I try to keep most things personal and deep off my blog. On a rare occasion however, I feel it's important that I share a little more with you. Recently, the tragic and unexpected death of a close friend of Mel's from Atlanta has left a huge hole in not only our circle of friends, but in all of the widespread and various circles of people that she touched (and believe me, it was a lot of people). Mel traveled quickly ... Read more »
Guest post: Top 10 free 1940s knitting patterns from the Vintage Pattern Files
I'm excited to share a great guest post with you today for Knit for Victory! Wendy is a talented knitting and sewing blogger from the Butterfly Balcony, (hello, look at this amazing outfit she sewed for Fall for Cotton), she was one of my Victory test knitters, and she's the brains behind the hugely helpful vintage knitting, sewing and crochet pattern database, The Vintage Pattern Files. A woman of many creative hats ... Read more »
Victory beret: intro tips for stranded knitting
Alright everyone! This post is especially for those of you knitting my Victory beret as one of your first fair isle projects, for Knit for Victory. I've talked about stranded knitting / fair isle in the past, and have two older posts that extensively cover a few of the topics I'm going to touch on today. For easy reference those are: Getting started with stranded / fair isle knitting Puckers, tension and even ... Read more »
Victory beret: getting started
Hi everyone! Today I'm going to start off my posts for those of you who are knitting my Victory pattern as part of the Knit for Victory knit-along. What to know before you start Victory is a fair isle pattern knit in the round, using 2 colors of yarn in many rows. As I've mentioned before, I'm gearing my posts for those relatively new to stranded / fair isle knitting, but not for those new to knitting. I'll touch on ... Read more »
Knit for Victory now has a Ravelry group
Just a quick Public Service Announcement today. After several requests, I decided to create a Ravelry group for Knit for Victory as another home base for the knit-along. And we already have over 50 members! Please feel free to join us on Ravelry as well as our Flickr group, to share projects, inspirations and progress with your fellow knit-along friends. Later this week, I'll be starting in on my posts for knitting ... Read more »
Victory yarn kit and discounts!
I'm very pleased to share a special promotion today, in collaboration with Susan Crawford. If you're a fan of modern vintage knitting, then without a doubt you know UK knitwear designer Susan Crawford. As you also may know, Susan has a gorgeous line of yarn produced with John Arbon, called Excelana. Excelana is available in fingering weight / 4 ply as well as DK weight. In fact, for Wovember, you can read more ... Read more »
Accessories inspirations: Knit for Victory
Friends, the last week has been a whirlwind for me! I can't thank you all enough for all of the wonderful support on my first pattern release, Victory. Wonderful doesn't even begin to cover it. I'm seriously overwhelmed by the reception. :) Of course, there's not just the pattern release—there's the Knit for Victory knit-along launch. Yes! I'm so excited how many people are interested in the knit-along and have been ... Read more »
Debut knitting pattern release: Victory
It's with a lot of nervousness and excitement that I announce today is the release of my first knitting pattern! Model: Rochelle New / Photographer: William Waldon The pattern is Victory, and inspired by Fair Isle tams of the 1940s. Cleverly tucked in among traditional motifs, you’ll find the V sign and Morse code used in the WWII-era "V for Victory" campaign. Vintage Fair Isle patterns often called for using ... Read more »
Knit for Victory: a 1940s-inspired knit-along
Get your knitting needles ready for Knit for Victory! Knit for Victory: a 1940s-inspired knit-along What is it? Knit for Victory is a non-competitive vintage knitting challenge. Finish a large project, try your hand at something new-to-you like Fair Isle or knitting your first sweater, work on multiple projects...the challenge is what you make of it! Who can join? Everyone! Come one, come all. All skill levels ... Read more »
Resources roundup for the fit & knit a 40s pullover series
Thank you for the lovely comments on my finished pullover! Many of you commented on the great color of the yarn, too. Truth be told that's my absolutely favorite shade of red. You may have noticed that you rarely see me in a lot of red though (outside of lipstick and nail polish) because I'm super picky about them, so it's ideal having a great staple pullover in a favorite shade! As promised, here's a list of all ... Read more »
Finished 1947 Campus Classics Cable Pullover
I started my fitting and knitting a 1940s pullover series earlier this month, and I told you it would go fast! You saw a few peeks here and there of the project as I knit it... in fact my blog and Instagram have been practically a sea of red yarn lately. But today you get to see the finished pullover! And boy, I really couldn't be happier with the final sweater, let me tell you! This ticks so many boxes in my ... Read more »
Join the By Gum, By Golly mailing list!
November is going to kick off some exciting things to come around By Gum, By Golly! You may recall I'll soon be releasing my first knitting pattern (so excited!), and there's something else up my sleeves. If you're a fan of 1940s-inspired styles and knitting, well, I think you'll have fun this winter. And you don't have long to wait to find out more. So, how about joining the mailing list? I promise I won't ... Read more »
How to knit seamless set-in sleeves from the top down
Today I have a big ol' knitting tutorial for you! I'm going to show you a technique I sometimes use to seamlessly knit sleeves that look set-in. If you're not a fan of seaming, then it's an awesome technique to have in your arsenal. I actually don't mind setting in sleeves and do that more often than not. But I used this method on my Dragonflies Jumper and a lot of you were intrigued and interested in a tutorial. I ... Read more »
Fit & knit a 40s pullover series: changing the neckline and a sleeve preview
Hope you've been having a nice weekend! I'm one fitting and knitting a 40s pullover series post away from my sleeve tutorial. I really appreciate the comments I've received on my posts and on Instagram and Facebook. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to hear I'm helping someone come to understand knitting just a little more (knitting math! it's a good thing!), or helping someone to attempt a technique or alteration ... Read more »
Fit & knit a 40s pullover series: row gauge, armholes and shoulders
I'm actually getting close to the end of my fitting and knitting a 1940s pullover series if you can believe it! Don't worry, I know it's going by quickly so I'll do a roundup of all the links for future reference at the end of this series. :) I last talked about resizing the body of the vintage knitting pattern I'm working on, the Cable Pullover No. 3298. knitting pattern. I talked about the lower body (Part 1 and Part ... Read more »
Fit & knit a 40s pullover series: resizing the body (Part 2)
Yesterday in the fitting and knitting a 40s pullover series was Part 1 of my chat about of resizing the body, and I showed you some ideas on how gauge can be used to resize the body of a knitting pattern. Now it's time to talk about how I'm actually going to do this with the Cable Pullover pattern! Remember one thing that I'll keep occasionally pointing out: this series isn't meant to show you every possible plan of ... Read more »