Knitted Cover for Medicine Bottle

 This object is, in the words of Dr. Stephen Maturin, a deeply rational one in that it “is intended to cover a bottle of medicine when it is packed for traveling” as the “knitting is thick and soft enough to prevent the glass from breaking, and takes up less room, and is more sightly than the paper which is generally employed for the purpose.” So states the original pattern which is from Weldon’s Practical Knitter, Number 130, Thirty-Second Series (1896). It is also published in Weldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume 11, Interweave Press, 2004. As a further inducement, the text of the pattern warned of the danger of confusing medicine bottles that contain “a draught and a liniment or poisonous mixture” which might be “supplied in bottles of a similar size and shape; if one bottle is covered with knitting, the nurse will know at once, even if working in a darkened room, which is the harmless, which is the dangerous drug.

The knitting will prove a more effectual reminder than any poison label could be.” As a final suggestion, this “knitted case” could be “slightly modified in size” to be made “to fit a baby’s feeding bottle. It then prevents the food from cooling too rapidly, and is pleasanter to the touch than bare glass.”

The original pattern called for “bright-coloured” and “dark-coloured single Berlin wool.” I used single strands of crewel wool, now label-less, from my stash, in green and “Salmon-colour” as one of the suggested lighter colours. The cover should be knit on “Four steel knitting needles, No. 14 “ (modern equivalent 2mm/US  0.) 

The cover is worked from the bottom up. When completed, it is turned inside out to the more corrugated texture created by the stitches. Again, this is a safety feature in that it makes the bottle less slippery. The final instructions were for a ribbon to be run through the eyelets at the bottom of the bottle, and the pattern pointed out that the bottle will not stand up but “must be propped up or suspended with ribbon strings sewn firmly to the sides of the cover.”

This bottle cover measures -->6” long and 2 ¾” at its widest.


 All quotations are from Weldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume 11, Interweave Press, 2004.

Halloween Greetings!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blossom Rock, also known as Blossom MacDonald and Marie Blake (1895-1978), pictured here as Grandmama in The Addams Family (1964-1966.)

More Semi-Historical Seasonal Knitting

This charming little Acorn Purse, designed by Sally Pointer of Wicked Woolens*, in the style of a medieval purse, was a delight to make, not only because of the clear instructions in the pattern but because I knit it with one of my most favourite yarns, Unger Britania, 100% wool and in some of its best colours, namely Schiff, Borke and Kamelmeliert. I have knitted so many garments in this wool from Scribble items (one with 19 colours) to plain but elegant round-necked, Shetland-style pullovers. Gloves, hats, scarves – everything! Now sadly discontinued, I have a fair amount of scraps and some small collections of skeins with the same dye lot number in my stash but they have almost all achieved the status of Pet Yarn. I was very glad, therefore, to use some of it for the Acorn Purse.

The purse measures 6 ½” across and 5 ¾” long. Its cords are braided/plaited in strands of all three colours and the loop is an I-cord. The button is made of horn and I do like its shape.

*http://www.ravelry.com/designers/sally-pointer--wicked-woollens

Semi-Historical Autumnal Knitting

 

Autumn is my favourite time of the year. I love the colours and changing shades of green, yellow, orange, red, gold and brown, and just wish that this was the longest season instead of the shortest.

This scarf, however, helps to remind me of autumn throughout the year. The yarn, Araucania Atacama, 100% Alpaca, is gloriously soft. It is complimented by one of my favourite lace patterns, number 29, from Knitting Lace: A Workshop with Patterns and Projects, the book about the 19^th century knitted sampler in the Brooklyn Museum.

I have used patterns from this sampler over and over again for all sorts of projects. This scarf has a four row garter stitch top and bottom edge, and a four stitch garter stitch border on both sides framing the lace repeats. It was knit on 4.5mm/US 7 needles.

Tassel Vandyked

Another item added to the list of the completed projects – this charming little Tassel Vandyked in Two Colours from Wedon’s Practical Knitter, Number 109, Twenty-Seventh Series, (1895). It is also published in Weldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume 10, Interweave Press, 2004.

The object is two-layered, with the fairly substantial tassel sewn under the outer “cover” knit in “a series of vandykes,” a slanted and openwork stitch. I followed the final instructions of adding a “gold chain of gold thread…at the top to hang it by” (a kntted i-cord) but omitted the addition of “tiny silk pompoms” to the chain since I don’t really like pompoms.

 

The suggested colours are red and white but “any preferred tint” may also be used in an unspecified weight of cotton thread. I choose DMC Mouliné Spécial 25 embroidery floss in 902 (burgundy) and 3820 (gold) on 2.25mm/US 1 double pointed needles.

The needle size is also unspecified beyond “four steel needles” which, in this era, would be fine ones although larger tassels could be knit with coarser (larger), as they used to say, needles for ones for home decoration.  The pattern ends with the comments that this tassel could  “be made up into an excellent penwiper for a bazaar if the cover is made in coloured silks and the strands of coarse black twist.” Since I have made several penwipers in this style, I opted, instead, for a tassel that might be used for a small curtain cord. 

The finished tassel measures 3” long and 2” wide, the cover is 4” long and 1” wide, flat, and the i-cord chain is 3” long around.

Stocking Cap Redux

Thanks to the comments on the first post (http://historyknits.blogspot.com/2012/08/19th-century-knitting-from-painting.html)  about this project, I finished this as a double stocking cap, one that is folded inside of itself.  The first half, when I was not sure exactly what I was knitting, measured 29 ½” long, with a width of 16” around. I doubled the length, knitting the second part in the natural/undyed yarn as in the original painting.

 

The cap was knit on 5.5mm/US 9 sized needles using Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted in Winter Blue, Natural, Red Fox, Charcoal, and Lullaby. I put it through two laundry cycles with bed sheets in the washing machine on hot water, and dried it by air over a rack. The cap fulled in terms of width but not all that much in length, losing only 9” (down to 20 ½”) and  only 4 ½” (down to 11 ½”) around.

I based my original measurements on a comparison with the body of the young girl knitting in the painting, using a child of a similar age as a model. Shrinking the cap down by hand might have produced a cap that would fit a child but I think I really needed to have twice the width, and have worked on larger needles. As it is, my cap would fit a baby’s head but then I am not going to re-knit the whole cap to make it about twice its size to allow for fulling. It was just fun to reproduce knitting from a painting.

{Apologies for the two sizes of font. I cannot seem to correct it.}

Re-Footed 18th Century Stockings

These stockings would fit a four year old child and were made for demonstration purposes. I chose a child’s size as they would knit up quickly, and because people always love small versions of clothing.

The stockings, first of all, show how a pair that might have the foot or parts of it worn out, could have a new foot knit onto it or just parts of the foot replaced. I used different colours of wool to show that, in the passage of time, the stockings’ original wool might not still be in the knitter’s possession, and to illustrate the different parts of the foot. The heel, especially, stands out since this is a major point of discussion in the history of stockings. I also wanted to draw attention to the drawstring toes, which are easier to see in these two shades of yellow than most of the other stockings I have made in darker colours.

 

The completely re-footed stocking had its foot knit with a slightly larger needle which, in a demonstration, will lead to the discussion of 18^th century needles, what they were made of, and their non-standard sizes.

The stockings were knit on 2.75mm/2 US and 

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3mm/2 ½ US double pointed needles with Harrisville Designs Shetland wool (which I just adore working with) in Zinnia, Marigold and Mustard. They have several purl rows at the welt and the seam/purl stitch down the back of the legs.