Wednesday 26 March 2014

Lady’s Knitted Hood – Finished!




If I was living in 1886, I could use this hood as my weather is still rather wintery.  The hood, knit in four pieces, and then decorated with a ribbon and bow, is denser and warmer than it looks.









The pattern for the Lady’s Knitted Hood is from Weldon’s Practical Knitter, Number 1, First Series (1886). It is also published in Weldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume 1, Interweave Press, 1999.

The details of the hood’s construction can be found on my blog at http://historyknits.blogspot.com/2013/06/ladys-knitted-hood-in-progress_16.html

The finished hood measures approximately 30” from the front of the edge of the border to the bottom edge of  “the curtain” of the hood.  There are twenty-two repeats of the No.26 - Wheat-Ear Pattern edging from Weldon’s Practical Knitter, Sixth Series – Edgings (1887) which is also published in Weldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume 2, Interweave Press, 2000. It would have lain nicely over a style of intricately dressed hair at and down the back of the head. Again, see my first blog entry for this project for an image of the hairstyles of this era.



The pattern suggests that the hood may be lined or not but, in that era, I would have lined it so the knitting would not catch on my hair, and for added warmth. The ribbon is “run…in to confine the hood comfortably in shape,” and the bow is placed “on the back of the curtain.”


My thanks to my friend, S, for modelling the hood.

3 comments:

Kimberly said...

I adore this pattern! It is going on my list of things to knit. I worked at living history sites for almost 20 years and I was a 19th century clotheshorse! I wish that I had of been into knitting back then the way that I am now.

Gorgeous hood!!

=Tamar said...

I'm glad you figured it out; I'd have been stumped by the "curtain" terminology at the very least.
I should probably make something like that. I've discovered the joy of indoor hats in winter.

One More Stitch said...

Thank you, ladies, for the compliments.

This project turned out to be a LOT of knitting, especially that "curtain."

Yes, this past winter has been a good one for indoor hats!