inc, dc 6, inc, repeat around". The tie in the photo just has a bow on the front of the dress and the directions say to attach it with a single knot under the first round in the center. There was no way this would stay up without it actually being a halter top so I tied it around the neck. Here's the photo of the finished version. I did weigh my yarn to start with and had slightly more than the half ounce but I still ran out and had to do the hem in a different color. My version seems a little longer but it was a tight fit on the top. The Bad: The Two Piece Suit The skirt wasn't so bad on this one. Again, this patten mostly a tube that's joined in the back after each round and it's all done in the back loop only. There are a few increases in round 2 but after that it's just double crochets in the back loop to round 12 and it's done. There isn't anything wrong with this but it is tight to get on. Most of the other skirts have a small opening in the back with a snap or closure of some kind to get it over her hips. The jacket was more of a problem. It starts out with chain 30 and double crochet in the second chain from hook. It's hard to do a double crochet in the second chain from the hook. I'm pretty sure they mean third chain since when I got to row six, I was one stitch off. The pattern has you double crochet alternately in the front loop and back loop for the next couple of rows until you get to "Rnd 6" (These are actually rows, not rounds - this is the only pattern in this group that isn't a tube. I don't know why they're still calling them Rnds.) Row 6 is where I figured out that I was off a stitch because it's the first time I can get a stitch count aside from the chain row. This row has you dc in next 6, chain 6 skipping 3 dc, dc in each of next 9 dc, chain 6 and dc in last 7 dc, chain 3 and turn. Technically this works but it would have been nice if they had ended it with; chain 6, skip 3 dc, dc in last 7 dc. Row 7 wants you to dc in next 5 dc, (skip 1 dc, dc in next dc) twice but those aren't double crochets there, it's the chain 6 from the previous row. I tried it with the assumption that they did really mean dc there but I ran out of stitches. This should just read; dc in next 5 stitches, (sk 1 stitch, dc in next st) and so on. Row 6 is the last row of the body of the jacket. Now we'll move on to the sleeves. The sleeves have you join on the inside of the armhole and then work double crochets in the front loop only. I chose to join on the right side of the armhole and work in the back loop because I find it easier to dive in between the loops than to pick up the front loop. The directions say to dc around but don't tell you have many stitches they think that is. The armhole is made of three double crochets at the bottom of the armhole, a dc on each side that you would crochet into the side of and dcs and chains that you skipped in Row 7. I decided to make 3 dc on the top and bottom and 2 on each side. This would turn out to be the wrong thing to do. I should have done more stitches on the top or sides because in Round 2, 3 and 4 you're asked to skip a stitch in each row. I started with a tube of 10 double crochets. If I skipped a stitch in three rows I'd never get Barbie's hand in the sleeve. It was a struggle with the tube of 10 stitches! There is a border of single crochets but it doesn't help the fit at all as you can see in the photo below. The WTF: The Strapless Jumpsuit. This is truly a tube at the top and two tubes for legs. Barbie is not a tube though and based on how hard the halter dress was to get on I knew this would be difficult before I even began. The halter dress starts with a chain of 26, the jumpsuit goes two stitches smaller. It's worked from the top down and it seemed to be going ok but when I got to the legs I thought that they also seemed a little tight and then I got to the end of the instructions and wondered what happened to the rest of the pattern. The top is 18 rounds. Round 19 has you slip stitch across the center to form the crotch and then do one leg, cut the yarn and do the second leg. Seems ok but the pattern says the legs are rounds 19-28. That's 10 rounds. The top is 18 rounds. That's a very short leg. I took a close up of the magazine photo and I think that each leg is 28 rounds and they meant to start the count for the legs over at round 1 but missed that in editing. If they did edit this pattern. This one got ripped out. Here's the score: Is the pattern easy to understand? No. 0 If there was a gauge, could I match it? Yes, but I don't think that mattered. It was a tight fit anyway. I'll give it a point anyway 1 Does it look like the photo? The halter dress does, the skirt on the suit does, the jumpsuit does not. .5 Would Barbie wear this? There are four pieces and 2 are wearable .5 Did I enjoy making it? Does it count if I'm cackling while making because I'm thinking this will make a great blog post? Let's call it .5 Total score 2.5 If I were going to do these again, I'd move up another level on the yarn and try a dk weight and edge toward 4.5 stitches per inch to get a looser fit for the dress and the skirt. I'd skip the jacket. The jump suit might be salvageable with the dk weight and a few extra rows in the top and the legs. This is the worst Barbie pattern so far. Ken has been left out of the fun so it's time to do something for him. This week I'm reviewing this bathrobe pattern from the American Thread Star Book No 192 Doll Clothes Knitted and Crocheted. This pattern asks for one skein of American Thread Company "Dawn" De Luxe Fingering Yarn in gold and one in brown along with a steel crochet hook size 0. A size 0 hook is generally about a 3.25 mm. The pattern gives a gauge of 17 stitches to 3 inches. To make the robe I used Teksrena Wool in brown and a scrap of merino wool in green. Based on the photos I could find, one skein of Dawn is about an ounce. I had more than an ounce of the brown but much less of the green. Just looking at the photo I assumed