I really didn’t knit for about five months. I am doing some Christmas knitting but am trying to minimize what I do. Maybe I’ll add some pictures when I finish it.
I had some thoughts about old school knitters. I have a few knitting magazines from the 1930s. Knitters of that period knit suits out of thin boucle yarn. They were dressmaker suits, copies of designer creations. It might take years to finish (which was okay because they couldn’t afford a lot of yarn anyway.) I did read of one blogger that finished her suit and it was a major accomplishment. One of my friend’s had a grandmother that did this type of knitting. She did these impeccable cardigans. Back then, cardigans would be finished with grosgrain ribbon on the button bands. If you read Gertrude Taylor’s knitting book, she can take you through this type of knitting. Women of this era were used to taking their knitting with them and working on these projects as they had time. I’m sure there were a lot of failures out there, but people seemed to really try and show good craftsmanship.
Sometimes, it seems to me that many of the new designs are just for the novelty of the look. There may not be attention paid to the details. And I realize that many knitters have a job and a family to care for and just may knit to relax. That’s okay. But if you put the time into studying knitting, like you would any other subject, you will find that your knitting improves and the garments you turn out are more polished looking. It’s worth the effort. Tackle a project that challenges you.