KNIT
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INSPIRED PROJECTS
2011
universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of …
Wh What at would Jane J ane Knit?
a warm vest
Mr. Knightley A HANDSOME VEST
J A N E A U S T E N K N I T S . C O M
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Jane Austen Knits
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Fall 2011 is here! With even more sock-knitting tips, techniques & patterns, the latest Sockupied Sockupied eMag eMag has many reasons to keep your feet happy.
Sockupied
Fall 2011 includes:
5 SOCK PATTERNS! From classic cables and lovely lace to stranded colorwork these sock patterns include toe-up and top-down construction. SOCK RX! Learn how to save your hand-knitted socks with tips for the right tools and techniques for mending holes. TOPNOTCH SOCK DESIGNERS! SpillyJane, Lorna Miser, Chrissy Gardiner, Kirsten Kapur, and Ann Budd band together in this issue for fun, functional sock patterns and designer insight. CUSTOMIZING IDEAS! Learn to invert a stitch pattern so you can design and knit your socks from the top, or the toe.
PLUS!
Sockupied Fall 2011 also includes interactive sock galleries, yarn and product reviews, resources, and even some fun sock features.
VIDEOS AND INTERACTIVE GALLERIES! Watch technique tec hnique YLGHRVÀUVWKDQGIRUWKHXOWLPDWHOHDUQLQJH[SHULHQFH AND MORE!
DOWNLOAD your copy of the revolutionary Sockupied shop.knittingdaily.com.. Fall 2011 eMag today, online at shop.knittingdaily.com
Special Issue 2011
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Jane Austen Knits
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Contents KNITTING TO AUSTEN AUSTEN Amy O’Neill Houck 10
THE MIGHTY MUSLIN Susan Forgue 12
JANE’S JANE ’S WORLD IN HI STORY Susan Forgue 14
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY PATTER N COMPANY C OMPANY Joanna Johnson 16
