From my other blog: Last Rites: Simplicity 9973

The blog post for Simplicity 9973 is an oldie in the Internet world: June 2006. But someone left a comment there today. I swear there was another back when I originally wrote and posted the story, but it doesn't seem to be there now. Oh well. Anyhow, if you're sew inclined to read this fictional story, follow the link.

Books I'm Looking Forward to This Year: 1000 Hats by Annie Modesitt

Annie's the ace of hats, particularly the wired brim variety. Also on my radar:
• Stitch 'N' Bitch Advanced: Take It To The Next Level by Debbie Stoller
• Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living by Alicia Paulson

• Simple Gifts: 50 Little Luxuries to Craft, Sew, Cook & Knit by Jennifer Worick
• Brave New Knits: Dozens of Projects and Personalities from the Knitting Blogosphere by Julie Turjoman


Am I missing any others?

Moving On To Something Vintage: Vintage 1935 Clark's O.N.T. Fashions

I had to blog about something if only to shake off the lone Japanese spammer who continues to log in, fill out the word verification and make completely unrelated comments (mostly a series of ellipses linking back to his/her site). Several times this persistent person has commented and I've deleted his/her comment. So I'm thinking it's time for a new post, if only to get rid of this blogger off and his/her obsession with my post about Lady Gaga and her hair hat. I hope. Fingers crossed. So I'm linking to this Ebay listing, which actually appears to be an original pattern unlike so many of the PDF reprints I keep seeing when I type in the words "vintage hat pattern" on eBay. What's really nice is this booklet is a combination of crochet and knitting. So if I were to get frustrated with any of the knitting projects, I could unravel and start up something crochet. Like the cover. Doesn't the model look like a G-man's girlfriend? She's cute. Smart. Ready to go in her hat and gloves.

I'm not going to bid on this pattern. I'm busy with a crochet skirt (the third rendition of a project from the Happy Hooker book plus I'm about to dive in head first (no, I won't get injured, I'm talking figuratively) into the 1937 Sun-Ray ribbing sweater from A Stitch in Time Those two projects alone should keep me busy for at least two months. The skirt should be done within another week or two. The sweater? We'll see how complicated it is and whether I need to take Rogaine after I'm knee-deep for a week or two. However! I'm thinking optimistically. I'm counting on this sweater not to be terribly difficult. But easy. Yes, easy. That it will work up (and down) without pain. I've got 10 skeins of a vintage Fleishers Evermatch in a pale yellow and my 2.75 mm (U.S. 2) and 3.25 mm (U.S. 3) needles. Need to swatch and I'll be good to go VROOOM soon.

A True Case of Hat Hair: Lady Gaga and her tressy topper

For those of you who complain of hat hair, particularly in the winter (I am one), we need to stop bemoaning and celebrating hair gone haywire. Look at Lady Gaga and her hair hat. Is she complaining? Does she look like it, even remotely? Granted not a lock is out of place on that brim, which is what we common folk complain about when remove hats from our heads. Lady Gaga looks respendently 1940s in this get-up with her padded black top and retro sunglasses. And she's throwing kisses, just like a movie star.

Now, how many of you would sport a hair hat? Why not? Lady Gaga got a job out of it. You could be next!

Because I'm a Sucker for Two-Tone Tops: 1932 Bear Brand Crochet Pattern

Add a bow such as this pattern, and I'm a goner. This short-sleeve sweater is so adorable, and it looks so easy to make. It's just a bunch of crochet circles connected with ribbing. Kindergarten easy. Now I'm totally curious about the yarn. Two-ply? Three-ply? Something else. Because I want to make this sweater and I'm an ace at crochet in way that I'm not at knitting. Can I also I say this sweater would be most flattering to someone who doesn't have to make bust adjustments (I am speaking about myself) when you sew? The bow, the sleeve hems all hit at the bust line so anyone who doesn't want extra attention in that spot would be best to ignore this pattern. And if you leave off the bow, that just knocks extra points off its cuteness, and makes it look less retro.

Now, all that said, I'd probably wear these with a pair of jeans, and eschew the gloves, which I do like, but I don't make a habit of wearing. But a hat would definitely heighten the retro effect, although a short hairdo of any sort will work too. Gosh, put something like this on, and I half feel like doing the Charleston (which I sort of know how to do properly, thanks to Big City Swing). Or a couple of swing-outs since the lindy-hop was beginning to become popular right around the time this Bear Brand pattern was published.

