Modern Tall Socks

Last of the Christmas presents have found their way home. I did manage a few pairs of not-for-historical reenacting socks in the process. Nothing too technically interesting, because the self-striping yarn is fun enough on its own. 

Orange and pink tones.

Used the 60 cylinder: hung hems, 3-1 mock ribbing, with short row heels and toes. I did 20 rows on the hung hem (makes a nice ~1" hemmed edge), then another 70 rows gradually increasing the tension, and adjusted the foot length to the recipient's shoe sizes.

Gentlemen's Socks, c.1849

Based on the pattern given in The Comprehensive Knitting Book (1849). "For a full size sock:" thirty-six rows ribbing (1-1) or (2-2), then 30 rows knitting plain, heel, plain knitting through the foot, and then close the toe. I used Knitpicks' palette yarn, which is my current go-to for socks and stockings, in the bright red colorway.

 

Socks.

As the original pattern is for hand-knitting, the changes to make it fit my (current) sock machine abilities were switching the ribbed section to mock-rib with a 2 row narrow hung hem, and then using the short-row techniques for the toe and heel. The overall height and use of both ribbing and plain work are original to the pattern, as is the lack of widening/narrowing through the leg of the sock (which the instructions note is common for socks). I tried latching the gaps of the mock rib into a true ribbing, but there were some tension issues.

Sontags, Pelerines, Habit-Shirts, and Bosom Friends, c.1840-1860

For the 10th Day of Christmas, some references for a particular variety of warm garment, generally called a sontag in reenacting circles.  As you can see, there's a lot of variation in the terminology, but all of these garments are sleeveless knit or crochet pieces which cover the chest, back, and shoulders (more or less). Some fasten close around the body with ties and buttons, while others have no fasteners at all. All of them appear to be worn between the bodice and and a larger piece of outerwear such as a shawl, though some may also be worn under the bodice instead. I have omitted the more closely-fitted knitted waistcoats, as well as the various sleeved polka-jackets and paletotes, and garments such as a larger shawls which are obviously intended as an outer-most layer. 

Further note on terms: many of these garment names (canezou, pelerine, habit-shirt, handkerchief) are also applied to non-knitted items, which are in some cases rather different from these knitted versions.

Habit Shirt from The Workwoman's Guide (1838/40).

The Workwoman's Guide (1838/1840) includes instructions with illustrations for a "small knit habit shirt" to be worn "under the shawl." It follows the same lines as the later sontag: a flattened V-shape which crosses over the front of the chest, and even includes the cord to fasten the back of the garment around the waist. The most notable departure from later practice is a inclusion of a standing collar, and that the pieces are made separately and seamed rather than knit all-in-one.

The Practical Companion to the Work Table (1844) has instructions for a bosom friend, a warm layer for the chest. This offers less coverage for the back than the above habit shirt, instead consisting of a large block of knitting which covers the chest and much narrower straps over the shoulder. The Illuminated Book of Needlework (1847) goes into greater detail in their similarly-designed gentleman's bosom friend.

Riego's Knitting, Crochet, and Netting, with Twelve Illustrations (1846) gives instructions for a pelerine of the familiar flattened V shape, to be knit in scarlet or blue with a white-spotted-black border "in imitation of Minerva." Except for the lack of explicit ties and the use of "double knitting" (brioche) instead of basket weave, this is basically the 1860 Godey's sontag in both shape and color.

Mrs. Mee's Exercises in Knitting (1847) has a sontag-like "knitted bodice" made in three pieces (one back and two fronts, sewn together) which closes with ties. Made in double knitting with a plain knit border, the garment is explicitly a middle layer: "This is worn outside the dress; and under a shawl or cloak is very comfortable."

Miss Lambert's My Knitting Book (1847) has "a warm habit-shirt, for wearing either over, or under, the dress", which is again knit in that flattened V-shape and has a contrasting color border.

Jane Gaugin's Lady's Knitting, Netting and Crochet Book (1847, 6th in her series) describes two different triangular fichus which seem to follow the shape of the slightly more cape-like sontag (smaller than a triangular shawl, and with some shaping around the neck).