JANE AN D KNITTI KNI TTING NG Sheryl Craig 20
REGENCY FA FASHION SHION IN COLOR Meghan Fernandes 24
WHAT WOULD JANE KNIT? Larissa Brown 28
JANE AUSTEN, MUL M ULTITASKER TITASKER Rebecca Dickson 144
78
Couty
Maor
Gaden Gad en
30 Linen Work Apron
56 Woodhouse Spencer
78 Northanger Abbey Hood
Instructionss page 36 Annie Modesitt Instruction
Instructionss page 61 Jennifer Wood Instruction
Catherine Salter Bayar Instructions page 82
31 Short Stays
57 Marianne Dashwood Stockings
79 Elinor Tunic
Larissa Brown Instructions page 38
Ann Kingstone Instructions page 60
Kristi Schueler Instructions page 85
31 Fitz Fingerless Mitts
57 Lambton Top
79 Scarlet Capelet
Catherine Shields Instructions page 45
Theressa Silver Instructions page 65
Instructionss page 87 Heather Zoppetti Instruction
32 Pemberley Slippers
58 Barton Cottage Shrug
79 Chawton Mittens
Kristi Schueler Instructions page 46
Kristi Schueler Instructions page 69
Anne Blayney Instructions page 96
32 Lydia Bennet Secret Stockings
59 Elinor’s Tea Cozy
80 Lydia Military Spencer
Susan Strawn Instructions page 54
Anne Berk, Valerie Allen, Jill Betts, and Elaine Blatt Instructions page 67
Annie Modesitt Instructions page 90
Kathleen Dames Instructions page 40
59 Flower and Lace Cuffs
Jenny Sorensen Instructions page 92
34 Georgiana Shawlette
Carol Huebscher Rhoades Instructions page 70
80 Frederick & Anne Scarf
Susanna IC Instructions page 52
59 Fiori Pullover
Kirsti Johanson Instructions page 95
35 Modern Reticule
Mary Annarella Instructions page 72
81 Leafy Muff
33 An Aran for Frederick
80 Mr. Knightley’s Vest
Heather Zoppetti Instructions page 48
Karen Holmes Instructions page 101
35 Frivolous Socks
81 Theme Scarf
Katie Franceschi Instruction Instructionss page 50
Stephenie Gaustad Instruction Instructionss page 103
81 Variation Scarf Stephenie Gaustad Instruction Instructionss page 104
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108
56
106
80 On the Cover: Teme Scarf by Stephenie Gaustad, page 81.
Town 106 Emma Shrug Tian Connaughton Instructions page 120
DEPARTMENTS
107 Josephine Shawl Rebecca Blair Instructions page 110
107 Meryton Coat
4 Editor’s Page
Stephanie Earp Instructions page 113
6 Dry Goods
107 Kensington Mitts Annie Modesitt Instructions page 122
108 Miss Morland’s Neckcloth Kendra Nitta Instructions page 119
132 Glossary/Abbreviations 141 Advertisers’ Index 142 Project Index
108 Miss Bennet’s Beaded Bag Joanna Johnson Instructions Instructions page 124
108 Sense and Fashion Handwarmers Hannah Poon Instructions page 125
108 Diamond and Cross Reticule Kendra Nitta Instructions page 127
109 Evening Spencer Corrina Ferguson Instructions page 116
109 Picturesque Cape Sharon Fuller Instructions page 128
Jane Au Ausstn K N I T S Special Issue 2011
FROM HE EDIOR LITERATURE AND
seem to be a perect pairingespecially when you consider the work o Jane Austen. Perhaps this is because knitting, like reading, has a meditative, quiet quality to it. Jane Austen’’s novels resonate with knitters or Austen the same reason that they have resonated with readers around the world or centuriesJane Austen captures the essence o humanity: quietly, succinctly, succinctly, and with rich humor. Her stories are timeless. Trough them we gain insight into a world (specifcally the Regency era, 1795–1837, in England) that was governed by social class and strict rules o decorum. But at the same time, Jane Austen weaves narratives about people pursuing happiness despite obstacles, remaining true to themselves while still loyal to their amily and riends, and struggling to know themselvesstories that transcend time, place, and situation. For knitters, the flms inspired by her books are the perect companions as we snuggle into blankets on the couch with a cup o steaming tea as the snow piles up outside, adding stitches to the garments that hold our dreams and wishes. Immersed in the narratives, we are allowed to escape to a seemingly simpler time and imagine quiet moments to create and contemplate. On a personal level, I can’t say that I always loved Jane Austen as well as I do nowmy English teacher Ms. Winters probably doesn’t remember quite as clearly as I do that I burst into tears when I had to KNITTING
A C O C E O J
CALL FOR ENTRIES In our attempt to capture the essence o Jane Austen or this issue, we aspired to reerence her infuence without getting too bogged down in the details, such as period-specic props or costumes. Our hope was to create a knitting magazine with garments inspired by Jane Austen’s narratives that could be worn with ease and
reveal in her tenth grade literature class that I had tried to read Pride and Prejudice in one night and couldn’t keep all the characters straight. Fortunately, Fortunately, I rediscovered Jane Austen’s work during college with the help o my sister, Julia (who shares a birthday with Jane), Jane ), and and the 1995 1995 BBC production production o o Pride Pride and Prejudice. Prejudice. Ater that, it was a slippery slope, and I fnd that many o my urniture and clothing purchases (in addition to books) have been inuenced by my love o Jane Austen. For instance, I bought an antique writing desk or my living room where I handwrite letters on occasionit is also where my Jane Austen action fgure (a birthday git rom my sister) resides. We used a number o my rocks as the undergarments or the photo shoot (however, in this I was outdone, as Joanna Johnsonwho helped hugely with the yarn selection and photo shoothad sewn Regency-era gowns so that she could attend a reenactment o a Regency ball). Once this issue is put to bed, I’m looking orward to casting on or a spencer, or at least my very own reticule, and listening to Sense and Sensibility (a avorite or the portrayal o sisters) while I enjoy a cup o Earl Grey tea. Happy knitting,
Amy Clarke Moore, editor
[email protected]
“Miss Bennet, there seemed to be a prettyish kind of a little wilderness on one side of your lawn. I should be glad to take a turn in it, if you will favour me with your company.” —LADY CAHERINE DE BOURGH, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
While northern Colorado may not be the frst landscape to consider when looking or locations to shoot garments or a Jane Austen–inspired knitting magazine, we were able to capture the essence with the help o two locations. We shot the images or the Country and Manor sections o the magazine on location at the imberlane Farm and Museum in Loveland, Colorado (www.timberlanearmmuseum.org). Te images or the Garden and own own sections were shot at the private residence o om om Lundberg and Dick Christensen in Fort Collins, Colorado. We We are so grateul to both or the use o their beautiul landscapes.
comort in our current time. When we put out our call or entries, we were overwhelmed by the response—we received enough high-quality submissions to ll three magazines. Designers, writers, and Regency-era historians, please check our website, janeaustenknits.com, janeaustenknits.co m, or our call or entries or Jane Austen Knits 2012.
FOUNDER Linda Ligon
• CEO Clay B. Hall • CFO Troy Wells • SENIOR VPs John P. Bolton, Bob Kaslik, Stephen Koenig Sara Dumford • VP PRODUCTION Trish Faubion • VP TECHNOLOGY T.J. Harty
VP EVENTS & EDUCATION
VP PEOPLE OPERATIONS
Independent Publishers Since 1975 4
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Aaron Wilmot
Special Issue 2011
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Linda Ligon EDITOR Amy Clarke Moore MANAGING EDITOR Liz Good TECHNICAL EDITORS Sheryl Craig, Karen Frisa,
Lori Gayle, Kristen TenDyke COPY EDITOR AND PROOFREADER Katie Bright EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Kathy Mallo, Joanna Johnson Johnson DESIGNER Sarah Chesnutt PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Trish Faubion PRODUCTION COORDI NAT NATORS ORS Janice Tapia, Marc McCoy Owens PRODUCTION EDITOR Nancy Arndt PHOTOGRAPHY Christa Tippmann, Ann Sabin Swanson PHOTO STYLING Ann Sabin Swanson HAIR AND MAKEUP Kathy Eckmann ILLUSTRATION Sarah Chesnutt, Gayle Ford,
Susan Strawn, Ann Sabin Swanson PUBLISHER John P. Bolton Bolton MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR Julie Macdonald Macdonald ADVERTISING MANAGER Sarah Rovelli CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Stephanie Griess AD TRAFFICKER Melissa Brown MARKETING SPECIALIST Whitney Dorband CIRCULATION MANAGER Barbara Naslund
Jane Austen Austen Knits Knits is a special issue o Spin.Of magazine. Spin.Of ® (ISSN 0198-8239)) is published bimonthly by Interweave Press LLC, 201 E. 4th 0198-8239 St., Loveland, CO 80537. (970) 669-7672. Periodicals postage paid at Loveland, CO 80538 and additional mailing of ces. All contents o this Jane Austen Austen Knits Knits © Interweave Press LLC, 2011. Reproduction issue o Jane in whole or in part is prohibited, except by permission o the publisher. Printed in the U.S.A.
