A Thirties Style Sweater

I came across this old pattern, the Smart of Course design, a pattern that originally appeared in The Australian Women's Weekly in 1934, during some research for a post on 1930s knitwear for my knitting blog. I was immediately taken by its cleverness. This design has tabs around the neck to allow for the addition of a scarf, which seemed like a terrific way to both freshen up a basic sweater and pull one's entire outfit together. Thirties and forties fashion documentation is a veritable goldmine of ideas on how to put together a good wardrobe for very little outlay.

Here's the finished item. I used 4 skeins of Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk fingering in a dark brown, as I wanted a neutral sweater. I did have to do some reshaping. At 19" long and with a 36" chest, it was way too small for me. I made it in a size 38, lengthened it to 23", decreased the height of the waistband considerably, and also opened up the neckline some to make it wider and lower. I crocheted around the tabs to make them larger and more finished-looking. I liked the stitch used, which is a kind of broken rib, as it is incredibly elastic.

Here's an outfit I threw together so as to get the whole effect, and it's not a bad look. This sweater and skirt wouldn't look all that good together on their own, but add the scarf and it's suddenly an integrated and polished outfit. I'm going to be keeping an eye out for some long narrow scarves that will work with my skirts and trousers when I'm at thrift shops so as to maximize the potential of this versatile sweater.