The Winchester Fancy Needle-Work Instructor (1847) gives instructions for "a warm pelerine, to wear under a shawl" in the familiar flat-V shape, with no mention of fasteners.

The Knitters Friend (1847) has an intriguing "kamtschatka body" which is knit back-to-front over the shoulder like so many of these garments, but in a square rather than triangular shape and with the sides stitched together, into more of a sleeveless vest. It's unclear whether this is meant to be layered above or below the dress.

Riego's Winter Knitting Book for 1848 has a knit pelerine, again of the flattened-V shape, but without the waist tie. Another of her titles from the same year, Mlle Riego's Knitting Book focuses on lace knitting, but gives a round Shetland Shawl similar in shape to the 1859 Peterson's sontag (see below), and a canezou which covers the back and crosses slightly in front.

Canezou in Shetland knitting, from Riego (1848).

The Ramsgate Knitting Book (1848) features a habit shirt, in the one-piece flat-V-construction of the later sontag, with a ribbon to secure the waist front and back.

The Comprehensive Knitting Book (1849) has a chemisette/stomacher pattern with instructions for making it into a canezou (by extending the side edges into the classic flat-V-shape), as well as a shaped "pelerine or under-handkerchief" meant to fit close around the neck and shoulders, and be layered under a shawl (I could be wrong here, but the description seems to follow the familiar sontag V-shape, but with a more pronounced point at the center back).

The Ladies' Companion (1850) has a knitted Under Habit-Shirt, which follows the same V-shape, open-piece construction as the earlier habit shirts and later sontag. [Terminology note here that non-knit habit shirts are chemisette-like garments used to fill in an open-front riding habit. While the earlier knit habit shirts I've mentioned here often specify being worn "under the shawl" rather than under the bodice, this example seems more nebulous. The same magazine also gives a tucked muslin habit shirt which is clearly more of the chemisette-style (and inspired by 18th century stomachers) but which specifically notes that it can be made up for wearing under bodice, or extended into an over-bodice garment, with fichu or canezou as interchangeable terms for the later.]

The Royal Victoria knitting book (1851) gives a knitted wool "Victorine" pattern, which differs from a sontag only in that back is shorter than waist-level and the front pieces meet at the center rather than crossing (and thus gives no coverages to the sides of the torso or the back-waist, but does provide an extra layer over the chest).

Victorine from The Royal Victoria Knitting Book (1851)

The Ladies' Work-Table Book (1852) has a habit shirt of identical construction to that in the earlier Workwoman's Guide, constructed as four knit pieces (two fronts, back, collar) sewn together, with ties at waist and neck. Like the earlier work, this book also confirms that a "habit shirt" in this instance is an outer layer worn under the shawl (not under the bodice as a chemisette would be).

Mlle Riego's 1857 Winter Crochet Book has a "Eugenie Collarette" which follow similar (though more dramatic) lines to the Victorine. It has less coverage than some of the earlier habit shirts and later sontags.

In February 1859, Peterson's published a knit sontag pattern with a button front. This version fits over the upper body and arms like a short, pointed cloak (elbow-ish length on the sides, closer to waist-length at the front).

Peterson's 1859 sontag.

January 1860 sees Godey's publish their basketweave knit "bosom friend or sontag" which has become so popular in reenacting circles thanks to Colleen Formby's modern sizing instructions (also on Ravelry, in case the original link ever goes down).

American Agriculturalist, in December 1860, published Martha Pullan's instructions for a knit sontag: it has the familiar cross-over front and distinct belt.

Sontag from American Agriculturalist (1860).

Fun fact: while the name "sontag" (after opera sensation Henrietta Sontag) doesn't seem to come into use for these almost-outer-layer knit garments until 1859, the term shows up much earlier applied to a light knit headcovering. Otherwise known as a cephaline, it appears in Miss Lampert's 1843 Hand-book of Needlework and in her 1845 My Knitting Book, First Series. There's also a sontag cloak in Godey's in 1852.

