Lily Steeple's blog

I have just finished making the '40s pin-up jumper I mentioned in my first post. Knitting with two strands I had put aside a very fine 2-ply wool from Z Hinchcliffe & Sons for this project.  It was too fine for the pattern, so I decided to try knitting two strands together which I had read could be done to achieve a heavier weight yarn.  It's a bit cumbersome - requiring a strand to be taken from a cone of wool and a ball of wool - and unravelling has been a bit more complicated (have settled for starting a 'mini-ball' of the unravelled wool with the two strands kept together) but overall it has worked out. I had to use 3mm and 4mm needles instead of the pattern's 2.75 and 3.75 and because of the larger needle sizes (plus the combined thickness of the wool being more like a 4 or 5-ply), the jumper has knit up to a larger size than planned - about a size 16. Shawl Collars & Ribs As with most Vintage patterns, there is an attention to detail

Hearing about other people's success, growth and stories of obstacles overcome can be quite draining and whilst researching other people's work can inspire, it can be a bit off-putting aswell.  It took me a long time to understand that I too could earn money from working at something I enjoyed and believed in.  Getting it wrong, making mistakes, not being good enough are all fears that can stop you from doing anything and by putting your work up for sale on an internet site with a worldwide audience (so far I've had orders from Australia, Canada, Germany and the UK), you take a risk that it won't be a success. In the end, I set up my Etsy shop on the spur of the moment.  It asked for a shop logo - so I searched through the pictures stored on my computer and found a shortlist of what I thought were good photos, then cropped them to size and tried them out.  For the name I wanted a first name and surname that wasn't my own.  I've always liked the name Lily: I

I am not completely happy with how my Etsy shop ( LilySteeple ) looks.  So this week, I have made it my goal to improve it.  But where to start?  My quandry is best expressed by my own shop logo of a lilypad leaf which I chose because it is quite a good photo.  Other good photos considered were of a zebra and an ornate marble staircase which I used as a banner for a while. None of these make much sense in terms of my shop, like an album cover image that doesn't relate to either the band or it's music.  Also the logo is green, so any featured listings usually clash quite badly with it. I could change my logo to 'Lily Steeple' written in the loopy style of a '40s knitting pattern title or an illustration of a 1940s model but part of me quite likes the lilypad, however non-sensical.  And it's this part that's digging it's heels in. Making sense Researching what other people have done with their shops is one way to gather ideas for how to improve

1940s handknitted reproduction jumper, knit using Stitchcraft magazine's July 1946 pattern for a jumper that is 'perfect for under jackets', knit with Todd & Duncan Titian Blue 2-ply geelong lambswool ( https://www.todd-duncan.co.uk/ ).

  The first vintage knitting pattern I tried to knit was Stitchcraft's short-sleeved lace jumper, pictured above.  Modern versus Vintage It took me a while to become accustomed to how vintage knitting patterns are written.  Whereas modern patterns are quite explicit in how they write their instructions, vintage patterns are much more economical in style: what would take half a page to describe in today's patterns is summed up in a few words in a vintage one. The economy of style leads you think more about the purpose of each instruction and how what you're knitting fits into the garment as a whole but there are times when just a few words more are vital. 'Increase to 128 sts.' It took me several attempts - and quite a bit of unravelling - to work out how to increase the number of stitches.  The pattern is a 6 row repeat with the final 2 rows creating a lace pattern.  'Increase' can be translated as 'increase in pattern', so keeping the lac

The '40s pin up 'Sorority' jumper with shawl collar and lace stitch rib is available as a digital download from the Etsy shop ' SubversiveFemme '.

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