Cotton Stockings

Finally tried something other than wool on the Autoknitter. For the hot August weather, I made a pair of cotton stockings using Knit Picks' Simply Cotton fingering-weight yarn. The thickness of the stockings is comparable to wool ones that I've knit, but I didn't find them uncomfortable to wear in the 90+ degree heat (though I certainly wouldn't have minded even lighter stockings).

 

Finished (and washed) stockings, of un-dyed cotton.

I was worried about how the yarn would handle in the machine, specifically whether it would have enough stretch to knit without breaking or jamming. It was a pleasant surprise to find that this cotton handled just like most of the wool yarns I've tried. The hardest part was actually winding the large skeins into cones for use--before the next pair, I really should get my swift repaired. One skein made for one complete stocking, plus the hem and first 57 rows of a second.

I read that 10% shrinkage is to be expected with this yarn, and adjusted my usual 'recipe' (based on Knit Picks' wool palette yarn) by adding 20 rows to the first section past the hem. I figured that as this was the widest part of the calf, it was the safest place for any extra length, if my calculations were wrong; I also added 5 rows to the foot length. Since I didn't finish grafting the toe closed until the morning I needed to wear the stockings, I didn't have the chance to wash them before use. The stockings were definitely a bit long in the foot on that first wear, resulting in some wrinkling around the heel, but were still use-able. After the first wash, the fit was much better through the foot and the texture of the stockings also improved--it generally fluffed up a bit and made for a softer hand. The foot itself is still just a little bit longer than I'd like, so I might try only adding 4 rows instead of 5 next time.

I'll probably knit myself a second set of these, so I'll have two pair cotton and three pair wool stockings, which should do me for most events throughout the year. For really hot weather, I should also probably make a new pair of sewn hose, as the cotton knit fabric is thinner and lighter than these stockings. However, between the annoyance of fitting sewn hose and the frequency of broken seams, I am very eager to add more knit stockings into my wardrobe. I also prefer how the knit ones fit. These cotton knit stockings will fill a nice niche for warm and 'in-between' weather, allowing me to save the more fragile stockings for the most extreme heat. 

 

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).

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.