The Knit Armlet (1838/1840)

From The Workwoman's Guide, The Knit Armlet:

This is very suitable for school girls to wear over their arms or for old persons or people when travelling. They may be made as high as the elbow or up to the shoulder. Little children in severe weather wear them over their little naked arms to prevent them from chapping. Fine black lamb's wool is most usually worn, in which case it should be well steeped in vinegar and then dried to prevent the dye coming off. For a grown up person, one hundred stitches will reach to the elbow. Knit plain as you would a garter, backwards and forwards, using large ivory or steel pins. About twenty rows, more or less, according to the size of the arm are sufficient. Sew down the whole length, leaving an opening of about a nail long to admit the thumb, sewing beyond it to the end about half a nail or less. When worn they cling to the hand and arm, keep them warm, and look particularly neat. Some persons prefer them welted at the top and bottom, or ribbed the whole way. 

As a reminder, a nail is a quarter of a quarter yard (1/16 yard or 2.25"), which is the suggested length of the thumb opening, and means the part of the armlet extending past the thumb slit should be 1 1/8 inch or less. Garter stitch flat and then sew up the sides should produce a similar effect to 1-1 ribbing in the round. 

To turn this into a circular machine project, I set on a 1-1 mock rib (1L3 tension), hung a hem of 20 rows, then knit 62 rows, follow by 10 forward-and-back to make the thumb opening, and another 10 rows around, then binding off by hand.  This produced an armlet about 12.5" total length, with a thumb opening of just over 1.5" and 1.5" covering the hand. I changed the thumb opening deliberately, because I find that ~1.5" fits my thumb very nicely, and so increasing the opening would just give more exposed skin without improving mobility (for someone with hands my size, at least). 

Two lengths of armlets: to the elbow and to the shoulder.

The first attempt reaches just to the elbow on me, which matches nicely with the pattern stating that 100 rows = elbow-length on an adult. Since I intended the armlets for a child (to make a short-sleeve dress more weather-flexible), I then knit a second pair which was intended to go all the way to the shoulder, and let her choose which style she liked best. 

For the longer pair, I set a looser tension (1L2), hung the hem as before, knit 60 rows, adjusted the tension back to 1L3, knit 50 rows, then reduced the tension down to 1L4 for a further 10 rows, followed by the thumb slit and final 10 rows. In total, the second attempt is 60 rows longer than the first, with a slightly looser knit over the upper arm and tighter knit around the wrist and palm. This sizing looked absurdly long coming off the machine, but made a comfortable shoulder-length armlet for a girl of 10.

Knit Sleeves, 1849

Plain under-sleeve.

I needed a set of knit undersleeves to go with my new wool basque, which, being red, would not look well with the blue-edged sleeves I usually wear with my blue wool dress. Being pressed for time, I wanted something that would translate well to the circular knitting machine, and ideally was fairly plain. I ended up opting for the 'Under-Sleeve (long)' in Esther Copley's The Comprehensive Knitting Book (1849).

Starting from the cuff, the sleeve is to be knit with 12 rows of 1-1 ribbing, and is then knit plain for the rest of its length. The instructions call gradually increasing the number of stitches (making a sleeve that fits fairly close to the arm), and describes both shoulder-length and elbow-length variations. They do not, however, specify whether the sleeve is to be knit in the round or knit flat and then seamed. I take that to mean that it is left to the maker's choice (or was so obvious at the time as to not need to be said).
 

The main departure in turning this into a circular machine project was adding the hung hem at the upper edge, and working down from there. I used the machine tension to give the sleeve a little shaping, and ran a waste thread 13 rows before my the desired length. Off the machine, I then frogged those 13 rows, transferred the live stitches to a size 1 circular needle, and re-knit them as 12 rows of 1-1 ribbing, with 13th used to cast off.

I'm fairly satisfied with the sleeves. I wish I'd made them a little bit longer; I was calculating for an upper-arm length, but ended up about 4" shorted than desired (when worn, they go about two inches past the elbow, which should be sufficient even if it wasn't what I wanted). In retrospect, I could have just run an entire ball through the machine for each sleeve, tried them on, marked the cuff, and then frogged back to there. The process worked just fine though, with the waste thread being very helpful to mark the appropriate location and to transfer the stitches. The size 1 knitting needles were a close match to the stitch size of the machine, though it took a few rows for the tension to even out, which looked pretty rough at first, though blocking helped a lot. If making these again, I would opt for double-points rather than a circular needle, since the cuff was so much smaller than the needle that I was constantly fighting with the excess length.