this was one of those cases where they just tell you that you need a skein even you only need a smaller portion of it so I didn't worry much. The pattern is single crochet in the back loops to give it a ribbed effect and it's worked lengthwise. Once I started, I realized two things; they want you to cut the yarn after every row and switch colors, I wasn't going to have enough green to do that. (I guess they meant more than .3 ounces of yarn.) There are 46 rows in the bathrobe so if I follow their pattern I will have 92 ends to sew, not including the sleeves which are thankfully only one color. Sorry Ken, you don't get all the stripes! I made a design choice to do them on the front of the robe only. The directions for the robe, sleeves and the collar were easy to follow and the tie is lengths of yarn that are twisted so that was easy too. This went pretty fast, much faster than if I'd had to cut the yarn after every row and then weave all the ends in. Here he is in his new bathrobe. I think this went pretty well. The yarn looks more wine colored than brown but the green looks good with it. I think Ken likes his new robe.
Rating: Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes If there is a gauge, could I match it? Yes Does it look like the photo? Yes and less creepy Did it fit Ken? Yes Did I enjoy making it? Yes though I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I'd done their color pattern. This one gets a 4.5 Time to start on that fun booklet I found at the Antique Pattern Library! This week's project is from the American Thread Star Book No. 192, Doll Clothes, Knitted and Crocheted, published in 1965. The booklet has both knitted and crocheted clothes for Barbie and Ken in all of their vintage glory. The cover has a crocheted brides dress and cape while the groom (and per the booklet, the "breadwinner") has knitted pants and a jacket. I decided to do one of the easier dresses in the booklet, the Ripple Shift. This dress uses one skein of Dawn De Luxe Fingering Yarn in Antique Gold, a Steel Crochet hook No 1 (about 2.75 mm) and a small button. The dress is the one in the middle below and the gold dress under the jacket on the left. I had a small skein of red variegated fingering weight wool that was gifted to me by a friend that looked perfect for this. I used a C hook instead of the steel hook and still got the same gauge. This is a simple ripple pattern that works from the bottom up with some decreases at the waist and some increases at the chest. The instructions for front and back shoulders were a little hard to understand at first but I worked it out and it wasn't hard once I understood what they wanted me to do. They have you do the front and back shoulders separately and then sew it together at the top of the shoulder. Here is the finished dress on Susan. Remember that Susan is a little taller than the average Barbie? This dress is definitely longer than the one in the photo and since we know that Susan is likely to be taller than the Barbies in the booklet photo it's going to look even longer on a shorter Barbie. It fits her, just not quite the way it does in the photo. Maybe the suggested yarn is a little stiffer and the soft wool is draping a little heavier?
I do like the way the variegated yarn looks in the ripple pattern. Rating: Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes If there is a gauge, could I match it? Yes Does it look like the photo? No Did it fit Susan? Yes but more loose than in the booklet photo. Did I enjoy making it? Yes I'm giving this a 4 out of 5. This week we have a new Barbie model. Susan, who modeled the two previous projects, is 12 inches tall instead of 11.5 inches. 11.5 inches is the more common size for the dolls and the patterns. That explains why the first week's dress was a little shorter on her than I expected. To make sure I had a doll that would fit the patterns I went to the local Unique Thrift store where they had multiple 3-packs of Barbie and Ken. I ended up coming home with one that had two Barbies and a Ken, all from the Fashionista line in the 2015-2018 era. One stereotypical Barbie, one black Barbie with an athletic body type and a 2016 You Can Be Anything Ken Lifeguard. All of three of them have flat feet. Today's Barbie is a Fashionista Barbie from 2015 and she will be modeling my finished version of the Rose Trimmed Ensemble from the Crochet World Fall Special 1991. Here's the magazine photo. It is definitely trimmed with roses... This pattern is a jacket and a simple sheath dress. The materials list includes, crochet cotton thread, steel crochet hook size 7, 8 red silk ribbon roses and a hot-glue gun. The pattern gives a gauge that I matched with size 10 cotton thread and the size 7 hook. The stitch pattern for the dress and jacket is a single crochet in the back loop, single crochet in the front loop. The dress is done in the round and was pretty simple to do. It was a just a tube until the last few rounds where the neckline starts and the straps will go. The jacket is worked in one piece, folded in half and the side seams and sleeve seams are sewn together. Having minimal increases and decreases made it pretty easy to follow the back loop, front loop stitch pattern but this still took about three times as long as the suit I shared last week. The last step in the jacket pattern had you prepare the roses by clipping off the stem and putting a drop of hot glue on the end so the ribbon doesn't unravel. Then you mark where you want the roses and sew them on. You can probably guess where I wanted the roses... Here is the finished Rose Ensemble: I made it rose colored instead of rose trimmed and used variegated pink thread for the dress and a solid pink for the jacket. It's definitely a Barbie color. The variegated thread made the dress a little more interesting to do. This dress did not fit Susan and even though the gauge matches it seems a little tighter than the photo and the sleeve length is a bit shorter than the photo.
