Which Vintage Sweater?

Which Vintage Sweater? 07/29/2008

After seeing this sweater that Grumperina made, I simply MUST make a vintage pattern by Mary Maxim but I can't decide which to do - I have these patterns... of course, I'm not opposed to modifying or combining the charts.... what do you think?

This is the first buffalo pattern I ever bought - it's bigger than the one on the back of Grumperina's sweater - which is kind of cool - I could mix it with the same pattern she used... I may (or may not) want to use the "ground" that the buffalo is standing on...

This is the glorious pattern that was the inspiration for the madness - I think it's way too cool! I could just knit it the way it is also... but while I LOVE the way it looks, part of me doesn't want to just duplicate what Grumperina made... she's pretty darn inspiring... and while I believe it'd be flattering, it's probably more flattering to use her craft posts as inspiration rather than duplicating her idea (although at the end of the day, I guess she really just made a pattern from 1957; it's not like she designed the thing)....

... and then there's the fish sweater - I was thinking of doing this one and putting a border on the bottom of it perhaps of fishing lures or something (knitted pattern, not actual lures!) - keep in mind I'll probably (definately) change the color of the pattern to whatever I want... most likely I'll want to do something a little less "contrasty"...(is contrasty a word?) :)

Last but not least, my FAVORITE - the seahorse sweater - I think it's a bit gay - but I really think it's cool - if anyone has ideas of a color mix that might make this more "hip" and less "homo" speak up - it's my fav... I think it looks sort of western - like a cowboy shirt... and if I can figure out how to do it and it be a little less "obvious" then it's probably what I'll do...

These patterns are all so amazing - such great graphics - Mary Maxim has tons of them (these I believe are all from the mid/late 50's) - and I think that knitted in good wool they'll be awesome! - browsing Ebay you'll find a lot of them available - as well as on oldcraftpatterns.com -

I won't start any of these any time soon - but I WILL one day make one... I appreciate Grumperina's blog posts about her experience and the gorgeous photoshoot she did of her finished project... the more I think about what I want to do, the more sure I become that I will probably make the seahorse cardigan.... I have an idea of making the entire piece intarsia and/or fair isle... if anyone knows of or has "ocean" inspired graphs / charts, please email me :)

Comments

Judy G. link

07/29/2008 3:03pm

Umm, seahorses less gay? I'd stay away from anything pastelly. Maybe if you could knit little mustaches and beards, or chest hair onto them...
Those sweaters are definitely retro, but sadly, I remember my mother looking at those patterns about the same time she was buying pop'n'yarn from Safeway. They sort of make me shudder. (but that's that generational narrow-mindedness rearing its ugly head again.)

Chris French link

07/29/2008 11:10pm

i'd pass them all up! i mean, are you a huge fish lover? are you a sea queen? of all of them, the seahorse was the most icky. yuck!

i think you should not think about it for, like, a year, then rethink it! i bet you won't want to do them! retro is cool. i'm not into these! the style of the one with the fish on the back is the most regular looking one. maybe hand stitch the fish on it, then later on you can change the motif!

and, would you wear it in, say, 3 years?
you should do something that's totally different and your own mark.
xoxo chris

Linda D link

07/30/2008 6:12am

Definitely the seahorses. It's just way too cool and unusual to NOT knit it. Less gay... hmmm... maybe less contrast between the body color and the yoke? Possibly leave out the contrasting line between the darker body and lighter yoke. I guess anything that tones it down a bit would help.

Then again - what the hell do I know?? ;-)

GeekKnitter link

07/30/2008 8:11am

I'd go for the seahorses myself, with the lower part in dark blue and the upper in a lighter one.

Can't wait to see it someday!

doug

07/30/2008 2:23pm

Well, from a practical standpoint - the Seahorse thingy is double knit and the others look heavier, so I presume the double knit would get more wear in CA (?).

Perhaps less contrast in the colours would be a tad less swishy - for instance, using only one colour but in different values.

The Brylcream probably didn't do the photo any help ;o)

Terri

07/31/2008 8:04am

I like how you reference Grumperina's sweater since you love it so much. Ienjoyed reading the comments since i was so opinionated about the patterns.

Andres P. Nevarez link

08/08/2008 9:24am

The pattern is very nice and the sweater came out great. Well colors are not homo , people are homo. If you mean feminine, that's a different story, you can try a butch Pink. At this day and age we should all know that we are the ones who decide what is feminine and masculine, homosexual colors and heterosexual colors that is just rubbish, lol!

Sea horses by themselves are very confusing as the males carry the babies to term, so go figure.

Frank link

08/08/2008 2:23pm

I LOVE the seahorses! But how you make them less 'mo is beyond my abilities, and actually I think it may be an oxymoron.

And I have to agree with whomever asked if you'd wear it in 3 years. It would take me at least 5 years to finish the stupid sweater, so I'd have to make sure I'd be into it at that time.

Good luck!

karen fersovitch

10/25/2008 8:43am

Hi, I love the mary maxim pattern with the buffalo on it. Wher can i buy a copy of this pattern?
Thanks

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