Similar instructions for 'Lambs-Wool Sleeves' appear in Miss Watts' The Ladies' Knitting and Netting Book (1845) but with 3" ribbed cuffs and a 1.5" ribbed upper edge, the sleeve in between being otherwise knit plain, to whatever length is desired. Interestingly, this sleeve doesn't call for adding stitches to shape, but instead seems to be more of a straight tube.

Original: Open-work Stockings, 1855

With all the Christmas presents in progress, I have knit stockings on my mind. This pair of openwork cotton stockings in the MFA is certainly worthy of admiration:

Cotton stockings, 1855. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

In addition to being from one of my main reenacting years, the things that caught my eye about these stockings is the placement of the pattern work along the lower calf and top of the foot. While these could have been worn with the popular ankle-boots and gaiters of the period, those options would entirely cover the detailed open-work design. And while plenty of undergarments have decorative elements that would never be seen by anyone but the wearer, it does leave me wondering whether these specific stockings were meant to be worn with a slipper. Such a low, open shoe style would leave all the patterned areas of the stockings visible (should the foot/ankle be seen) rather than specifically covering them.

Simple Muffatee for a Gentleman, 1859

Adapted from Mlle Riego's The Winter Knitting Book for 1859.  As given, the pattern is for a 2-2 ribbed tube (knit flat and seamed), which is then joined again to make a two layer muffatee. I knit in the round, on the machine, rather than flat, and switched the 2-2 rib for 3-1 mock-rib due to my on-going difficulties with the ribber attachment.

 

Muffatees in original color scheme.

I maintained the color scheme in the original for my first attempt (white with colored stripes), and reversed it for the second. A third pair was made in a solid color in a 2-2 mock rib; while they turned out fine, I think the stripes add a lot of interest to the finished appearance of the muffatees. I used a faux Russian join to make the color changes in the first two sets, and found it very easy to do (especially as the double layering meant the ends didn't need to be trimmed further). To close the tubes, I used Kitchener stitch (grafting) to join the live stitches on either end, rather than hemming each separately and then joining them together. 

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the result. I was surprised at the finished size (60 rows, after doubling, is rather a long muffatee), but will have to wait for feedback from the wearers. I did make the other two pairs slightly smaller after seeing the first set: the second striped set are only 48 rows on their finished length, and the solid ones 50. I reduced the length because I was thinking of these as primarily worn over the wrist and the full length would thus cover most of the forearm. However, I'm now wondering if they aren't meant to be worn a bit higher, to cover the hand up to just below the thumb (as there's no slit for the thumb to pass through) as well as the wrist and part of the forearm. Looks like some experimentation is in order.

Muffatees (modern interpretation)

This project's mostly a modern interpretation, but I like how it turned out. I'm calling them muffatees, since they follow the general form (tube with a thumb slit) of one of the common historic variations. This form show up, for instance, in the Driving Mitts and Knit Muffatee patterns in The Workwoman's Guide.

Muffatees in 3-1 mock rib.

 

The 3-1 mock rib, knit in the round, is not a historic variation to my knowledge; I've found patterns for muffatees in 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, and 4-2 ribbing. However, of the options available on my machine, I thought that it would give the best coverage, while retaining at least some of the appearance and flexibility of ribbing. The yarn is a lace-weight pale purple that's actually 50% wool, 35% alpaca, and 15% linen. I love color, and the materials were certainly available in the mid-1850s, but as I haven't found any examples of wool/alpaca/linen blend yarn being used in English-language sources from that period, I decided to use this yarn for a modern gift instead.

Eyelet Muffatees

Definitely in the interpretation realm, using the cuff and motif from the "eyelet mittens" in Miss Watt's The Ladies' Knitting and Netting Book: Second Series (1840) as a muffatee/cuff. 

Cuffs or muffatees based on an 1840 mitten pattern.