Now for the rating: Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes If there is a gauge, could I match it? Yes Does it look like the photo? Sort of. Did it fit 11.5" Barbie? Yes but it was a tight fit. Did I enjoy making it? Yes I'm giving this one a 4 out of 5 because it was a little smaller than the version in the photo even though I had the gauge right. I could block it and make it a little bigger if I needed to but it's fine the way it is. Any suggestions on what I should name this Barbie? This week we're trying the Summer Suit from the 1992 issue of Crochet World Summer Special. This one also uses Luster Sheen and while I don't have the Aquamarine color they suggest, I think the other blue I have will be just fine. The white is size 10 thread and I have plenty of that. They use two different size hooks in this pattern; size 7 steel hook for the white and size D for the blue sections. The other materials include 4 snap fasteners, four 4mm beads, and 18 inches of 3/8 satin ribbon. The pattern has a gauge that I matched and it has stitch counts after most rows (YAY!) It starts with the skirt which is a very simple pattern that is open at the waist in the back for a snap. The blouse instructions are also easy to follow. The blouse is completely open in the back with three snaps for the closure. Adding the white edging was a little more difficult but still not terribly hard. I ended up tacking the collar down because even though it was done in the outside loop it didn't want to stay down. The hat was very simple and adds an extra panache to her outfit. With the D hook this outfit went much quicker than the evening dress done in the same yarn, even with the extra accessory. Here is Susan in my version of the Summer Suit She kicked off her shoes because it's summer and it's hot. I didn't love the extra ribbons they had in their version. It seemed a little extra. Even though they give you directions to make your own ribbons I added a purchased one to her hat instead of trying to make one. She only has one bead on her top instead of three because I couldn't get them to line up right. Overall, this outfit is a little looser than the evening gown and easier to put on the doll.
Rating: Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes If there is a gauge, could I match it? Yes Does it look like the photo? Yes Did it fit Susan? Yes Did I enjoy making it? Yes This one gets a 5 out of 5. This week's pattern comes from the April 1984 issue of Crochet World. The issue has at least 35 patterns in it ranging from sweaters to bookmarks. The Barbie pattern is an evening gown and wrap made with Luster Sheen yarn in Crystal Pink. The other materials needed are; a size 7 steel crochet hook, 2/3 yard of 1/4" pink ribbon, 3 small snaps, 1 small hook and eye for the wrap closing, small craft flowers for the waist. I have all of these things but not in pink and since I'd rather use up what I have I went with Luster Sheen in Bluette and a white ribbon for the waist. Luster Sheen has a chainette construction so it's pretty easy to crochet with but not that great for making a fringe. The pattern gave a gauge that I tested and matched before I started. The directions fit on one page of the magazine along with the photo so this seemed like it would go pretty quickly and easily. The dress is worked from the waistband down and then from the waistband up. There was only one issue I had with the pattern. I love when patterns have a stitch count at the end of the row. In this case, that would have made this a little easier to check as I was going through the pattern and it would look more like the photo. Here's the finished version that Susan* is modeling vs the original: You can see that somewhere there was a mistake in the increases or I misread it. When I realized that it was wrong, I decided I preferred my version. I added a felt flower button on the waist instead of the roses and decided to skip the wrap. Susan didn't come with any shoes so I made some out of foam, crochet thread and beads. They're kind of wobbly and come off easily but they'll work for now.
