More Muffatees

This is a steampunk version of the 1840’s muffatees or wristlets in a swirling pattern knit in the round on 3.5mm/US 4 size needles in the round on Lang Yarns Lanalux, a metallic brown/rust coloured yarn.

One skein makes the two muffatees with a little bit left over. This pair was not made for me so they are a little big.



The wool pair was knit in Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted in Pomegranate on 3.5mm/4 US needles in the round. They were featured in an earlier post on this blog. The corkscrew pattern is very easy to memorise and can be knit flat, too, with a little bit of working out and care taken with the direction of the spirals. Working out a tension/gauge (none is given, of course, in the original pattern) is essential for a snug fit for different sizes of wrists, and it is not difficult to adjust the stitch count.



In both pairs, I added two rows of garter stitch at the top and bottom to create more elegant and tidy edges.

The pattern is Corkscrew Muffatees from Exercises in Knitting by Mrs. Cornelia Mee (1846.)

Still in a 17th Century Frame of Mind

A Woman Knitting with a Basket of Fruit on a Carpet-Covered Table Beside Her

Caspar Netscher
(Dutch, 1639-1684)
Location/ownership unknown


A stocking in her lap and a gentle warning look on her face. Perhaps she was counting and did not want to be disturbed. One of these days, I will do tallies of knitters in art who look annoyed, slightly put out or are fully concentrating (or appear to be) on their knitting.

If anyone knows of the ownership or location of this painting, please let me know. I like to give full credit and details of any piece of art I post on this blog.

Gunnister Knitting

The Gunnister Man find is a fascinating archaelogical story and a precious gift to knitters. If anyone reading this is not familiar with it, there are numerous links on the internet. Piecework magazine also had an article by Deborah Pulliam, Gunnister Man’s Knitted Possessions in the September/October, 2002 issue.

This Gunnister Purse is knit according to the pattern* by Alison Milton from Midland Spinner’s Ravelry Downloads. The gauge is 10 stiches to the inch on 2.25mm/1US needles, in Morehouse Farm Merino Merino Lace, a single ply which resembles handspun. The tension/gauge of the original purse was 11 ½” stitches and 16 rows to the inch and my purse is 10 ½” stitches and 15 rows to the inch . The colours are Natural White, Natural Brown Heather and Henna, as close as I could find to the original purse’s ones. Knit in the round, I marked off the sections for the “intentional” errors in the ribbed top section, as stated in the pattern.

This finished purse measures 3 ¾” across and 5 ½” tall, just a tad off the measurements of the original purse which is 3 ¼” by 5 ¼”. The bottom edge was knit in a three needle cast/bind off. The cords are not of the same length, are braided/plaited with short tassels and are on a knitted chain of loops which are knitted from the top edge.



The Gunnister stocking is knit from Jacqueline Fee’s pattern, (Piecework, Volume XIX, Number 1, January/February, 2011), accompanying her article on reproducing the stockings in that issue, Re-Creating the Seventeenth Century Gunnister Stockings. I knit this one on 2.75mm needles for a gauge/tension of 7 ½ stitches and 10 rows to the inch, with almost three skeins of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport in Wood Moss. I love this colour; it is a dusky greenish brown. I followed Ms. Fee’s advice and added four more rows to the leg after completing the clock design but departed from her pattern by knitting an historical square heel and finishing with a drawstring toe instead of a grafted one. I also did all of the decreases in a right slant as I have seen on surviving period stockings. The stocking measures 26” long from the garter stitch welting to the bottom of the heel, 16” wide around at the top and at the calf and about 9 ½” around the ankle. The foot size is a Men’s 10/10 ½ /44.5.



The second stocking is well under way.

*This pattern for the purse also includes a detailed analysis of the purse and helpful comments about its construction updating the official report on the Gunnister find in The Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland of the National Museum of Antiquities, Edinburgh, Scotland, Volume 86 (1951-52)

Spinning Romance?

Man and Woman at a Spinning Wheel
(c.1570)
Pieter Pietersz (Dutch, 1540/41-1603)
Oil on panel, 76 x 53 cm
Object number:SK-A-3962
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Purchased with support from the Stichting Jubileumfonds Rijksmuseum 1958

The air of romance in this painting does not bode well. The young lady does not seem to welcome the advances of the man seated beside her. Does she doubt his sincerity or should she or would she rather be working on her spinning and all that that entails? She looks a tad fed up - does he, in fact, frequently interrupt her work? Whatever the case, I like this painting for the detail of the tools even though we cannot see very much of the wheel.

When I am not knitting....

I am stitching.

