Knitted Garments for All

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo, though I'm sure to regain it when my Q&A (and giveaway!) with McCormick Templeman is ready to go next week. In the meantime, how about a little vintage knitting nerdiness?Actually, I've been meaning to post this one for over a year. While I was staying in Edinburgh I met my friend "Ravelry Kate" (to distinguish from "Sister Kate" and "Agent Kate"). She's the friend who told me about the Mansfield Traquair Centre, and led me on a wonderful afternoon ramble through old lanes and churchyards.

Kate knits gorgeous sweaters from vintage patterns, and when she showed me her copy of Knitted Garments for All (published in 1944) I knew I had to get one for myself. This is a really excellent collection of wartime patterns--I even want to knit the undergarments! So I hopped on AbeBooks, snagged a copy for £5 (including shipping), and had it sent to Seanan in London so I wouldn't have to pay crazy-high postage. Looks like there are plenty of copies available on that site, which I've also used for inexpensive former-library copies of the Colored Fairy Books (post forthcoming).Kate has been working on this awesome colorwork jumper:Three cheers for scratchy woolen underpants! (Because you know these patterns always call for 100% wool.)I know this was the '40s, but it's still a little weird to see a model in a knitting book smoking--although he gets some make-up points for bottle-feeding that adorable little lamb.Yes, I am actually rather enchanted by these "camiknickers."But this is the pattern I'm most excited about:...Although I'm just going to plug the lace pattern into a basic short-sleeved raglan. The yarn I'll use is Madelinetosh, which I picked up at Squam last year (see first photo with book cover).Next week: The Little Woods Q&A and more Ciudad Perdida!