Projects and inormation are or inspiration and personal use only only.. We’ve We’ve made every eort to ensure the accuracy o the contents o this publication. However, However, human errors do occur. I you have questions regarding a pattern in this issue, please visit us online at janeausten janeaustenknits.com. knits.com. Spin.Of ® magazine does not recommend, approve, or endorse any o the Austen Knits. advertisers, products, services, or views advertised in Jane Austen Nor does Spin-Of® evaluate the advertisers’ claims in any way. You should, thereore, use your own judgment in evaluating the advertisers, products, Austen Knits. Knits. services, and views advertised in Jane Austen
CONTACT US Advertising: Sarah Rovelli (770) 683-4714,
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PC 529 The Northanger Abbey Shawl
The Northanger Abbey Shawl Inspired by the Gothic Windows in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey Nazli Gelin Garden Size 10 Cotton Thread The Perfect Choice For All Your Thread Projects
Interweave Press LLC 201 East Fourth Street Loveland, Colorado 80537 (970) 669-7672 Visit our website interweave.com
www.universalyarn.com Available only in fine yarn stores. Distributed by Universal Yarn.
Scan this QR code with your smartphone. The code will take you to the Universal Yarn website where you can find information about the yarn and pattern book.
Special Issue 2 01 011 1 • Jane Austen Knits
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PRODUCS
From the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, England, this charming thimble eatures the Jane Austen silhouette and a quote rom Northanger Abbey: “Oh, who could ever be tired o Bath?” £5 (~$8). www.janeaustengitshop.co.uk.
Although Maison Sajou wasn’t ounded until 1830, these precious sewing boxes rom Sajou hearken back to a time o sewing in the parlor with close riends and amily just as in the time o Jane Austen. A variety o small kits are available eaturing dierent illustrations and contents. $50–$80. www.bagsmith.com/categories/sajou.
DRY DRY GOODS
Imported directly rom Chawton Cottage by One Garden at a ime, each laminated bookmark depicts a fower rom the Jane Austen Garden along with an image o Chawton Cottage and a nd Jane Austen’s silhouette. Te back includes a bibliography o Jane’s novels so you can plan what to read next. $4. www.onegardenatatime .biz/jane_austen_garden_gits.htm.
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Jane Austen Knits
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Gifts
What Janeite wouldn’t love a present with Mr. Darcy Darcy all over it! Imported directly rom Chawton Cottage by One Garden at a ime, this wrapping paper comes in 28” x 20” sheets and is also available in foral patterns and with illustrations o the Jane Austen House Museum in Chawton. $4 per sheet. www.onegardenatatime.biz/jane_austen _garden_gits.htm.
Austentatious Crochet: 32 Contemporary Designs from the World of Jane Ja ne Au Auste stenn by Melissa Horozewski. Need we say more? Tis new book was just released in October. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2011. Paperbound, 208 pages, ISBN 978-0-7624-4146-4. $16. www.runningpress.com.
Uncover a Whole New World as You You Experiment with Color in Fiber! With Laura Bryant’ Br yant’ss guidance you’ll be pulling your stash off the shelf, making “rivers” of color from light to dark, creating color wraps that really work, and learning to manage color juxtapositions that will will take your work beyond the ordinary.
Naturally Undyed Fibers
(866) 949-1646
/RDERANEW MAGAZINE ORSUBSCRIBE TOANOLD FAVORITE $OWNLOAD &2%% PROJECTSAND PATTERNS $ISCOVER EXCITING EVENTS TOATTEND
Take a Look at interweave.com
Knoll Skirt, knit in Vista yarn from booklet #9148
Special Issue 2011
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Jane Austen Knits
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PRODUCS
Silk reasure Boxes o Hanah Silk exquisite handdyed ribbons are perect or the trimming o your handknits. Each box includes 10 to 15 pieces o 3- to 4-ootlong ribbons in various widths. $25/½ oz. www.artemisinc.com.
