This piece is from “The Knitted Lace Collar Receipt Book,” “Arranged by Mrs. G.J. Baynes, “ “Fourth Edition,” “1846.” These are the “Fancy Row(s)” part of the collar. After this, I have to knit the “Lace” section and then some finishing rows.
The eight row pattern is logical and, without interruptions, I can knit six sets in about an hour. It is still, however, slow going; note the yellow wool markers that are close together which mark one set of eight rows and measures just under 3/8”. The other, longer yellow wool marker is at the half-way point of the collar, approximately 9 ½” long. The width is just over 1”.
Mrs. Baynes suggests “Needles, No. 16” and “Clarke’s Paisley Cable Laid Thread, No. 38 or Boar’s Head Cotton, No. 44. There is also an illustration for each of the four collars. Such an abundance of information! All that is missing is gauge/tension.
I am knitting this collar with DMC Cébélia, Blanc No. 10 on 1.75mm needles which are roughly the equivalent size of the “No. 16” of the pattern. I say “roughly” as my printed guide to conversions lists the Bell Gauge sizes of 15-17 as 1.75mm and my own Lacis Gauge is letting my Inox 1.75mm needle jiggle around a bit in the 1.75 opening but will not allow more than the tip into the 1.50mm hole.
I need to do more research on collars from this era to see if I am close enough in size. I do not feel as though I have captured the delicacy of lace in the illustration which, so far, does resemble the stitches that I am knitting.* The pattern is visible but will probably need a dark garment underneath to show it clearly. The collar also feels a tad heavy. The next one I knit will be in a thinner cotton weight.
*Some illustrations in 19th century printed patterns differ from the finished item or show features not included with the pattern as in the “bracelet” of the 1855 Mitt (http://books.google.com/books?id=K8ZMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA169&dq=godey%27s+magazine+knitted+mitt+bracelet&hl=en&ei=sEz_TaF31N2BB8X3hN4L&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)
6 comments:
Very interesting.
That looks like a labour of love. I have some 19thC lace collar 'receipts' but I've yet to be courageous enough to attempt knitting one, and would probably need to invest in some spectacles before I tried (I think middle age is catching up with my eyes).
It is a lot of work and, in my case, I have to do it with the naked eye - no optical assistance at all which is the only way I can see what I am knitting at this fine level! No contact lenses, specs or magnifier which is completely different from the rest of the time when I really am not safe unless I am wearing something on or over my eyes.
Cebelia is nice for tatting, but I can see where the 10 would be a little heavy.
I did a Duchrow pattern in a KnitCroSheen weight thread, which I find a little heavier than the size 10, and I had to needle up to US 6 before the work looked fine enough to suit me!
Normally I don't work on needles that large. They felt so big!
Lovely work, but the reason you feel you are not capturing the lacy feel is the size of the thread....you need to be using around a 70-80 thread weight, rather than the 10, and around 000 to 0000 needles. That will do it for you!...that's based on some experimentation I did awhile back with some of these knitted collars.
Ah, and in reading it, just found your problem with the needle size...the book says they use the "Eagle Cardboard Gauge"...that one is yet ANOTHER with slightly different sizes!
Colleen
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