I don't like to buy a pattern book unless there's at least three sweaters and/or accessories in it begging to be made. This beginning bid on this is $14.95, not bad compared some newer books on the same topic at the local bookstores. We'll see. I'm not sure. I'm watching it for now, and since it's a copy, there will be other opportunities to purchase it in the future if I don't nab it this moment (isn't that a more accurate description of the Buy It Now button?), I can always try again in the future.

Now about color choice. I do like baby blue and pink. That's quite girly. Chestnut brown and mustard yellow would be more retro. Black and fuschia would be striking, particularly for night. A little sparkle in the yarn would make it even more beautiful. What colors would you pick if you were making this top?

New Retro Hat to Love: Interweave Crochet Amelia Hat and Scarf

Ok, I saw this last year in the latest Interweave Crochet Magazine. We're talking December 2009. It stuck in my mind to the point that I had to buy the issue, if only for this pattern. It's so retro. And since crochet seems to come naturally to me, whereas knitting always feels like an uphill climb on a mountain of glass shards, this just feels like the next project to do. Sometime after I finish the Gone with the Wind Hat. That would have been finished a long time ago, except it's too big, and consequently, I've just lost my mojo, since it's really only suitable for someone with big head. And I had all sorts of plans for the Gone with the Wind Hat. Tea parties. Flirtatious encounters with the matching glove kind. Heck, excursions to the next town over. Not very ambitious, but you get the idea. So the Amelia Hat and scarf seems like a nice diversion from what I'm not doing right now. Not finishing up the Gone with the Wind. I really like doing the Amelia because did you know that Amelia Earhart (and I didn't see the Hillary Swank movie, it seemed too dumb) had a line of clothes at Marshall Fields? Yes, she was one of the early celebrities with her own line. So that Chicago connection alone makes Amelia special to me. She walked the same streets I did. When I get around to making the Amelia, perhaps I'll link to some pictures of Amelia the aviator wearing her finest and prettiest. In the meantime, I'm just picturing myself in the abovementioned hat and scarf project, perhaps in brown and yellow, or how about brown and blue? That would be pretty too. Of course, the extra ambitious part of me says I need to sew a complementary leather jacket too. Just for the challenge. And to say I made the whole outfit. Dare me. Nudge me. Tell me I can do it!

Enough about me. What hats are you making now?

Get Your Vitamin D On: Anthropologie Daisy Patch Hat

If you spend any significant amount of time outside during the winter, the question of what hat to wear becomes significant and the weather forecasts are particularly important. Is there sunshine in the works? Then it's a matter of something you can wear easily with a pair of sunglasses. Wind? A lid that stays on firmly no matter what is tantamount; a floppy brim that could temporarily blind you just isn't a good idea. Even an earflap hat with ribbon ties isn't terribly practical on a blustery day - the ribbons, unless firmly looped in a tight bow, could whip against your face. Snow on its way? A hat with a firm brim is a fine idea. Lined? Even better. Bright and colorful? Double-check. The above hat, from Anthropologie, is my idea of a hat that's just cheery and practical all around, especially since flowers at this time of year in my part of the world are about as rare as prairie dogs in downtown Chicago. They're extremely uncommon. Now, I've this daydream that I'm wearing this hat on a ski slope somewhere in Colorado. While the snow's plentiful and it's cold, it's not the bone-chilling variety that you find near Lake Michigan. It's bearable. Anyhow, ski poles in hand, matching ski jacket with yellow piping, this hat escorts me down the bunny hill. It makes me look great, especially as toddlers sans ski poles whip past me easily and fast. Of course, I'm certain on this ski slope, it's not only how well you ski, but how good you look on the descent. So it's not only a competition of skill, but the hats. Which one is the silliest? The perkiest? The brightest? And of course, the stupidest. The Anthro Daisy Patch hat is in a category all its own. If you're going to get hat hair, and you will with this thing, you might as well do it wearing a mini-garden of daisies on your noggin. This hat is just cute. Nothing more, nothing less. There are no dumb flaps and pointy ends to make you the butt of someone's joke. It's just summer, an early taste.

Anyhow, I'd like to make this hat, even if it means taking a plainer than Jane knit cap from a department store and embroidering the daisies on with leftover yarns with other knitting projects. You could possibly even do it on a sewing machine with invisible thread, and stabilizer underneath. I'm not sure how much faster it would be than to do it all by hand, but you at least you do have another option. Now, is just me, but I don't understand why there isn't a black version of this hat? Why? Why?
P.S. I'm working hard on at least one hat...my Annie Modesitt Gone with the Wind hat. It's beautiful, but too big for my 22.5-inch head. I'll post pictures once I'm done. I'm at the wiring the brim stage.