Do you remember, way back in March, how excited I was to be knitting as sample for KnitOnTheNet? I first blogged it in “Top Secret Project – Shhhhh“. The big downer of the project was that I couldn’t show it to you until the book it was for was out (understandable really!)
Guess what, A Stitch in Time is out!
I have a copy!
It’s superb!
And best of all, I can show you “Top Secret”!!!
Before I get into telling you the ins and outs of Top Secret, I must first gush about this book. It’s huge. Over 350 pages, stuffed full of over 50 designs from the 20’s through to the end of the 40’s. All have been knit with modern yarns and photographed and modelled beautifully. I wish Rowan would take a leaf out of this book – you can see the garments and the stitch detail, and the neck lines!!
All the original patterns and pictures are in the book as well as the modernised instructions. I have spent hours going though and reading the old patterns and giggling at some of the language used.”Inexpensive, youth-giving millinery” was a particular fave. Plus words like delightful, elegant, pretty, distinctive and smart used so formally. This is a super coffee table book if you never knit a stitch but that would be a waste with so many super patterns to choose from.
Have you got the impression I’m a fan yet? If you’re a prezzie short for Christmas or looking for something to spend Christmas money on – I recommend this book!
Buy it here if you want a copy….
First, let’s reveal Top Secret’s proper name…It’s called “To Wear in the Evenings”.
It’s from 1935 – 1937…this is the original picture from the pattern…
If you have the A Stitch in Time book, it’s on page 142 🙂
The jacket is worked entirely in Moss Stitch in a beautiful pure silk 4ply. I think it was a very good choice of yarn for the jacket as silk has very little “give” and holds structures well but manages to drape at the same time. There’s a lot of garment here – if it had sagged or gone stiff and inflexible it wouldn’t have worked so well.
Here’s the stitch detail…
Want to see the WIP shots??
The fronts…
Careful decreasing to nip in the waist above the peplum (that’s the frilly bit from the waist downwards)
Rapid decreases at the top of the sleeve head to give extra “puffiness”…
And all the bits, knitted and ready to sew…
That was the stage that I had to post off all my hard Moss Stitching to be finished and photographed for the book.
Want to see how it looks, beautifully modelled and photographed, in the book??
How fab is that? To see my knitting in a “real” knitting book 😀
And do you want to see the best bit?? I got a credit for the knitting 😀 😀
| Completed Knit Report | ||
| Name: | To Wear in the Evenings (Was called Top Secret by me!!) | |
| Pattern: | from A Stitch in Timeby Susan Crawford and Jane Waller | |
| Yarn: | Fyberspates 4ply pure silk | |
| Pattern Problems: | None, but it is one size of a 38″ to 40″ chest | |
| Pattern Modifications: | None – especially as it was a sample | |
| Washing and Wearing: | Sadly, I’ll never know! | |
| Knit It Again???: | Possibly | |
| Difficulty: | Surprisingly easy if you like Moss Stitch | |
| Rating: | 3/5 | |
| Other Postings Relating To This One: | Top Secret Project…Shhhh | |
Wow! Congratulations! You must be so chuffed!
Nice work. I pre-ordered that book so I’ll be looking you up as soon as I get home. Well done!
Oh wow! From the original picture I would never have tried it but the one you knit is just beautiful! I might just have to buy the book!
I have seen this book mentioned on other places and every time I want to browse this book even more. Your knit looks fabulous, I bet you hated sending it away. I would have wanted to keep it so I could pet, stroke and cuddle it whenever I was feeling a bit low.
I had forgotten all about your previous post until I saw this, but I remember being intrigued at the time.
It looks great ~ congratulations on ‘being published’!!
I’ll have to look out for the book; it looks really interesting.
Looks lovely…and what’s even better is that I know there’s a copy of the book under the tree for me this Christmas from my honey. No horrendously blatant hinting there! Can’t wait to gorge myself on the book.
There was an article about the book in one of the knitting magazines I bought last month, I suspected this might be what “Top Secret” was all about. It looks great! Congratulations 🙂