While I think this is a historically sound interpretation to mix motifs with form (for instance, the 'shell pattern manchettes' two pages later specifically mention that the pattern also works well for mittens), I also think I have enough departures from the given recipe to warrant the 'interpretation' label. Main changes:

1. Made the muffatees symmetric by adding another section of ribbing at the far end, and working 4 plain rows before the first eyelet row, not only after.
2. Sixty rather than 66 stitches around (limited by cylinder size).
3. Because I still can't get the ribber working in time, I substituted mock-rib for true ribbing. I tried to compensate for any lost warmth by making the mock-rib sections double-layered (a hung hem).

On the other hand, the elements that these do have going for them:

1. Accurate material: I made these out of a fine wool yarn, opting for an indigo-dyed light blue.
2. The knitting machine (which did exist in the period!) makes the same stockinette stitches as knitting by hand, and the eyelets can be made on it quite easily.
3. Historic precedence in this and other sources for the shape (knit tube for the wrist or forearm without a thumb slit), which come in variety of lengths and may be variously called muffatees, cuffs, or manchettes. 

For the set-up, I used my 60-cylinder set to a 2-2 mock-rib. I set the tension to 1L3, determined through experiment with the other muffatee patterns I've been trying in similar yarn weights. This is also how I got my gauge of ~10 rows to the inch.

1) Worked 20 rows of mock-rib.

2) Hung the hem, adding in the missing needles at the same time, and picking up stiches for them.

3) Knit 4 rows plain.

4) Knit 1 row eyelets by moving every second stitch to the previous needle.

5) Knit another 4 rows plain, 1 row eyelets, 4 rows plain, 1 row eyelets, 4 rows plain.

6) Remove every 3rd and 4th needle (transferring the active stitches from the third needle to the second and the fourth to the first).

7) Knit 20 rows 2-2 mock rib.

8) Remove from machine and sew up the hem on the second side.

I'm generally happy with how these turned out. I was surprised at how the mock-rib changed appearance between the first and second sections, and despite using the same tension settings and weight. Blocking them did help. I ended up not liking the double-layer on the mock rib as much as I thought, since it overshadows the eyelet section. Next time, I'd like to see how it looks with true ribbing, even if I have to work it by hand. Visually, I'd also like to make the eyelet section longer (maybe 5 or 7 rows of eyelet), though the overall length fits nicely over the wrist. It could also be fun to adapt this pattern into a hand-covering muffatee (ribbing at the wrist and maybe the fingers, eyelet over the hand, with a slit for the thumb) 

Knit Undersleeves (1855), Take 2

Revisited the November 1855 Warm Undersleeve pattern from Godey's, once again on my circular knitting machine. Having learned from last time, the main change I made was reducing the frill to 4 whole motifs (with the extra 8 stitches divided between them and added into the plain sections; this was necessary because the repeat is 18 stitches and I was using my 80-slot machine cylinder). It was much faster and easier to work the pattern that way, and I think the symmetry it quite becoming. The one downside is a slightly less dramatic scallop effect. I also positioned the upper frill higher on the sleeve (~2" rather than 1" above the lower), which I think looks nicer.

New sleeves for Friend E.

For this pair, I used the Knit Picks pallette yarn which I like for socks on this machine. One skein did the first sleeve and both extra frills, with a bit left over. I knit the sleeves and frill headers at two tension-dial-rotations above the loosest setting, switching down to the loosest for the 'Old Shale' pattern, to make it lacier.

Tudor Garters

Knit garters, based on the Typical Tudor recipe for...knit garters. Appropriately worked in garter stitch, with two strands of undyed wool singles.

Garters as knit.

I made mine long enough for cross-gartering, only to find that my knees really aren't the right shape for it. Fortunately, the garters work just as well tied single. 

I tried to dye the garters blue (messed up my indigo vat this time, got a pale yellow that dried to absolutely nothing), then red/orange/pink/brown (madder vat, any color would be fine, except that I got a shade I call "world's palest oatmeal"), and finally yellow/green (pomegranate...but instead ended up with darkest brown-black instead). Functionally, this was the only color I was not going for at any point, but they still work fine and it's not like my garters are ever visible under a kirtle. 

