I tried my hand at the 1937 Davis Cup Vest (#335) from the Spool Cotton Company and it was a blast to make!

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First craft project of 2020 done! Here is my good friend Kenan who I made the vest for and who was kind enough to be the model for me so I could share it! This pattern was not only a super quick knit, but the history about it is cool as well.

The Davis Cup Vest was a free pattern originally released in 1937 in issue #99 of Spool Cotton. The Spool Cotton Company released hundreds of leaflets containing free patterns and some websites (Like Purple Kitty Yarns) have digital, restored versions to buy or look at. Each one contains multiple patterns for both crocheting and knitting. If the name Spool Cotton Company doesn’t sound familiar, that’s because today they are known as Coats & Clark, who are still thriving and celebrating their 200th anniversary!

I have to say, knitting from a pattern that was written 83 years ago was a bit challenging at times. The pattern called for both size 6 and 9 needles, but after finishing the front and getting started on the back, I realized there was never any instructions to switch from the size 6 needles to the 9s. I was completely baffled as I sat there in bed, re-reading the pattern twice, but they were never mentioned besides the materials list. The gauge though was knitting up correctly on the 6s, so I shrugged and say to hell with it. As long as it didn’t come out inches short then I guess it all worked out.

Another small detail that I noticed which gave me a bit of a head scratch until I got to it and visually realized what they wanted me to do was making the collar. Any other garment that I’ve knitted before usually includes making some sort of border for a collar on both the front and back pieces of the sweater. On this particular pattern, I did nothing for the back. I simply worked the textured pattern all the way to the top of the shoulders and bound off. For the collar I had to start on the front piece, working the neck hole shaping with a simple garter stitch border over six stitches. Then when I got to the top of the shoulders, I bound off all the stitches on each side EXCEPT for those six garter stitches. I then had to knit them into thin strips 2.5 inches long which I had to sew across the back pieces when I was seaming everything up together.

Besides the few head-scratching moments, this pattern was really fun to make, pretty quick to make (it took me about two weeks of casual knitting here and there), and my friend loved it. It is always a journey trying a new pattern out but I find some of the old vintage ones to be the most fun. Plus, there’s always a little history in there that gives the piece more charm in my opinion.

Thanks so much and stay tuned ❤