Tese polymer clay stitch markers each eature a diferent novel by Jane Austen. Tey are painstakingly handmade and eature the covers rom Megan Wilson’s Vintage Classics editions o the books. $50. www.maryaithpeace.etsy.com.
DRY DRY GOODS Supplies
Marianne Dashwood (above) 100% superwash
Tese handmade porcelain buttons exclusive to the Jane Austen Centre are ideal or creating historically accurate Regency garments. Te buttons are made at Shamrock Cottage using Sugarcrat cutters and a real shell to imprint the shell buttons. £10 (~$16). www.janeaustengitshop.co.uk.
Merino (sportweight yarn and roving or handspinning) and Elizabeth Bennet (below) 65% superwash Merino, 20% bamboo, and 15% silk (ngering-weight yarn) rom Yarn Love are inspired by Jane Austen’s beloved characters. All o the Yarn Love yarns are named ater ctional and historical women. Marianne Dashwood, $23/4 oz (yarn), $18/4 oz (roving); Elizabeth Bennet, $13/50g. www.etsy.com/shop/shopyarnlove; www.shopyarnlove.com
Add a little whimsy to your knitting with the wide variety o charming Austen-themed stitch markers rom Knit Girl in Idaho. $6–$12. www.knitgirlinidaho.etsy.com.
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Jane Austen Knits
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meet Jane Austen available in Anne or Heather
www.schaeferyarn.com for a store near you or online source
multicolor interchangeables
Redbud Redbu d
by Jan Janine ine Baj Bajus us
Jamieso Jam ieson’ n’ss Sp Spin indrift drift
simply shetland Exclusive North American distributor of Jamieson’s Shetland yarns TM
Visit simplyshetland.com for your local retailer
Set includes: • Size #4-#11 tips • 4 cords (24", 32", 40") • ID tags • 8 end caps • 4 cord keys • 1 case Each size needle is a unique color for easy & quick identification Available in all varieties–circulars, straights, double points, interchangeables & crochet hooks.
Visit yarn.com yarn.com to see our complete line of Knitter’s Pride needles, hooks & accessories. Special Issue 2011
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Jane Austen Knits
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KNII NG O
Austen
by Amy O’Neill Houck
S
ometimes a rainy aternoon is the only excuse starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Luckily, there are many I need to make some tea, grab my knitting, and lesser-known adaptations, some o which you may not curl up to watch an ot-played DVD. As many even recognize as Austen-inspired. times as I’ve watched the adaptations o Jane Austen’s When I’m watching a flm adaptation o a beloved novels, I never get tired o them. At times they’ve even book, I usually try to see it as its own artistic provided knitting inspiration—the costumes alone experience. I try not to judge how a flm stays true can be ascinating. I know I’m not alone in my love to the novel and instead enjoy how a director has o Austen flms. Jane Austen’s Austen’s novels are flled with interpreted the original work according to her own reerences to embroidery, hatmaking, “painting screens,” artistic sensibilities. With With that in mind, here are a ew and other fne crats, but reerences to knitting are ew o my avorite Austen adaptations. and ar between. Nevertheless, knitters Are you a an o Bollywood? Te Indian cinema, the world over have a sot spot or amous or its singing and dancing spectacles has Austen’s novels. I you’re like me, you’ll produced its own version o the Pride and Prejudice fnd it hard to read an actual paper story called Bride and Prejudice Tis upbeat flm book whilst knitting. Instead, I get ollows the general story line o the novel, updating it my Austen fx by watching flms. Or I or a modern cross-cultural cross- cultural romance between an Indian enjoy the books by listening to audio woman and a Caliornia businessman. Te resulting recordings on my iPod. reco movie is campy and un. I you’re a Janeite, you’ve probably I Te latest Austen flm adaptation was released already seen the most well-known alr just this year and puts a Latin twist on Sense and flm adaptations o Sensibility In From Prada to Nada the Miss her movies: maybe Dashwoods are transormed into the Dominguez you love the 1995 sisters: one brainy and one shopaholic. Set in Beverly BBC version o Hills and East L .A., Mr. Willoughby Willoughby becomes a Pride and Prejudice Prejudice swarthy literature PhD candidate cheating on his starring Colin Mexican wie, and Colonel Brandon becomes a barrio Firth as Mr Mr.. Darcy artist who looks ater the Dominguez sisters and their or the 1996 flm aunt. Te core o the story stays true to the novel. Tis version o Emma light romantic comedy lacks the real dramatic moments .
