the little farm vintage

The 90% Win Cardi

 

One of my grand plans for 2015 is to post some more of my finished projects and voila! Look at me go, posting one before January is even over. Not nearly as prolific as Lauren, but a girl has to start somewhere!

This is an early 1950's pattern that I finished a short while ago and I really love it. Well...I love about 90% of it. The button band needs redoing. It looks like the cardi is far too small (I prefer them on the snug side because I often wear them with full-skirted 50's dresses) but it isn't. The button band is just far too loose.

I had hoped that blocking would shrink it down to a reasonable tension, but alas, it did not. The yarn is a recycled cotton  which was lovely to work with but has next to no stretch to it. No surprise that it didn't bend to my will....

 

 

This photo shows the wonky button band in all its glory. It looks like the buttons are straining, but the sweater is actually hanging loose on my dress form. I tried to convince myself that it looked like an intentional scalloped design feature but it doesn't. It will have to be redone which will be quite a pain but my inner perfectionist has deemed it necessary. My inner perfectionist would also like you to know that the sleeves are the same length, contrary to how they look in the photo...

 

 

The collar for this cardi is a cute design feature. It incorporates ribbing at the sides and back and seed stitch on the points of the collar (I use the term "points" loosely. It's more of a Peter Pan collar) which flows nicely into the button band. 

 

 

I used vintage rhinestone buttons that I had in my stash. Incredibly difficult to photograph but a gorgeous match for the variegated yellows in this sweater.

 

 

The stitch pattern is a really lovely one that I will definitely be using again. Stitches are dropped and then picked up in a way that forms little bows. This stitch, the "Little Bows Stitch" is also referred to as the "Butterfly Stitch." The pattern for the stitch is here. I think it would be lovely on a chunky knit blanket or a long scarf.

 

 

I'll be taking care of the button band as soon as I finish the current project I'm working on, and I'll be sure to post before and after photos of the difference a properly executed button band can make.  I'll also scan the vintage pattern and post it at the same time, so you too can have your own wonky button band experience...unless the pattern is right and the wonkiness lies solely with the craftsperson...

Happy knitting!

xox Elle

 

 

Blue Christmas...but not that kind of blue

 

 

Happy 2015!

 

Christmas has just been packed up down here on the homestead...one day late if you subscribe to the "it's bad luck to take your decorations down after Twelfth Night" superstition, but I decided to throw caution to the wind. Actually I was feeling pretty burned out from the season and just couldn't bring myself to haul out the boxes. And the decorations are pretty and pretty makes me happy...

 

 

I had grand plans of having a real tree this year - there's a Christmas tree farm across the road from me (one of the benefits of country living) and I was willing to deal with the hives (yes...I'm allergic...to trees...well, only certain evergreens but seriously, how ridiculous given my farmgirl lifestyle..) and with the renegade needles all for the sake of that lovely Christmas-y smell.

My mum has recently moved back out West and had divided the family ornaments up between my sister and me and I was really excited to have a tree full of sentimental decorations for the first time since I was a kid. Did it happen? Nope. I got hit with a nasty bug and only managed to get the house decorated on Christmas Eve, which was a good thing considering dinner was being hosted on the farm the following day. Nothing like cutting it close to the wire despite my best intentions! I did manage to pop a couple of sentimental decorations onto my quirky, little blue tree though.

 

 

When I was little, spending my childhood on a farm way out in the boonies, a huge box would arrive every Christmas from my grandparents in the city, full of all sorts of gifts - most of them handmade. Grandma would do the most incredible wrapping job and would attach personalized items to each gift. This little scroll of sheet music was on one of mine. I don't remember what the gift was but I've held on tight to this little piece of nostalgia for decades.

Grandma passed away in 2012 at the incredible age of 97. It was one of the most difficult periods of my life for a number of reason, but her memory lives on in the little snippets of thoughtfulness that she she gave to those she loved. I'm so lucky to have this. It's hard to make out but "To Ellen From Grandma" is written at the bottom. It never ceases to make me smile.

 

 

Also putting a smile on my face is the Reindeer ornament that became an Alpaca in the creative hands of one of my besties. An Alpaca!!! She knows me well. The fuzzy beastie seems right at home with the odd looking Hedgehog-Penguin hybrid ornament and the rather confused looking owl. These guys crack me up. I was lucky enough to receive not one but two handmade ornaments from two of the most important ladies in my life, along with an incredible quilt from my talented sister. The quilt and my second ornament will pop in to say hi in a future post. I'm a lucky girl...

 

 

I'm not sure how it started but I began collecting bird ornaments years ago and every year one or two manage to find a permanent year-round home perched on an unsuspecting object. I think this jade plant is one of those objects. There's a good chance there will one day be a ridiculous amount of random birds scattered here and there but since I haven't hit that point yet he gets to stay.

 

 

My sister and I have an annual Christmas crafting night. While I'm a pretty creative girl, this year's crafting turned up a whole bunch of Pinterest fails. The evidence was destroyed but on the off chance you ever decide that making string ornaments is a wonderful idea just remember that balloons don't blow up round unless you make them ridiculously large and you will end up with lopsided, sticky, unfortunate looking monstrosities, despite numerous tutorials to the contrary...you have been warned.

Luckily enough for our bruised crafty egos, we managed to eek out half a dozen or so painted glittered pine cones each. Actually Sarah left hers natural and added glitter. I went all out with some paint. They're from the Norway Spruce in the front yard and they're quite unusual looking. I may actually do a quick little tutorial on how to make them because they're incredibly easy and really pretty and they're sparkly...I love sparkly.

Well that's it for my Christmas decorating recap. A photo heavy post for sure! I'll leave you with a shot of Mae, all decked out in her festive finery...

 

 

May happiness, peace and a good dose of magic be yours for 2015!

xox Elle