It's a cold, rainy day here in Scotland. It's the afternoon and the weather is at a high of 57 degrees (14 degrees Celsius).... Which is why I am gravitating toward some photos of lovely short sleeve wool sweaters! These are all from Sears catalogues (from Ancestry.com). The scan above is from 1938. Love the monogrammed sleeveless sweater on the bottom left.
These sweaters are from 1939. I'm loving the stripes on the purple and green one!
Or how about from my favourite year? 1940.... I really love the ivory sweater with the sleeve ruffles!!
And from 1941...I think my favourite is the red sweater on the top!
Which ones are your favourites? Are you sweltering in the heat, wishing it were warmer or just right?
I'm interested to know if you are still thinking of knitting one yourself? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI do lots of thinking - then get distracted by sewing!
I'd love to but at this point my sewing queue is so long that it will have to wait until the Autumn. I'm hoping to maybe take a class in October!!
ReplyDeleteSo lovely!I'm currently planning my next knit which I think will be a 1940s jumper or cardigan. You should definitely learn to knit - one of the great things is that it's so portable so you can knit on the move and reclaim time that might otherwise be lost.
ReplyDeleteI am just learning to knit and wish I was a bit faster and better so I could knit up every one. If only I could time travel...That being said I want Page One Blue with Collar and matching Beanie
ReplyDeletePage Two-Pink with collar and pearl buttons, Page Three- Pink Button down with the floral type pattern, Page Four the red with the trim on the pockets and collar. This is a game I often play with myself when looking at vintage catalogs which one would I chose from each page.
Not hot here Debi it's 47 this morning and we've had rain, hopefully some sun today. I just started on the silk shantung top that goes under the Chanel jacket, it's ready to cut and will do so this afternoon when returning from church. Tomorrow I'm posting about the Chanel suit I'm planning next. Love the prices on those old sweaters.
ReplyDeleteThese are delightful Debi, I honestly couldn't pick a favourite as they are all to die for! We're having a similar 'summer' to you in England obviously...I'm thinking that we've just fast-forwarded to autumn now :o(
ReplyDeleteOh, they are all lovely! I especially like the ones fro 1938. It would be great to be able to knit some of them.
ReplyDeleteLove the red and yellow one from 1941, the weather has been so rubbish here rain rain! x
ReplyDeleteI have about a hundred 40's knitting books and I have just started learning to knit, yay!
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful sweaters! It makes me wish I knew how to knit better. There are so many patterns out there. It's also neat to see the small evolution in style in these pictures. Thanks for sharing them! Very inspirational. :)
ReplyDeleteOMG! I have in my hands a yellow sweater so like the pink sweater photo of the second .... just need to finish the sleeves .... I ask your permission to link to this photo when I finish knitting it. Please ....
ReplyDeleteI am very grateful to you for all your support and love, you are great.
Wow! These are so nice I can't choose a favourite but I do like the very first pink one. I'm currently planning my next knitting project which I think will be a 1940s similar to these.
ReplyDeletedon't they look lovely! so will you be making one this year??
ReplyDeleteI am sweltering in the heat and looking ahead longingly toward autumn! I adore all the little gathered sleeves on these beauties.
ReplyDeleteIt's disgusting and hot here, I hate it! I really am more a cool weather person. I'd trade climates with you any day of the week!
ReplyDeleteThose sweaters are all so great. Sadly I've come to realize I never really wear the short-sleeved sweaters much that I've knit, so I'd take almost any of those with longer sleeves. That purple one with the green and white almost checkered looking pattern is particularly neat.
You know that if you learned to knit, you could knit up sweaters just like those... ;)
Gah! I so wish it was cooler so I was more inclined to pick up my knitting needles. :) I have so many sweaters I want to knit, but just can't get in the groove right now. lol. I'm loving so many of the colors! Especially the red sweaters, although I really need to take a break from knitting red anything--I have too many red pieces already! Some of those greens and butter-yellows are appealing too though... (Hope for me to break my red-yarn habit?!) Thanks so much for sharing these!
ReplyDeleteStill sweltering in cottons and linens. Hot (over 90 degrees F for weeks and weeks) and muggy, here in central North Carolina, USA. Am only knitting socks now, since they don't heat up my lap while knitting them. Someone gifted me with a box of woolen suiting yardage last week, but I won't undo any of the packets to admire and/or measure them until at least October. It won't be cold enough here to wear woolens until the end of November, most likely.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE vintage knits! Thanks so much for sharing this with me/us. :)
ReplyDeleteThese are adorable. I'm in the process of knitting up a lovely short sleeve sweater from the 40's and this post is great inspiration to finish it up :)
ReplyDeleteI just looooove that era's style of knitwear! so prim, chic, and not at all 'granny's knitting' !! Whenever people ask me as a Floridian living in Edinburgh if I miss the warm weather, I honestly can say NO! I love getting to wear my woolens...
ReplyDeleteI love all the 50¢ thrift specials! Now I need to go find a yellow that looks good on me and get to knitting!
ReplyDeleteDebi: I assume you know about Susan Crawford's books A Stitch in Time Vols 1 and 2. Vol 1 is out. 2 is on preorder. They show vintage patterns modified for modern sizing and technique and they're amazing. I've bought them simply for the pics (not something I generally do) and I even learned to knit because I love the sweaters so much, I knew I'd have to make them.
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