Different things, often a reproduction. I am particularly fond of doing Irish/flame stitch items in the 18th century manner. All of the wool yarns used are naturally dyed ones from Kathleen B. Smith/Textile Reproductions (Massachusetts.) Some of the wool is about twenty years old, some was purchased in 2011.

Featured here is a needle book on 25 count linen, measuring 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" (flat.) This was a kit from Textile Reproductions, based on a piece in the collection of Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts, purchased and made many years ago. The interior is lined with a layer of fleece, covered by handwoven felted wool fabric which holds the needles.

The pincushion, also a kit from Textile Reproductions, from a past time, is worked in the elongated diamond or lozenge pattern on 25 count linen, measuring 4" x 4 1/2" , stuffed with fleece, and backed with handwoven silk fabric.



The hoop contains the body of a pinball of my own design on 28 count linen . The stitching is finished and currently measures 3" x 3"; the pinball will be smaller and will be backed with the same green silk used for the pincushion.

The frame holds two projects on 30 count linen. A needle roll of my own design worked in different version of a diamond pattern, measures 3" wide with a projected length of 12". The man's pocketbook on the left is another vintage kit from Textile Reproductions but I am not following the colour guide that came with it. There are evident errors in my stitching. I am also not happy with the background stitching around the initials. I will probably change the placement of the initials and add a date on the next pocketbook I make which will most likely be a smaller woman's one based on several in the collection of Winterthur Museum, Delaware, possibly in the carnation pattern. I am also have a double sectioned man's pocketbook, a woman's pocket, a Bible cover and a handheld firescreen on my to-do list.

I love working on this kind of project. The vivid dyes and their arrangement are such fun to reproduce or design. The research on and documentation of specific objects is is some of the easiest to do as there are so many surviving pieces in this kind of stitchwork from furniture to very small personal items. Best of all, it is another way to work with wool!

A Bag to Hold Wools

This pattern is for a bag to hold wools, most likely for needlework. It is from The New Guide to Knitting and Crochet by Marie Jane Cooper, published by J.S. Cooper, Royal Marine Library, and Parry, Blenkarn & Co., London, 1847.

In keeping with patterns from this era, there is no needle size or gauge/tension. The wool suggested is six skeins of “cruels” (sic.) I chose a fingering weight (KnitPicks’s Palette) which is a tad heavier and 3.25mm/3US needles. Six panels of different colours are need with the “centre double the number of rows” all in “the plain stitch of knitting” (knit every row.) The bag is knitted as a wide piece and then folded over and sewn at one side, with a finished measurement of 8” long and 10 1/2” wide. Two different types of ribbon are needed for the drawstring sleeves and the drawstrings but no lining is recommended.

Godey's Sortie Cap

I have knit five of these caps (four are featured here) from Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine, April, 1858.



The pattern for “this useful little article” is very easy with alternate five row sections and colours of stocking and garter stitch. I put in an extra row in the beginning for support. Since there are five rows, the new colour cannot be carried up or over the section so I left a long loop behind the knitting each time I changed wool. I cut these in the middle when I finished and the tails became the gathering knot on each side at the end.



The puffy, lacy texture is created by knitting and dropping alternate stitches on the row before the cast/bind off row. The finished row, with fewer stitches, creates a firmer edge although the original pattern suggests that the cast-off row should be done loosely. The next step is to pull, from the middle of the cap outwards on each side, the dropped stitches. It is best to work the middle, then one side, then the other, and then back to the middle, repeating the process down the cap. I did not enjoy this part – it just feels dreadful to be tugging and pulling at the stitches. I would also recommend leaving two to three stitches unpulled on the sides as there is too much puffing out at the gathered section near the ears. The fringe was not much fun to make either but then I don’t like fringes and making them is extremely tedious. Other than that, this cap couldn’t be easier to knit and can be worked up in few hours.



The pattern suggests rosettes at the top of the ribbons although the illustration shows some sort of bow. Perhaps this is a style of mid-19th century rosette? I am not that fond of rosettes so I chose bows for my cap (burgundy/white, no fringe.) All of the other caps have rosettes that are more like small cockades as my skills were limited here. My cap rests around or over the bun of hair at the back.



The pattern required “the smallest size ivory needles” and “single Berlin wool.” These caps were knit on 3.25mm/3 US needles using Knit Picks’s Palette and Shadow Kettle Dyed (my cap.) The gathering on either side brings them up more narrowly than in the illustration. I am planning to make another one, with longer ribbons and a fringe, and not gather it tightly but let it drape more in the back to resemble the one in the original illustration. If anyone can suggest how I can create a shaggier fringe, as in the illustration, please let me know.