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Jane Austen Knits • janeaustenknits.com
o the original story but remains an entertaining part o the narrative. modernization o Sense and Sensibility . When I’m listening, In 1996, Alicia Silverstone starred in a flm about I hear every word teens, class, and social status in high school. Clueless no matter what. was a hit, and I’m sure many i not most viewers had Te narrator can no idea it was inspired by Jane Austen’ Austen’s Emma. Te make or break an flm is great at creating a 1990s American analog to audiobook. Once nineteenth-century British society. And Silverstone’s you fnd narrators character, Cher, is every bit as charming as Austen’s you like, you may seek them out and pick Emma. I you’ve ever imagined yoursel a character in a books based on who’s reading Regency novel, you’ll be happy to discover Lost in it instead o the content o the novel. It’s no surprise that Pride and Austen. In this miniseries, protagonist Amanda Price nd unwittingly swaps places with Elizabeth Bennet and Prejudice is a novel I love rereading and has to fnd her way in the nineteenth century as a rehearing practically every year year.. My avorite audio houseguest o the Bennet amily. Te series is complete recording is read by Josephine Bailey. I you’ve read all and now is available on DVD. the novels recently and want more, you can hear Fiona Shaw read The Letters of Jane Austen. Susannah Northanger Abbey is not one o the most popular Jane Austen Austen novels, but it’s it’s one o o my avorites. It is is Harker gives a lovely reading o Sense and Sensibility. Jane’s take on a gothic romance, romance, and it’s neither as dark Since taste varies, you may want to hear a reading nor as romantic as, say, a Brontë novel, but it keeps you beore committing to buying it or checking it out rom turning the pages. Tere are only two flm adaptations the library. Te website www.audible.com provides long o Northanger Northanger Abbey , made twenty years apart in 1987 previews o all the books so you can decide i a reader is and 2007. I like them both. Te older flm can come right or you. across as a little overly dramatic, but I think that suits the novel’s intent. Te 2007 flm is not lacking in gothic Amy O’Neill Houck is the author of Knit Knits s for Bears to Wear ; she elements, but the cinematography is probably more has published patterns in many books and magazines including appealing to a modern audience. Interweave Crochet . Amy lives in Juneau, Alaska, where she can Tere are times when it’s not convenient to knit to wear wool year-round. She blogs at www.thehookandi.com. a movie—or i you’re like me, you may fnd the flm draws you in and your stitches slow i you’re watching watching something really good. When I just have to get some Resources There are lots of ways to discover more Austen knitting done, I turn to audiobooks. I fnd I can dive films and audio experiences, including BBC radio into the world o a novel while still concentrating on dramatizations (www.bbc.co.uk/radio/). For books my project—a perect escape. Tere are dozens o in all formats and movies, too, don’t forget about versions o Jane Austen in audio ormat. Many are your local public library. available or ree. Austen’s work is old enough that For videos on demand and in DVD ormat, visit www.amazon it is in the public p ublic domain. Tat means that anyone .com and www.netfix.com www.netfix.com.. can create and distribute an audio recording o her For audiobooks, visit www.librivox.com, www.gutenberg.org, and work without paying royalties. Organizations such as www.audible.com. Librivox and Project Gutenberg are nonprofts that For a rather exhaustive list o Austen lm adaptions dating back work to make public domain literature available ree to the 1940s, visit Ellen Moody’s webpage, A Filmography o online in audio and electronic ormat. the Austen Movies by Source, www.jimandellen.org/austen/ When I’m choosing an audio version o a book, I SourceFilmography.html. limit my search to unabridged versions. I want to hear Te Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) is a great place the whole book. I oten fnd I get more out o listening to gather inormation about lms even beore they are released. to a novel than I do reading it, since, when reading, reading, I’m It’s especially un to search or a particular avorite actor and able to skim i my eyes get tired or I come to a slow ollow the trail trail to other lms he or she has been been in.
Special Issue 2011
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HE MIGHY
Muslin
by Susan Forgue
M O C . E L G O O G . S K O O B / / : P T T H
“I always buy my own cravats, and am allowed to be an excellent judge; and my sister has oten trusted me in the choice o a gown. I bought one or her the other day, and it was pronounced to be a prodigious bargain by every lady who saw it. I gave but fve shillings a yard or it, and a true In Indian dian muslin . . .”.”
1818 Walking Dress
... S
o the novel’s hero Henry ilney brags to characters Mrs. Allen and Catherine Morland. Te most popular abric o the period, muslin, reers to any o a fne, lightweight, semitransparent cotton textile which was, as Catherine ponders about her wardrobe later, manuactured in many variations. Here, Henry’s mention o Indian muslin is a not so subtle boast o both his wealth and good taste, as Indian muslins were costlier than ones woven in England, and the texture was soter and silkier. In 1798, when Northanger Abbey was frst written as Susan, muslin was an extremely popular abric or both day and evening ashions and was used or every type o dress except or those worn in the coldest o weathers. It supplanted silk, as this French abric was blockaded during the Napoleonic Wars along with other luxury items like champagne and cognac. Tere were some who paid inated prices or smuggled goods, but with high-quality muslin increasingly woven in both India and England, muslin became, or many years, the abric o choice in Britain. Journal rnal des Dames et des Te 1798 print rom the Jou
12
Jane Austen Knits • janeaustenknits.com
— NORTHANGER ABBEY
Modes on page 13 clearly displays the inuences o ancient Greece and Rome that were highly emulated during the Directoire period in ashion history. Tis dress has a togalike appearance in shape, and a preerence or a white dress color was another reerence to Grecian and Roman antiquity, as it mimicked
COMMON REGENCY FABRICS FIGURED FABRIC
with a repeating pattern or design
woven into it. JACKONET OR JACONET A
semitransparent cotton with a coarser woven structure than mull, glazed on one side. MULL
A sheer cotton cloth, with a silky texture similar to the Indian muslins. SPOTTED
Fabric with a repeating pattern o small dots printed on it. SPRIGGED
Fabric with a repeating pattern o small sprays o fowers or leaves printed on it. TAMBOURED Fabric
with a handembroidered design on it, so called because the rame holding the abric taut was called a tambour.