Rating: Is the pattern easy to understand? Yes If there is a gauge, could I match it? Yes Does it look like the photo? Not really Did it fit Susan? Yes Did I enjoy making it? Yes This pattern gets a 4 out of 5. *Since we can't keep calling her Spa Barbie, I named her Susan Pearl Anderson (SPA). Even though I haven't seen the movie yet I thought it would be fun to change up the blog a little and make some vintage Barbie clothes patterns. That meant I needed to find a Barbie to model the clothes. I checked Goodwill but all of the versions they had were either non-classic body styles or had something else unusual about them that meant they wouldn't be great models. One had a torso that was a USA swimsuit. Another had a button on her back that looked like it attached to something. I this found Spa Barbie on FB Marketplace for $5 and picked her up yesterday. I was surprised when I realized that her legs didn't bend. Apparently, somewhere around 1990 they changed the plastic and after that Barbie no longer had bendable arms and legs. The new version is easier to clean at least. That old plastic always felt a little sticky.
The first pattern I'll make for her is from April 1984. It's an evening gown and wrap and I have the suggested yarn from that era for it. So far I've found five other patterns in my library that range from 1965-1992. One is actually a Ski Suit for Ken but I think it will fit Barbie too. I'll switch back to neck items after I run out of Barbie patterns. It took me a couple of weeks but I finally finished one of the Tri-Color Feeding Bibs from the booklet I shared last week. In the instructions it says that these are Humpty-Dumpty, his wife and their twins. I made the bib with the twins. All three versions use three colors of J&P Coats Knit-Cro-Sheen; dark blue, white and red. A size 6 or 7 steel hook and some double fold bias tape. I used some vintage red and blue Knit-Cro-Sheen and white Aunt Lydia's Classic Crochet Thread along with a size 7 steel hook. They give a gauge for the bib which I didn't check until I was done with the project but it matched. The pattern includes charts for all three of these but they were very tiny so I had to use my printer to enlarge them.
The directions were pretty good for this pattern. They explain how to change colors and that you should carry your unused color along the top of the previous row. There were a few areas where I ended up using bobbins so I wasn't carrying more than one color. They even give directions for sewing on the bias tape that worked pretty well. I don't have anything bad to say about this project or the directions. I had some issues following the directions for the scallops on the bottom but once I decided to just trust that it would work even though I couldn't quite make sense of it, it did. I had some problems sewing the bias tape on but that's a user issue and not from the pattern directions. The finished bib is 12 inches by 10 inches so it's a decent size but I'm not sure how much this would protect a baby's clothes. It's still cute in a very 1940s way. The project I planned for this week isn't quite done. I had several bouts of feline paralysis after vacation and it made it hard to work on projects. Instead I'll share some pictures from the booklet that the half-done project came from. The booklet is from 1944 and it's from The Spool Cotton Company. The cover says, "Crochet your Gifts" but they snuck in a few knitted items like a bag and one of the potholders. The booklet uses J & P Coats - Clark's O.N.T. Crochet Cottons throughout the projects in sizes from Best Six Cord Mercerized Cotton size 50, to Knit-Cro-Sheen to Rug Yarn. Some of the projects that use size 30 thread include a Pineapple Bib, a Pineapple Apron and Tea Cozy, Flowers and Doilies. Knit-Cro-Sheen (aka size 10 thread) is usually the smallest thread I'll use and the booklet had a few patterns that used that. Potholders from that era seem to be commonly done in Knit-Cro-Sheen and these are pretty classic ones. The project I'm working on now from this booklet is also done in size 10 thread. The collar below is done in size 50 thread and the sachets in the same photo are done in either "Brilliant" or six strand embroidery floss. The collar might have been an option for a neck project but there's a reason I don't have any size 50 thread. The curtain pulls vary from cord to size 30 thread. The pulls could be fun as a necklace pendant too. I'm about half way done with the project for next week! Any guesses on what it might be? It isn't anything pictured in this post. Here's another project to add the the growing list of projects that just didn't work for me; the Bolo Scarf from the September 1985 issue of Workbasket Magazine. The scarf uses 1.4 ounces of Unger Cruise or Baby Wintuk and a size F hook. Both of the recommended yarns are sport weight but I didn't have any sport weight yarn that I was willing to sacrifice for this so I bumped it up to a DK weight and tried Knit Picks Swish DK with a size G hook. I didn't make it very far when I realized that this project was just repetitious enough to be boring but I still had to pay attention to the ends of the rows since the repeat had a slightly different stitch pattern at the ends of the rows. Sometimes the final project will be worth this kind of annoyance but this wasn't one of them. Here's where I stopped and ripped it all out: I admit that I'm much quicker to stop a project now if I'm not getting any joy out of making it. I think that's a good thing. It means I'm willing to try more things and just let them go if they aren't working for me.