And dyed brown.

CSM Knit Rose

It's still winter, and the flowers aren' t growing. I suppose it's time to make some.

One knit rose.

I used Violante Fioravanti's CSM Rose pattern, using the option for 5 petals of 12 stitches each. To make life harder on myself, instead of installing the 60-cylinder, I knit the project flat on 60 needles on the 80-cylinder. The yarn is Knit Picks' palette, left-over from stockings. 

The green base ended up being larger than the petals (? both were knit on 60), so I decided to double it up and make some petals, which I think make a nice touch.

Purple and green Stockings

Finished a second pair of over-the-knee stockings on my Autoknitter. Like the first, these have a hung hem and short-row heel. I used Knit Picks' palette fingering-weight wool, primarily majestic purple, with grass green for the toes and heels.

 Sized for friend Q, the recipe on these was 20 row hung hem at 4L1, 60 rows same, 30 rows 1L2, 30 rows 4L2, 30 rows 1L3, heel at the same, 59 rows same, toe. The heel shape is appropriate to the 1920s instructions with my machine, but is not a possible construction method for csms used in the late 1850s (though the machines did exist--they couldn't reverse direction, and instead used hand-sewing to finish the heel and toe).

More Muffattees on CSM

It's the 9th day of Christmas, and time for more Christmas presents:

A Study in Gauge

When I was looking for muffattee patterns to adapt, the simplest was to simply knit a 3-3 rib to the desired length (either in the round or knit flat and then seamed). For examples, see "Lambs' Wool Muffatees" in Woman...An Epitome of Social Duties (1843) and "Plain Ribbed Muffatees" in My Knitting Book (1845) among others. 

Since I'm still not up to using the ribber on my Autoknitter, I decided to follow instructions from the 1868 Bickford Family Knitter instruction manual, which treats the mock-rib technique (removing needles) as equivalent to ribbing. However, I've found that 3-3 really doesn't looking like ribbing when worked this way. Fortunately, Mlle Riego's The Winter Knitting Book (1859) gives a "Simple Muffatee for a Gentleman" worked in 2-2 ribbing in the round, which I took as permission to do a 2-2 mock rib. Her version is doubled to create a lining and has no thumb gap, but considering the intended recipients, I decided to make those changes. [These are for my coworkers, who spend a lot of time typing in a cold building.]

The pink muffatees were knitted with a very light lace-weight wool from my stash, on a tension of 5L3 (if I recall correctly). I failed to note the tension on the green, which made with a heavier sport-weight wool from the stash). The pink ones ended up very lacy in their effect, particularly when worn, while the heavier yarn make the green look more like true ribbing.

1855 Warm Undersleeve, Circular Knitting Machine Edition

Revisiting these 1855 knit undersleeves, which I have previously made all the component for (sleeve, ruffles), but never finished due to frustration with the instructions.

Warm Undersleeve.

A few changes to make this project circular knitting machine compatible:

First, brioche stitch isn't happening. I can do a double knit by running two threads, or I can just plain knit it. I decided to make a plain tube this time, since it's my first attempt at doing this pattern on a machine, and also the dress I'm going to wear this with is a nice warm wool in the first place.

The frills, as written, have a bit of a problem: they include decreases (knit 2 together) with no corresponding increases. I tried it as written, and again with yarn-overs to balance out the knit-2-togethers, but only got a closely-set eyelet motif. Helpful fellow volunteer Cynthia identified the original pattern as "Old Shale" and recommended the following variation as producing something more like the illustration (especially if the frill is worked on thicker needles than the sleeve itself):

Row 1: Knit

Row 2: Purl 

Row 3: Knit two together (3x), yarn over & knit 1 (6x), knit two together (3x). Repeat for the whole row

Row 4: Knit

[Per the original instructions, repeat the four rows 5 times (for 20 rows total) in white, then knit all four rows once in a colored yarn.]

If I make the fourth row a "purl", I can knit this in the round on the machine, though at the cost of the the ridged effect between repeats. For all the flaws of the illustrations, I think the stronger horizontal lines are meant to indicate this ridge.

