Tag Archives: sweater vest

Inspiration: All Creatures Great and Small

So, I’ve decided I need a new aesthetic. I’m no longer going to dress as a 21st century 30-something mom. Nope. No more t-shirts or leggings or hoodies for me.

I’m now officially dressing as a country vetrinarian from the 1930s.

It’s all tweed and knit vests and crisp white shirts from now on.

Why yes, I have been watching the new All Creatures Great and Small on PBS. (And yes, I know I’m several months late to the party).

And if you haven’t watched it yet, what are you doing?! It’s a delight. It’s like a warm cup of tea poured by Mrs. Hall in the surgery kitchen. Which is exactly what I want these days. (My usual media diet of old Star Trek and true crime documentaries hasn’t been great lately).

Anyway, now that I’ve decided to totally overhaul my wardrobe to accommodate my new dream, we should probably talk vests.

Because, y’all, there are some very good vests.

Take this amazing Fair Isle number. I mean, I’m not a huge fan of stranded knitting generally, but I could get behind making up something like this. It’s gorgeous, it’s super fancy, and still manages to be understated. Plus, how much fun would it be to pick out all those colors?

Machrihanish by Kate Davies Designs

Or I could go the absolute opposite direction, and go super simple with super-wide ribbing. Classy. Classic. Cozy.

His Vest by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas

But, I think this is my favorite of all the vests. (And I think it’s James Herriot’s favorite, too, since he wears it all the time.) It just looks so soft and comfy, and you know me and cables. Cables+me=BFFs.

Delius by Bristol Ivy

Well, I’m off to watch the Christmas Special (which is very timely… ha!) and go online shopping for tweed and button-downs.

What are you currently watching?

Knitting on the TV

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It’s been a minute since I’ve gotten really excited about knitting in a movie or on TV, but I think I might have found my next project. (Ha! Like I need another project.)

Ya’ll know I’ve been watching Dark on Netflix. It’s very moody and (well) dark. There’s lots of rain and nighttime scenes, and of course lots of knitwear and very good coats.

Plus, part of the story takes place in the 50s- the heyday of knitting, in my opinion. Knitting in the 50s was all vests and sweater sets worked on tiny needles with fingering weight yarn. It would drive me nuts to do it, but man, I love how the finished product looks.

Speaking of the finished product, look at this amazing sweater vest! (And don’t worry- no spoilers here, unless you consider a kid with a very good sweater vest a spoiler.)

And a close-up:

I mean, that color, that all-over texture, the 1×1 rib edging, the v-neck. It might be the perfect sweater vest. So stinking cute. I kind of want to make one for everyone in my family. Or at least for my kid. After all, making a vest for a 2-year-old on US2s is much less daunting than making one for myself. I’m thinking I could even use sock yarn to make sure it’s machine-washable and can stand up to a very busy toddler.

The thing I think I like most about this sweater is the geometric knit/purl texture. It doesn’t look particularly tricky, but when it’s worked all over the whole piece, it really packs a punch.

In fact, I like it so much I couldn’t stop myself from “sketching” it out and making up a little chart. (Empty squares are knits, dots are purls. Also, for what it’s worth, I haven’t actually swatched this out yet, so it might be wildly off. It’s just my best guess, based on obsessively looking up screenshots of this vest.)

I’m not sure if I’ve got the time/energy/follow-through right now to actually make this sweater become a reality, but man it’s fun to daydream. Maybe it’ll become a pattern?

Has any TV knitting caught your eye lately?

Prince George

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Oh my goodness, have you guys seen Prince George’s adorable little Christmas sweater? It’s freaking too cute to handle. Look at those chubby cheeks (and Christmas shorts? The British are odd). (Thanks to my friend Jenny for sending me his picture!)

Apparently you can’t buy the the royal sweater vest, but we’re knitters. We don’t need to buy sweaters like common folks (or like the Duchess of Cambridge). Let’s take a look at the sweater originally from Cath Kidston.

It’s pretty simple, right? Just a standard stockinette sweater vest with teeny tiny palace guards on the bottom. If you wanted to make one, just start with a simple vest pattern in navy blue:

Baby’s Banded Sweater Vest by Lisa K. Ross

And work the little palace guards along the bottom. You could work them with intarsia, or if you wanted to make it even easier on yourself, why not use the duplicate stitch?

I’ve even worked up some palace guard charts, as a Christmas present for you! (Click the picture for a larger version

Now you can make a sweater for your little prince, too!

Inspiration: The Bletchley Circle

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Have you seen this new miniseries on PBS? It’s pretty much made for me. It’s a crime procedural drama, costume drama, and (as Netflix is always suggesting for me) a Witty British Drama Featuring a Strong Female Lead.

Actually, it features several strong female leads. The main characters are a group of ex-code breakers that worked at Bletchley Park during World War II. Apparently I wasn’t paying attention in history class, because I had never heard of it. Apparently much/most of the codebreaking in WWII was done by women, which is pretty neat.

Anyway, the ladies of Bletchley Park have had to go back to civilian life after the war, and are made to sign a non-disclosure act, so they can’t even tell their husbands about their wartime efforts. They’re all sort of bored and unhappy with their civilian lives, after the excitement of being codebreakers. But, then they discover a serial killer and investigate him as they fight against the clock to prevent him from killing again. It’s all terribly exciting. The last episode ended with a huge cliffhanger, and I’m itching to figure out what happens!

But, when the ladies of Bletchley Circle aren’t fighting Nazis or hunting down serial killers, they’re knitting: