December marks the month I whip out all of my winter-themed pullovers. What can I say, I just have a thing for them. They naturally make a great casual outfit with trousers or jeans, but it can be hard to dress them up, which I like to do from time to time. I went for a bit of sparkle and gold in my accessories to do the job.
(Sorry for the dead yard photos. That’s one caveat of a tiny city yard, there aren’t a lot of options for where to take photos. I’m not complaining, I’m happy to have a yard at all.)
Anyway, I just adore this vintage sweater. When I got it last year, the neck was bound off so tight I couldn’t pull my head through. I knew I’d never find wool to match a vintage sweater perfectly in order to unpick the bind off and make it more stretchy, so instead I unpicked it and one more row, then bound off much more loosely. That was enough to juuust get it over my noggin.
The belt is one of my latest purchases and I love it so much I can’t believe there was a second when I held it in my hands at the Vintage Garage that I contemplated not buying it. Admittedly, it was only a split second.
I don’t know the exact era of this sweater. The deep welt is very 40s, but the design reminds me more of similarly-themed winter sweater patterns I have from the 50s. You can see from the label it’s hand-knit, and presumably for the Quebec tourist trade. I love the thought that someone probably brought this home from a winter adventure as a memento of their holiday. Apparently that person was Linda, whose name was stamped on the label.
I paired it with a brooch and earring set that were my grandmother’s. For years I had the brooch and just one earring because my mom couldn’t find the other earring at the time she gave them to me. Then a month before our wedding, I called her up and told her to hunt down the other earring. Of course, being a dutiful mother, she found it, and so I was married in them.
Gratuitous pet shot!
Doesn’t the sweater remind you of this 1946 tourism ad for Quebec? Crisp tonic air, dry power snow…
{ Source: My Papered Past on Etsy, ad for sale here}
It’s getting chilly again here after a warm spell, and wearing this cotton skirt is making me think I’d like to sew a 40s style gored skirt in navy wool for winter. Oh yes, I think it shall be done.
Perfect outfit! I just love this sweater with the gold accessories! That belt is absolutely dreamy!!
xoxo,
tina
That sweater is just darling! And, I love the belt too — great find!
Such an adorable sweater!!!! I love it!
That sweater is brilliant! I love the outfit and the puppy dog 🙂
Oooo… You have me lusting after Christmas sweaters now. Sadly I don’t own a single one. 🙁
You look lovely as always Tasha.
Tasha, I don’t even have words for how adorable you are 🙂 This sweater is just fantastic..and I’m totally coveting that belt!
xoxo,
ConstantlyAlice
You look fantastic, the sweater is gorgeous!
Very pretty and elegant. Love the sparkle too. I’m starting to learn that wool is a vital part of living in colder climates. I’ve been contemplating making a winter-themed sweater for a couple of weeks. That’s me always contemplating. Contemplating and never having enough time to make everything I want.
What a lovely outfit! I really like the sparkle the gold belt adds. And the earrings and brooch? So fabulous! As a Canadian, wool sweaters are a must, especially in Quebec where they can get 10+ feet of snow in a week! Brrr!
Great belt AND great sweater; I love the colors. I think your wristwatch is pretty nifty too!
Did you use one of the ‘super-stretchy’ bind offs? I discovered that they work wonders on the sweaters obviously meant for smaller heads than mine LOL
I love it though. I have been seriously contemplating making myself a Christmas sweater… but I need to finish my Christmas stocking first (I made each of the kids one too ;))
Fantastic outfit! Love the jumper, belt and gold accessorising!
That sweater is AMAZING. It’s downright something to behold! And you did a great job fixing the neck. I’d never know it had been altered!
What a super cute look! The belt is fabulous!! xox
Yay! I adore the fact that you’re winter/Christmas sweater loving gal, too. So many people hear the words “Christmas sweater” and recoil in horror these days (thanks soooo much, ugly holiday sweater parties, for that), but I’m the polar opposite. I hear the words and my eyes light up as I think about how fun it is to hunt for and wear these darling, festive pieces of knitwear.
You look fantastic, my dear – love the fact that you’re sporting peep-toed shoes with a wholly wintry sweater, that’s so something I’d do, too! 🙂
♥ Jessica
Love it!!!
Seriously!?!? This sweater is to DIE FOR!!!
xoxo
-Janey
A Canadian reindeer sweater. AWESOME! I love your little bow belt!
I saw this on Instagram today and loved it so much! It’s too perfect!
Absolutely perfect! So lovely!
I love your look and adore your sweater. I love winter/christmas sweaters and have planned to knit one since I first started knitting, but somehow I never get to it.
Wonderful jumper 🙂
I love this sweater! It’s gorgeous. I wonder why it had such a small neckhole. HAVE OUR HEADS GOTTEN BIGGER, TOO??
red and blue perfect match. I love the set of your grandmother, you’re lucky.
debora
This is so cute, and also: you are calling it a pullover! Which is not a word I’ve heard in ages! That’s what jumpers/sweaters are called in German. And oddly, sweater vests are called pullunders, which makes no sense, but then it’s pronounced in a way that makes you not even realise they are English words.
I so need to knit myself a winter vintage inspired jumper, yours is lovely.
Awesome sweater and dressing it up as you did is genius.
The hem and sleeve ribbing caught my eye as well; any idea what the pattern is?
What a glorious sweater (I almost typed jumper then before realising that’s something completely different where you are!) And your little dog is such a poppet! I don’t know the breed, but wonder if they are the dogs with the butterfly ears? They always remind me of my little house rabbit who sadly died in September as she had butterfly ears too 🙂
What a wondrous sweater! I only have a couple – I am digging them out this week 🙂 The belt makes it all the more dressy 😀
I LOVE that belt!! Looks really good paired with the sweater.
I love this sweater and I love your blog, you lucky girl to find an original ski sweater and of course have the time to blog to your hearts content – you inspire me to blog more often.
LOVE! *sigh* it is way too hot here to wear Christmas sweaters and they seem a bit out of place in June. I guess I will just have to be envious of you lovely Northern Hemisphere bloggers.
Love it! Though I can’t help thinking of Bridget Jones’ Diary 😉
Beautiful sweater, Tasha! I love that shade of red very much, and I’ve bought recently vintage wool cardigan exactly the same shade. Made in somewhere in Scotland:)
I like the idea of wearing sweater with belt – it adds really feminine look. Gonna try it with my sweaters.
Hello,
I just found your darling blog, and became your newest follower. Everything here is so pretty! I look forward to reading your future posts soon. I hope you are enjoying the countdown to Christmas.
Love,
Chloe xx
Oh, lovely pullover!!!! Make me think about the wonderful year I spent in Québec many years ago…. A magical white winter!
What a sweater! WHAT A SWEATER! I’ve had the same problem with my head seemingly being 5x bigger than the original wearer of whatever vintage sweater I’m trying to get it into…I hadn’t ever thought of re-binding like that. WHY CAN’T I KNIT. And the belt! And the earrings/brooch set from your wedding! I just love how festive and glamorous this outfit is.
this littel golden belt is so amazing … i’m not a christmas liking person but your winter-ish pullover is too cute not to be loved. 🙂
LOVE THE SWEATER!! OMG. Festive and fabulous all over the place.
Cute sweater and I love the earrings story – makes them so much more precious!
Love this sweater! I think people in the 40s/50s must have had really small heads as my sister knitted me a sweater from a 40s pattern, and the neck hole is really small!! (she made it exactly as per the pattern with correct wool/needles). I can *just* get it over my head! Its comfortable when worn, but I have to remember to get dressed before doing any hair or make up!
You look SO gorgeous! Such a sweet outfit!
Fabulous, just fabulous! I wish I had a holiday sweater like that.
There is a souvenir shop called Le Rouet here: http://www.profilecanada.com/companydetail.cfm?company=2578146_Le_Rouet_Montral_QC. I beleive it means “spinning wheel”
Oooh I love it! I really want to knit a holiday sweater, but I can never wear pullovers here – I get too hot. But I LOVE that sweater! And I especially love how you paired the belt with it. I never would have thought of it, but it looks great!
Oh goodness, this is a PERFECT winter sweater!
Ahhh! That belt!!! I die.