The pattern is a 96 repeat, and the original calls for 90 stitches, but the largest cylinder I have is an 80, so I'll need to repeat the motif in row 3 four times, which will leave 8 stitches left over. I decided to solve this with a partial motif as follows:

1-2. Knit.

3. On the third, k2to 3x, then (yo k1) 6x, k2to 3x; repeat this 4 times, and for the last 8 needles k2to 3x, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo. [On the machine, this look like: starting at the 3 o'clock mark, move the stitch on the second needle to the first, then the stitches on needles 3 & 4 to needle 2, then the stitches on needle 5 & 6 to needle 3. Leaving needle 4 empty, move the stitch from needle 7 to needle 5, leave 6 empty and move the stitch from needle 8 to needle 7; needle 8 is also left empty and needle 9 keeps its stitch in place. Count to the end of the motif, and double up the stitches on needles 13-18 so that there are two stitches each on needles 16-18 (as at the beginning of the motif), while needles 13-15 are temporarily empty. Then move the stitch from needle 12 to needle 15; leave 14 empty; move the stitch from needle  11 to needle 13; leave 12 empty; move the stitch on 10 to 11, leaving 10 empty. Repeat for a total of 4 and half repeats around one circuit.]

4. Knit. 

Frill on the machine (working the 5th fancy row)

 

As previously noted, after the 3 plain rows of the header, this four-row figure is repeated 5 times in white, and then once in color, then bound off. Of course, I was halfway through the fourth piece when I realized that the 8 extra stitches could be divided up between the motifs (2 extra plain stitches at the center of the sets of doubles, for instance), which would be a bit more symmetrical than having an extra half-motif.

I set my machine to the loosest possible tension for working this frill, after knitting the sleeve itself on the tension setting one rotation higher/tighter. [I denote it "1L1" in my notes, because the dial reads "1", and it's at the lowest dial position that can read "1"].

For the main sleeve, I set my knitter to "1L2", knit 20, hung the hem, then knit 130 rows, then adjusted the tension down to the its very loosest setting ("1L1") and started on the frill.

 

Frill with waste yarn. It scallops and has eyelets, at least.

After finishing the sleeve with it's frill, I ran some waste yarn, then did a single frills with its 3 rows of header (on 1l2, before adjusting back to 1L1 for the frill), then ran the other sleeve with its built-in frill and the second separate frill.

Blocking the completed frills and sleeves.

Off the machine, I bound the edges of each of the four frill edges, then whipped the separate frills onto the sleeves. I had intended to bind the edges before blocking each component flat, but holiday logistics meant I needed to complete the blocking before I had the chance to binding off more than one edge. I think this actually helped the scallops set better. 

Whipping the active stitches on the frills (the topmost of those 3 plain rows) onto the sleeves was actually the worst part. I could not keep a consistent horizontal line across the sleeve (counting was complicated by the frill covering that part of the sleeve, the lace motif itself made both frill and sleeve pucker into scallops, and attempting to eyeball the frill placement sent it rapidly veering onto diagonals). In the end, I ran a thread of waste yarn along a ruler in an approximately flat line, and stitched over it. For one frill, I removed the waste yarn as I bound the open edge, for the other I transferred the live stitches onto a circular hand-knitting needle to hold them; the waste yarn ended up being marginally easier to handle.

Et voila:

At long last, the finished sleeves.

 

I'm glad these are done, and I like the scallops and the light touch of blue at the edges. If I were to make these again, I'd position the frill more than the indicated 1" up, so that the scallops overlap a little less. I'd also try knitting the sleeve on a smaller cylinder than the frills, so they can be gathered rather than put on straight. Knitting the sleeve on machine and then hand-knitting the scallops (so that the ridged rows happen) would also be an option to explore.

Ribbed Muffatees c.1845, on CSM

Actually completed a few Christmas presents before the holiday this year, though most of my friends are still on track for New Year's presents. Or Groundhog's Day.

 

I knit these on my circular sock machine, based on these hand-knitting instructions:

Ribbed Muffatees 

No 12 PINS. Cast on each of three pins about twenty four loops, or any number according to the size you intend to make your muffatees, and with the fourth pin pearl four stitches and knit two alternately; every round is the same. They are generally made about five inches long." --The Practical Companion to the Work Table (1845)

The 1844 edition uses the same 4-2 pattern for "Lambs' Wool Muffattees", made to any desired length.