Next week we're going back to 1944! I planned to make this vintage pattern for the Dakota County Fair but I missed the registration deadline so I won't have any entries this year but at least I'm ahead for next year! This baby blanket pattern comes from The Easy Art of Ripple Crochet. The booklet has a lot of fun patterns. I'm tossing around the idea of doing vintage ripple patterns for the 2024 blog theme and would definitely use some from this magazine. It has hats, blankets, swimwear, dresses, tops and baby clothes. The materials for this blanket are six 4-ounce skeins of yellow ombre knitting worsted yarn and an H hook. It does give a gauge but since it's a blanket I didn't worry about it. I used Lion Brand Mandala Ombre, a worsted weight caked yarn, in the color Mantra. Mantra has a soothing range of blues and greens that was fun to work through. The yarn is a little bouncy and very soft and was perfect for a soft cuddly blanket. The directions were very simple and I had no trouble following them. This was an easy project that was repetitive enough to be calming and the yarn made it even more relaxing. When I started a new skein I tried to make sure that I was starting with the same color I ended with and that meant starting the skein alternately from the outside. I was a little concerned about the tassels since I struggle with those but they turned out fine and added a lot to the finished project. Next week - Another repetitive project (a scarf!) but was it as calming as this one?
I finally finished the Popcorn Potholders from the 1975 issue of Woman's Day Granny Squares. The photo on the right is three of the patterns in this issue. The photo below on the right is from the magazine. I made the Hearty Holders (left) for the fair last year. The Popcorn Potholder is the one on the top. This is a fun magazine with some cute tops. There are also afghans, dresses and doilies of course. I liked the pink top below but sewing all the squares together isn't my favorite thing to do. Vintage ads are also fun. There were plenty of yarn and craft ads along with a cigarette ad or two. This one was my favorite for the wicker chair and duck, the long crocheted scarf and the woman's expression. I'm not sure why she's putting the hook in the middle of the scarf but maybe she's just working the ends in. The pattern for the Popcorn Potholder uses Coats & Clark Speed-Cro-Sheen and a size 2 hook. I used Aunt Lydia's Fashion Crochet Thread in three different colors and a size B hook (2.25mm). The pattern is easy to read and has directions for every row along with stitch counts. I made one major change to this patter and to the Hearty Holders I did last year. The pattern is only one layer and it seems thin and unfinished so I always make a back that is similar to the front without the fancy stitches and use the last row to crochet the two sides together. I skipped the loop hanger because I don't hang these up and it seems unnecessary. Here's the finished Popcorn Potholders. My popcorn stitches pop less than theirs but I still like them. And here are the Hearty Holders from last year. I started working on the ripple baby blanket from a vintage pattern but I still have a few gifts to finish up in the next month. I'll post it when it's done though.
I've had this 1971 Brunswick Strictly Crochet booklet for years and hadn't made anything from it yet. I saw this adorable baby sweater and thought it would be perfect for the Dakota County Fair. The pattern asks for 4 ounces of Brunswick Windrush and a size 6 or G hook. They give a gauge of 1 pattern repeat = 1 1/4 inches and each row would be 3/4 inch tall. I had some Lion Brand Jeans Color yarn that I know works up super soft so I used that. I only had 3.5 ounces of it so I decided to do the smallest size. I realized pretty quickly that my gauge was smaller than the pattern said it should be but I didn't worry too much about it because I'm not sizing this to a specific baby.
The pattern was easy to read and arranged in lines for each section instead of the paragraph version you often see in vintage patterns. While I don't love making tassels the sweater looks cuter with them. I did have yarn left over so I could have gone up a hook size or made one of the larger sizes but this is fine. One more fair project done! I'm taking a break from neck projects to work on some of my Dakota County Fair projects and other projects that I want to make. Many of the fair projects are vintage patterns so I'll share those as I finish them. Here are some of the ones I have planned.
After the fair is over I'll do a few more neck projects. I found some cute bibs and collars along with some scarves that will be fun to make. In the meantime, here are some very colorful projects from The Woman's Day Book of Designer Crochet by Jacqueline Henderson published in 1980. These hats are awesome if I'd had this book last year I definitely would have made at least one. Can't leave out the swimwear! I'm not saying I'll make one of these neckpieces for sure but if I can decide what to substitute for rattail one might make it to the list.
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AuthorI'm from Minnesota and have been crocheting since 2003. I inherited a box full of Workbasket Magazines from my mother-in-law and became obsessed with the vintage patterns. Archives
March 2024
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