L M T H . 8 9 7 1 / R A E Y / Y H T A C ~ / U D E . R C U . S U T U C O L / / : P T T H
classical statuary. statuary. White was also a lso the most popular color because it was easiest to launder, and being seen in white muslin was not only thought the most modest color choice or unmarried emales, but it also proclaimed one’s status as a lady o the gentry or aristocracy who had servants to worry about removing stains rom clothes. wenty years later, when Northanger Abbey was published 1798 Evening Dress posthumously,, muslins were posthumously still very popular, but silk had regained its ormer predominance or evening wear. Tis is another o those many details that date the composition o Northanger o Northanger Abbey to an earlier period than when it was published. Te print on page 12 rom Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions and Politics shows how much ashions had changed in twenty years. While the gown is still white muslin with the Empire waist, all elements o classical antiquity have totally
disappeared. Gothic decoration, such as the deep trimming at the hem and a nd the puf ngs on the sleeves o the spencer, dominate this later design. Muslin continued continued to be a very important abric in a lady’s wardrobe or many years and throughout Jane Austen’s lie. Not only were dresses ashioned rom it but also pelisses, spencers, caps, bonnets, veils, shawls, aprons, and or men, as Henry tells us, cravats. Nonashion applications included everything rom bandages to subcurtains. No other abric available in the Regency period was as versatile as the mighty muslin. Jane Austen Society o f North America life member, member, Chicago chapter board member, and an accountant by trade, Susan Forgue is also the creator and webmistress of the research website, The Regency Encyclopedia (www.reg-ency.com—User ID: JAScholar, Password: Academia—both ca se sensitive). sensitive). She continues to lecture and write about the Rege ncy era and Jane Austen’s characters, while maintaining maintaining and updating her website. This article was reprinted with permission from JASNA News: The Newsletter of the Jane Austen Society of North America 26, America 26, no. 1 (Winter 2010).
www.mountaincolors.com www.mo untaincolors.com
Special Issue 2011
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Jan J anee’s World in His isttory
by Susan Forgue
EDITOR’S NOTE: Jane Austen’s lietime (1775–1817) coincided with a signifcant period in England’s and consequently, consequently, the world’s, history. history. It was a time o great upheaval with revolutionary wars occurring in the colonies (soon to become the United States) and France—as well as the Industrial Revolution, which changed the way yarn, abric, and clothing were made. To help put these events into context, we asked historian Susan Forgue to put together this timeline, which notes events rom Jane’s lietime and novels in red, events in textile history in blue, and relevant world history in these years in brown.
1775 Jane Austen
1791 American Eli
is born in Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16.
Whitney invents the cotton gin.
1776 Declaration o
1779 Samuel Crompton
is added to the Juvenilia . France declares war on Great Britain and the Netherlands, beginning the Napoleonic Wars.
invents the spinning mule, which twists fbers into yarn.
1794 The novella Lady
Independence is signed in the colonies.
1781 Cornwallis surrenders to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, ending the fnal battle o the Revolutionary War. 1783 The Treaty o Paris
1793 The last story
Susan might have been Susan might written in 1794. The cotton gin is patented. George, Prince o Wales, marries Caroline o Brunswick on April 8.
1795 Elinor and
something other than a trade, is published in Leipzig, Germany. Great Britain passes the Act o Union to combine Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom (to take eect on January 1, 1801). Treaty o Ghent ofcially ends the War o 1812; Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba.
1801 Jane Austen’s ather retires and the Austen amily leaves or Bath. Jacquard loom, which uses punch cards to create complicated woven designs, is invented in France.
ormally ends the American War o Independence.
Marianne is begun, later to Marianne is be revised into Sense and Sensibility .
1785 Edmund Cartwright
1796 First Impressions ,
patents the power loom.
1786 The frst stories are
much later to be “lopped and cropped” into Pride and Prejudice , is started.
accepts an oer o marriage rom Harris Bigg-Wither, only to change her mind the next day. Peace o Amiens briey ends (or ourteen months) the Napoleonic Wars.
written that later become the Juvenilia .
1797 First Impressions
Watsons is 1804 The Watsons is
1788 George III’s frst attack o mental illness in November provokes a Regency Crisis in Parliament.
is completed and oered to a publisher, who rejects it sight unseen.
1798 Susan , later to
in March, ending the frst Regency Crisis; the storming o the Bastille occurs and the Reign o Terror begins in France.
become Northanger Abbey, is probably started. Mary Linwood frst exhibits her copies o paintings in crewel yarn in London. This exhibition is a must-see or the next orty years.