Tranlated to my Autoknitter, I set up a 4-2 mock rib on the 60-cylinder, with the tension set to 5L4. To knit, I made a narrow hem (knit 2 rows, pick up the first and knit the 3rd row together), then cranked 50 rows in the round. I then knit 14 rows flat to make the thumb-gap, and finished with 10 rows in the round. I used the double-pass off-machine bind-off on the top edge.

The material used for these muffatees was Knitpick's "palette" fingering-weight wool, in the currant colorway.

First Pair of Stockings

And my first pair of stockings on the Auto-knitter. I used the 80 cylinder, no ribber, and 4 oz of pale blue Jaegerspun fingering weight that I found in a thrift-store grab bag. The gauge was a bit off from my swatch, so I ended up cutting down the top of stocking #1, reducing the row-count on stocking #2, and subbing in a second yarn for the toe of the second stocking.

Historical accuracy on this piece is a bit...complicated. The use of a hem-top is recommended for wool stockings in the 1850s literature. However, the short-row heel is a 20th century standard for csm stockings. These stockings further differ from a handknit 1850s stocking in the heel shape, the lack of a back seam (ie, a purl stitch worked at the center back in opposite rows), and the manner of in which the leg is shaped (tension changes rather than reducing the number of stitches). However, circular knitting machines did exist in my target time of the late 1850s and early 1860s, used commercially and sometimes in the home. Like mine, these machines knit stocking without adding/reducing stitching and with no back seam. However, I haven't found pre-1868 instructions for a csm which use stitch tension to shape the leg, or knit the heel on the machine; instead, c.1860 machines produce only straight tubes, which need to be hand-finished at the band, and cut/sewn to shape the heel and foot. There is no leg shaping, and different sizes are achieved by removing needles to make mock ribs.

Which is a round-about way of saying that I have some lovely 1920s-to-present style basic stockings, which are slightly anachronistic for the 1850s/1860s in their heel/foot shaping techniques, and in the variable tension used to get a good fit through the leg (which is ok by ~1868). I'll be using them for earlier anyway, because this is my only option to get knit stockings that fit my legs comfortably, and the anachronistic elements are all well-covered by my shoes. I do have some ideas for making more accurate-to-the-1850s stockings on this machine, but it will involve mastering some more complicated heel variations. And manually making the seam.

First Pair of Socks

I finally knit my first pair of real socks on the Autoknitter (also ever), using Roxy's "10 Minute Socks" pattern/recipe. It took me a bit longer than 10 minutes, but I found it a really useful live-trial of working increases/decreases for the toe and heel (not to mention kitchener-stitching the toe).

Et voila:

Socks! In 2-1 mock rib.

I used the 80-cylinder for these. The yarn is Aktiv's "Finnmark" self-striping sock yarn.

Onion Bags

Did some multi-tasking: I have onions that need to be stored after harvest, and an Autoknitter that I needed some practice on. The obvious solution was to knit small onion bags out of scraps of crochet cotton.

Onion socks! And two proper net bags.

I used the opportunity to mess around with the machine's tension, hang hems, learn mock ribs, and do a lot of kitchener stitch on the closed ends. My favorite onion sock is the one knit plain on the loosest machine tension (left of center), which produced the most open web.

Before jumping over to the machine, I did try to hand net bags for all the onions, but found that even with a generous mesh it simply took too long. I'll need to try this again when there's more time and the onions in question haven't already been harvested, cured, and in need of storage bags.

Knit Wristlets

 Not really a historic design (though I've seen other wristlets in 19th century knitting books), but I'm pretty excited about these wristlets. 

They're brown wool (the yarn was somewhere between a fingering weight and sportweight), but the part I'm excited about is what I made them with: a c. 1920s Autoknitter circular sock machine.

 

I've mostly just been knitting tubes of scrap yarn (and a few flat webs), but the wristlet project allowed me to practice several important sock elements, such as hanging the hem and not dropping stitches.