At Her Leisure

About half of my time this year was spent cross-stitching, which takes a lot of time, but I still made quite a few things. I’m pleased with what I made, but I didn’t make my new favorite thing. There are a couple of things that I still need to get pictures of, but since it’s already January 10, I decided to go ahead and post this and fill them in later.


( This year’s projects behind the cut )

It's only a bathroom mirror picture, but it's a picture!



I love the chevrons and am really glad I added the extra length at the back waist.

It's still not the most flattering thing ever, but it's cute. I ended up not needing the extra yarn I bought when I got concerned that I didn't have enough and was buying yarn for the anchor suit. So much for choosing a color I already had a ball of in the stash so that I could use it up.

Three bathing suits in eight months is enough. Now for a 1920 tuxedo sweater.

Of course, I still need to make the bathing shoes to finish off the 1921 outfit (and I think they'll go with the anchor suit too).

I've reached the waist ribbing on the 1949 swimsuit.

I pinned it together and tried it on when I got to the end of the 14th pattern repeat, and the center back did want to sag like the last suit so I put in another dozen short rows to lengthen it.

I finished the front of the 1949 bathing suit last night. I also knit the gusset. I cast on the first leg of the back. Lots of fun progress!

I got my husband to take some pictures of my 1930's bathing suit while we were at the beach this past week.





It was only in the 50's so I was not willing to get in the water so you don't get lots of fun pictures like koshka_the_cat posted of hers. That also means I didn't get it wet so I can't report on how it behaved. It's tight and thick stockinette. One of these days I'll soak it in the bathtub just so I'll know how it acts, and I'll report here whenever I get around to that.

When comparing it on me to the pattern image, it's clear that the shorts and skirt are really a little too short for me. I don't know if that's just because I have a long rise or because I've got fuller hips than the pattern expected. I added two inches to the hips that I narrowed out below the waist, but maybe it's still stretching further than it was intended to and has to give up some length to get the breadth. The waist ribbing sits a little low, and the top edge of the bodice therefore also sits lower. I don't like the way that the back waist ribbing dips, though I did find that same feature in a period photo so it's less annoying than it could be. I will point out that the front and back are made identically up through the ribbing while sewing pants/shorts patterns are not identical. They have more horizontal depth on the back piece than the front piece and more height on the back than the front. Or maybe I just have to get it wet, it will stretch, I'll tighten the straps, and everything will be better. Who knows?

I'm trying to take lessons from this on the 1949 suit I'm working on right now. I did an extra two repeats (~1.5") on the front of the shorts. Once I get to the waist on the back, I'm going to pin the seams and see whether I need to add more at the center back to keep the ribbing from dipping there. It will be much more obvious on this one because the ribbing is solid green while the rest of the suit is done in green and white stripes.

Maybe having the back waist of your swimsuit not be level was expected. This pattern image looks like the back waist dips just like mine does. How interesting.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1026527466/1930s-bathing-suit-knitting-pattern?ref=hp_theme_recs-0-listing-3

I was out of town for a wedding over the weekend so I started the first of the kids' Christmas ornaments. I got through quite a bit of the cross-stitching on it.

I still want to finish the bathing suit before I work exclusively on the ornaments, but I just haven't had time this week. It's been busy. Over the weekend I hope to finish the bathing suit. It just needs the cord for the straps made and attached.

I finished the seams on the 1930's bathing suit last night. I also did the hem. I tried it on partway through the seaming to make sure the fit would be okay, and the bodice is frighteningly skimpy. There are supposed to be five rows of single crochet around the top so I'm hoping those add enough to make it comfortable to wear. I will add more rows if needed. I started those, and I'm through 1.5 rows. Perhaps I'll finish them tonight, but I think tomorrow night is more likely.

I knit all afternoon and evening Friday, a little bit Saturday morning, and off and on Sunday. I finished the knitting on the 1930's bathing suit. Now I'll have to give the back and gusset a light pressing/steaming and seam everything together. Then I'll need to experiment with the straps. I can't quite picture what they mean in the directions so I'm hoping it will be one of those things that once you try it, it become clear.

My yarn finally came today, and the peach yarn is the same dye lot as my previous order. I was very pleased. I cast on the first leg of the shorts already and intend to work on that for the rest of the evening.

It's been a little bit good because I've done a dozen or so rows of my 1902 vest, which had been ignored in the pocket of my backpack since I started this bathing suit. Now it can be ignored again.