1790 Richard Arkwright
1800 The Art o Knitting
builds the frst steampowered textile actory in Nottingham.
in Its Entire Extent , the earliest existing book speaking o knitting as
1789 George III recovers
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1802 Jane Austen
begun and abandoned.
1805 Admiral Horatio Nelson dies at the Battle o Traalgar.
1806 The widowed Mrs. Austen and the Misses Austen leave Bath and settle in Southampton. Pierre Jeandeau patents the frst latch needle (or use on a knitting machine).
1807 The Slave Trade Act abolishes the slave trade in the British Empire.
1809 Jane Austen makes an unsuccessul attempt to publish Susan Susan (published (published posthumously as Northanger Abbey ); ); Mrs. Austen and her daughters move to Chawton Cottage, Hampshire.
1810 Thomas Egerton accepts Sense and Sensibility or Sensibility or publication. George III suers a complete mental incapacity in December ater the death o his daughter and is confned in Windsor Castle.
1811 Sense and Sensibility is published on Sensibility is October 30; revisions are made on First Impressions (Pride and Prejudice ) and planning o Mansfeld Park begins. Park begins. The Luddite movement begins in response to the loss o jobs or skilled textile workers. The Regency Bill passes and establishes the Prince o Wales as Regent or his mad ather.
1812 Egerton buys the copyright to Pride and Prejudice . United States declares war on Great Britain. Luddites burn down mills and smash looms and are fnally supressed by the British Army.
1813 Pride and Prejudice is published on Prejudice is January 28; Mansfeld Park is completed and sold to Egerton.
1814 Mansfeld Park is
1822 George IV visits
published on May 9; work on Emma begins. Treaty o Ghent ofcially ends the War o 1812; Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to Elba.
Scotland, the frst state visit by a British monarch since the 1630s.
1815 Emma is published in December by John Murray; Persuasion is started. Battle o Waterloo ends the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon is exiled to St. Helena.
1826 University College London is ounded under the name University o London.
1828 The London Zoo, the world’s oldest scientifc zoo, is established but not open to the public until 1847.
1816 Persuasion is
1830 The Roberts
completed. Leopold o SaxeCoburg marries Charlotte Augusta, daughter o the Prince Regent.
Loom is introduced, which becomes the standard power loom because o its reliability and changes the industry by making weaving a semiskilled occupation. George IV dies; William IV ascends the throne.
1817 Sanditon is started and abandoned when Austen is too ill to work; Austen dies in Winchester, Hampshire, on July 18; Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are published posthumously posthumously.. Princess Charlotte dies in childbirth; a succession crisis ensues in which the king’s elderly brothers put aside their mistresses to sire a legitimate heir to the throne.
1819 Queen Victoria is
1832 Austen’s novels are frst published in the United States States by Richard Richard Bentley in the Standard Novels series. The response is underwhelming underwhelming..
1833 The British Parliament passes the Slavery Abolition Act, giving all slaves in the British Empire their reedom.
born on May 24.
1835 Handknitting once
1820 An industrial spy
again becomes popular in England.
brings the secret o the Jacquard loom technology to England. George III dies; George IV ascends the throne.
1821 In the Quarterly Review , the English writer and theologian Richard Whately publishes the most serious and enthusiastic early posthumous review o Austen’s work. A similar system to the Jacquard loom is patented in England.
1836 The earliest Victorian patterns are published by Jane Gaugain.
1837 William IV dies; Victoria ascends the throne.
1856 William Henry Perkin develops mauveine, the frst synthetic dye.
“My Romance” by Shannon Mullet-Bowlsby In Buffalo Gold “Lux”
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Special Issue 2011 Jane Austen Knits •
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Sense & Sensibility
PA E R N C O M P A N Y
by Joanna Johnson
F
or nearly fteen years, Jennie Chancey, owner o Sense and Sensibility Patterns (http:// sensibility.com/), has been designing “winsome clothing with an old-ashioned appeal.” She has shared her love o historical gowns with sewists around the world through her period-correct dress patterns, online sewing courses, and ashion tours through England. I was ortunate enough to have an opportunity to chat with Jennie about her unique approach to designing historical gowns.
Let’s start at the beginning beginning,, when you frst discovered your passion or or sewing. How How did you start start sewing and making dresses in particular? Do you have ormal training in ashion design?
N E E K Y A S D N I L
Jennie Chancey at Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, Hampshire, England.
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My mother began teaching me to sew on the sewing machine when I was eight, but I was a perectionist pe rectionist and got discouraged by the smallest mistakes. I fnally quit on her, convinced I’d never be a good seamstress. Ten, when I was about thirteen years old, I saw the Anne o Green Gables miniseries and ell in love with the gorgeous costumes. I told Mom I wanted to make a whole wardrobe o Edwardian skirts, blouses, and dresses. She serenely pointed to the sewing machine and said it was time to learn! I was very motivated at that point, so I jumped in and have never looked back. Mom taught me to make patterns rom photographs or vintage drawings, and I began b egan collecting vintage
T R E H C I E R I B A G
T R E H C I E R I B A G
Jennie Chancey’s frst sewing pattern, the Regency Gown.
sewing manuals rom the late nineteenth century century through about the 1950s. Tey are a treasure trove o inormation. inormatio n. I did not pursue ormal training in ashion design, as I was just able to jump into doing what I wanted to do with the skills my mother gave me.
