19th Century Undersleeves - Construction

Here are two kinds of knitted undersleeves (literally, worn under indoor clothing) from the mid-ish 19^th century. Both are knitted flat or back and forth, and then sewn up.

The first photograph shows one set still in progress on HISTORICALLY INACCURATE NEEDLES but the only ones from my vast collection that gave me the correct gauge/tension. This pair, the very full sleeve ones, were improvised from the daguerreotype below, with the upper arm ribbing and bands from tighter fitting patterns I have seen and making the lower puff very large so as to show under the wide, open sleeves of the top garment or dress. This set was knit from the wrist up. The wool is Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted (Scarlet (2 skeins) and Silver Sage 1 skein) on 4.0/6US needles with a gauge/tension of 6.50 stitches/inch in the full part of the sleeve and 6 stitches/inch in the ribbing. The same size needles were used throughout.

The second, closer-fitting pair are from an original pattern ( Knitted Under-Sleeve by Mrs. Jane Weaver in Peterson’s Magazine, January, 1859, Volume XXXV, No. 1) which called for two sizes of needles (“1 pair steel knitting needles, common size, 1 pair bone knitting needles, small”) I had to use the larger sized needles throughout but still did not, however, achieve the puffs as shown in the original illustration, especially when wearing them (see below.) This set was knit from the upper arm down to the wrist as directed in the pattern. Brown (for the puffs) and crimson (ribbing) “single zephyr” wool was suggested in the original pattern. The wool for this pair is Morehouse Farm Merino Lace (Midnight (2 skeins) and Natural White (2 skeins) on 2.75/2US needles with a gauge of 9 stitches/inch on the puff parts and 10 stitches/inch in the ribbed parts.

Knitted Undersleeves in Daguerreotype

Unknown Baby with Hiding Mother, ca. 1855

Daguerreotype, sixth plate Plate: 3 ¼” x 2 ¾ “

Image: 2 5/8” x 2 1/8”

Gift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

2005.27.56

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Kansas City, Missouri

http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/Exhibitions/DevGreat/CollectionDatabase.cfm?id=52548&theme=Photo

Hold Fast Gloves

This is the second pair of these gloves that I have knit. The words on the half-fingers mimic the tattoos on Joe Plaice’s fingers in the film, Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World (2003.)

I made the first pair, in the round, from the wrists up but the letters did not knit evenly. Same colour scheme and both in Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted. The letters were swallowed up in every other row which may have been due to their having been knit in the same kind of wool or knitting the lettered fingers flatly (the stitches came out slanted on every other row.)

This is the second pair, knit from the fingers down to the wrist (fingers and hands in the round) with fingering weight wool in an Aubrey-Maturinesque appropriate choice of “wine-dark” maroon. This wool was purchased about 30 years ago in New York and comes from my stash. The letters are knit in the heavier Nature Spun Worsted so this time they would stand out against the fingering weight.

Although the letters appear distinctly in these gloves, the S did not really knit up clearly; it looks more like an E. I did not like knitting from the fingers down (I also dislike toe up, neck and crown down knitting) as I felt as though I was swimming against the tide all of the time. In spite of all of that effort and all of the knitting going in the same direction, there is also a slight scar around each finger at the join rows to the hands.

Knitting in Art for a Summer Afternoon

Viennese Domestic Garden (1828-30), Erasmus Ritter von Engert (Austrian, 1796-1871)

Oil on canvas, 32 x 25 cm.

Nationalgalerie, Berlin

I love this painting for its light, cool summer garden and, of course, the quasi-invisible knitter tucked away in the lower left corner, working on what looks like a stocking. The overall effect is elegant as is the woman's cap and grey gown. I also like the fact that she is knitting and reading at the same time, something I enjoy doing whenever the knitting is easy enough to just follow with my fingers.

1840s Half-Caps

Working on these caps reminded me of the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The first one (pumpkin) I knit was too small, the second (white) was too big and the third (burgundy) was just right (scroll down to see all of them.) The pattern, Half Cap for Wearing Under a Bonnet, is from Exercises in Knitting by Mrs. Cornelia Mee, 1846. It is knit back and forth on spns but needs dpns (preferably longer than sock or glove ones) or a small circular for the final stage. Mrs. Mee’s patterns are fairly reliable; I have knit quite a few things from this book and the few mistakes I have found I have put down to typographical and not constructional knitting ones, and are thus easily fixed. As usual for this era, no gauge or tension was given. This pattern calls for “Pins No. 14” (modern 2mm) which used for the first cap but it came out very small and so became a child’s size. The white and green adult size was knit on much larger needles, 4mm, but that one came out too big, I then went down to 3.5mm for the third rendition, took it off the needles after I did the first section with the ribbon run-through and the main body of the back and measured it against the white and green cap. As there was very little difference in size, I went down to 2.5mm needles, and this time the cap looked juuuuuu-st right. During all of this needle hopping, I experimented with and used the same brand of needles, Aero. More on that subject in a future blog entry.

