Excerpted from Corticelli Knitting and Crochet Book No. 18, 1922
Decidedly chic is this knitted French blouse with its high collar effect. And of course this collar can be opened to for a V-shaped neck with revers on sides. A pleasing touch is given by the purling over the shoulders.
Knitted French Blouse
MATERIALS - 9 balls of Corticelli Silk Flosola Black No. 160½, 1 ball of Corticelli Flosola Goldenrod No. 54. No. 4 Knitting Needles.
OTHER COLORS - Corticelli Silk Flosola No. 139½ for body, with Corticelli Flosola No. 6½ for trim, or Corticelli Silk Flosola No. 199 for body, with Corticelli Flosola No. 23 for trim.
INSTRUCTIONS - Cast on 108 sts, work in k. 2 and p.2 for 7 inches, then work in Spaulding stitch (which is knit a row, purl a row) for 11 inches. Next row when beginning needle k. 2, p. 2, for 44 sts, then knit 20sts. in Spaulding stitch and work 44 sts. in k. 2, p. 2. Continue in this way until there are 4½ inches from beginning of the purling. Next row work the 44 sts. in k. 2, p. 2, then knit 2 sts. in Spaulding stich, bind off 16 for back of neck, knit 2 in Spaulding stitch and work the remaining 44 sts in k. 2, p. 2.
Repeat this last row on the 46 sts. for one inch. Next row when reaching neck end cast on 5 sts. and repeat this each row when working towards neck until there are 20 sts. in the Spaulding stitch, with the exception of the last 5 sts. at neck; keep these in Garter stitch the entire length of opening at front. This latter will not be mentioned again.
Repeat this last row until there are 5 inches from binding off of neck, work in Spaulding stitch all but the 5 sts. at front until work is 6 inches from beginning of the Garter stitch at front, then knit the other side the same to this point. Work both sides on to the same needle, knitting the 5 sts. which are in Garter stitch together, making a lap for the front, that is, take the 5th stitch from the end of needle on one side and the 1st stitch of the needle on the other side and knit them together as 1 st., then the 4th stitch and 2d stitch together until the whole 5sts. are knit off. There will be 127 sts. on the needle. Knit in Spaulding stitch until work measures one half inch longer from binding off of neck to border at bottom on back, then knit border at front the same as back and bind off loosely.
SLEEVES - Cast on 44 sts. and work in k. 2, p. 2, for 5 inches. The rest of sleeve is made in Spaulding stitch. On next row increase 1 st. eight times across the row. Next row increase 1 st. at beginning and 1 at ending of needle and repeat this row every 6th row for seven times or until there are 24 sts. added. There will be 66 sts. on the needle. Work without increase for 5 inches, then begin the shaping for top of sleeve by binding off 7 sts. at each side at beginning of needle until there are 12 sts. remaining on the needle, bind these off. Sew up garment from bottom towards under-arm to within an inch and a half of the purled ribs, which should come together at front and back, which leaves armhole 6½ inches in width. Sew in sleeves, placing seam of sleeve about one inch to the front of under-arm seam.
COLLAR - Cast on 77 sts. and work in k. 2, p. 2, for 3 inches, then knit 2 rows in plain Garter stitch. Work 10 rows in Spaulding stitch, knitting the first and last 4 sts. in Garter stitch, then join Silk Flosola No. 123 and work 4 rows in Spaulding stitch with the first and last 4 sts. in Garter stitch; then work 6 rows in Black in Spaulding stitch with the first 4 and last 4 sts. in Garter stitch, working the last 3 ribs of collar in plain Garter stitch with the Silk Flosola No. 123. Sew collar on to neck. There should be a cord drawn in around the edge of the coat at neck to keep it in shape for the neck desired, which should be about 14 inches. Crochet six buttons of the Silk Flosola No. 123 with Black centers, sewing two on the collar and four down the opening at front. Fasten with snaps.
There is a line missing in the pattern. I went to the original to find it.
After the line that reads - repeat this last row on 46 st for one inch - It should then read - next row when reaching the neck end, cast on 5 sts and repeat this row on the neck edge until you have 20 st in spaulding stitch then keep the last 5 stitches on the neck end in garter stitch -
I realized something was missing because later it says there would be 127 stitches and that wouldn't be the case without adding the neck stitches, that you cast off earlier, back on
Reply to Ruth
Jane – Editor at AllFreeCrafts
Jan 25, 2010 - 01:26
Ruth,
I want to thank you for picking up on this and searching out the solution. I'll be fixing the page as soon as I can tomorrow. Not sure where the mistake came in, but looks like it was my typo. My apologies, and appreciation for your time.
Fiana
Aug 22, 2009 - 22:29
This pattern is superb. Great to see a patten so old but in color. There is another charming site for free vintage knitting patterns that I have recently found out about called vintageknittingpatternrepository
Cathy C
Mar 30, 2008 - 07:04
Looks great but what is the yarn that was used?
Reply to Cathy C
Jane – AllFreeCrafts Editor
Apr 01, 2008 - 12:42
That's one of the challenges with vintage knitting patterns - finding a modern yarn to replace the original. Plain Flosola yarns worked to a gauge of 5 stitches to the inch and five ribs to the inch, using No. 5 U.S. needles. But the Flosola silk was said to knit up a trifle larger than the plain Flosola.
Flosola silk is described as:
a mixture of artificial silk and worsted in a medium weight yarn. It has a beautiful lustre and is suitable for medium weight sweaters, blouses, etc.
When substituting other yarns, the book says people
will have no trouble in making the garment fit as desired if they take the measurement of the hips across back from hip bone to hip bone loosely, set up sufficient stitches for this, and then follow the directions.