Here is a link to the kind of 1848 bonnet this half-cap would have been worn under, thus providing a layer of insulation (scroll down): http://www.vintagefashionguild.org/content/view/604/75/

Mrs. Mee does not suggest any kind of wool but does state that the body should be white and the edges in a “coloured wool,” the choice of that being left up to the knitter. In keeping with my stash-busting resolution, I choose Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted’s Snow, Grecian Olive, Sunburst Gold, Cranberry Fog and Blueberry from the bins. Dusky pink, brick red and sage green ribbons added the finishing touches.

PATTERN NOTE: Mrs. Mee does not state that the stitches will increase from 119 to 120 after the first eyelet row. I incorporated the extra stitch into the main part of the cap and left it there – it makes no difference. This is a very fast project. It took me about six hours to knit each cap with another 5 minutes for weaving the ribbons!

Norwegian Morning Cap/Hood from Godey's, 1861

The pattern for this variously called cap, hood or bonnet comes from Godey’s Lady’s Book, February, 1861.

This project was a KAL in the CW-Needleworkers Yahoo group this year and since I have sworn to stash-bust, I am happy to report that this project ate up three Lilac and a bit of one White skein of Morehouse Farm Merino Lace. The knitting needles were 2.75mm/US 2 and a 2mm crochet hook for the looped edging. The knitted gauge/tension is 9 stitches/1".

I had to knit the bonnet/cap/hood twice. Following the instructions in the original pattern resulted in an object half the size of this one, more like a 1960’s dolly bird's headscarf. For the second attempt, I kept to the same size needles but doubled the number of all of the rows in the pattern. This meant that I began with 480 stitches instead of 240 but luckily the pattern decreases four stitches every right side row and the knitting is simply all garter stitch with the four sets of eyelet rows so it is diminishing all of the time. Nevertheless, this is a tedious knitting project, especially with such fine wool.

I cannot really crochet so the wavy edges look ragged to me. I am sure a crocheter could have whipped around the bonnet/cap/hood's edges in a trice but they took seven hours to do (with lots of ripping, tears, chocolate and several dvds of my favourite science fiction series for stimulating high energy(apologies for bringing in a contemporary/futuristic element.)

The ribbons are deep navy blue.

Literary Knitting

The Wine Shop by Phiz (Halbot K. Browne (1815-1882)), A Tale of Two Cities, Book II, Chapter XVI [Still Knitting],(1859), by Charles Dickens, (1812-1870)

Each year on July 14th, Bastille Day, I always think of literature's most famous knitter, Madame Defarge. Before I began deep studies of the era in which A Tale of Two Cities is set, I had read the novel several times and seen various films of it as well. I have always had a soft spot for the 1958 version with Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin and one of my favourite actresses, Rosalie Crutchley (who has the distinction of playing Madame Defarge twice) and was my first Madame Defarge off of the page and a brilliant one at that. So brilliant that I have tolerated being called Madame Defarge by family and friends (mostly trying to be amusing) on and off over the years, preferring to link myself in my mind to Rosalie Crutchley rather than the real Madame Defarge.

The famous illustration by Phiz somewhat softens the character who terrified me. I do, however, like the way she is described by Dickens:

"No crowd was about the door; no people were discernible at any of the many windows; not even a chance passerby was in the street. An unnatural silence and desertion reigned there. Only one soul was to be seen, and that was Madame Defarge--who leaned against the door-post, knitting, and saw nothing." (Book I, Chapter VI)

Once again, we have the knitter who apparently sees (or hears) nothing. Twice over as the following paragraph ends with the same nine words. Leaning against a door which equals fading into the background is often how knitters are perceived. I have mentioned Miss Marple before and here is another, seemingly, uninvolved knitter, lost in her work. Phiz's rendition, too, portrays a woman looking at her knitting although the accompanying text in the chapter describes Madame Defarge receiving compliments about her knitting, discussing it and composedly "looking at him with a smile while her fingers moved nimbly," all in the midst of a situation of espionage and she never drops a stitch or loses count of the chilling project on her needles.

More importantly, the knitting never stops in this novel, features in the titles of three of the chapters but is symbolic in far too many ways to discuss in a short post like this one. Perhaps another time as now I have to get back to my knitting!