Te name o your company, Sense and Sensibility Se nsibility Pattern Company, is inspired by one o Jane Austen’s most-loved novels. How did your gown pattern company begin, and how was your Regency Gown pattern a part o that creative process? process? As a newlywed, I began sewing Regency gowns and Regency-inspired blouses and dresses or riends. Word spread, and I had a good riend make a small black-and-white catalog that I could hand out. Because I couldn’t fnd patterns out there that looked close to the beautiul designs I’d seen on Regency ashion plates and in ashion history books, I decided to create
my own. I never dreamed I’d later sell that pattern! I only intended to use it to make gowns or customers. But two years later, ater repeated customer requests, I published the original Regency Gown pattern, which is still my best-selling pattern. My husband, Matt Chancey, actually hit upon the name or my business. Knowing my love or all things Jane Austen, he suggested Sense and Sensibility or my line o custom gowns, which was both practical (the “sense” part) and romantic (there’s the “sensibility”!).
I frst discovered your patterns while looking or the perect Regency gown to sew or an English country country dance I attended a ew years ago. Looking through the Simplicity Pattern Book at our sewing shop, I ound “the one”—and it was yours! What was it like or an independent home-based designer to have a pattern licensed by Simplicity?
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Well, it was a huge surprise when I got the letter rom Simplicity. I actually thought it was a joke at frst. It wasn’t until I called the number on the letterhead and spoke with the director that I realized they truly wanted to license my pattern! I was delighted, and it is still amazing to me to see my “baby” in one o the big pattern catalogs.
Do you have avorite abrics or your Regency Gown pattern? I made mine out o a simple cotton dotted swiss but would love to hear what other abrics and trimmings work well with your design. Just about about any lightweight lightweight cotton cotton will work beautiully, and there are some knockout Regency cotton prints available rom www.reproductionabrics.com. My husband actually bought me about 25 yards o Egyptian muslin a couple o years ago when he was in Arica, and it is identical to late-eighteenth late-eighteenth-century -century English muslin—very gauzy and lightweight. It can c an be dicult to sew with because it is so delicate, but the results are breathtaking. I also love voile, organdy, and silk or ball gowns. Scrumptious! S crumptious!
museums, including the Daughters o the American Revolution Museum in Washington, D.C.; the Valentine Museum in Richmond, Virginia; the DeWitt Wallace Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia; the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; and the renowned Snowshill collection housed in Hereor Hereord, d, England. Tere is really nothing like seeing these works o art up close to inspire a new design!
Your website is a great resource or researching historical ashions, abrics, vintage images, and accessories. I am particularly interested in the digital downloads and online classes you oer through your site. Could you tell me a little more about them?
When I started out, there really wasn’t much online or historical ashion enthusiasts (the Internet was still in its inancy in 1997!). So I decided to build a site based on what I wished I could fnd online. I scanned images rom my own vintage catalog and photo collection to share, including as much inormation inormation as I had about each item. As my collection o original ashion plates, catalogs, and sewing books grew, I decided to make high-resolution scans o Can you describe or our readers the ones in the public domain so some o the other period-correct I could oer them as eBooks and Jennie Chancey’s Regency Spencer pattern. historical gown patterns you have “dollar downloads.” Being able to designed? What inspires your see original sources is so helpul decisions to create a gown pattern rom a particular when it comes to researching styles, colors, and patterns time period? rom a particular era. Te classes came at the request o my riend and ellow costume enthusiast Penny I’ve branched out to cover the late Georgian era (1780s), Ladnier o www.costumegallery.com, who hit upon the Edwardian era (1902–1910), the 1910s 19 10s (itanic the idea o online sewing classes around 1999. I took era), and the 1940s. My most recent designs are my my most popular patterns and built weekly lessons to Ladies’ and Girls’ 1780s Portrait Dress patterns. At frst I take students through each design step by step. I’ve had just design designed ed what what I ell in love love with, with, but as my cust customer omer almost a thousand students go through my classes in base grew, I began receiving lots o requests and the past twelve years, and that just thrills me! suggestions or new time periods. Te 1780s patterns I see that you are preparing or your third historical were a direct result o customer requests, and I really ashion tour through through England and and admit I am am jealous! enjoyed creating those. I get my inspiration rom period How did you decide to plan your frst tour, and would portraits, ashion plates, and extant gowns. I’ve had the you please share some Jane Jane Austen highlights with us? privilege o studying historical ashion up close in many
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T R E H C I E R I B A G
Once again, I must credit my wonderul husband, Matt, or this idea! He took me on a grand tour o England or our tenth anniversary in 2006, stopping o at Jane Austen’s house in Chawton, her grave in Winchester Cathedral, the places she visited in Bath, and then the gorgeous countryside countryside o Derbyshi Derbyshire re (we just had to to see i we could fnd Pemberley!). While on that trip, Matt suggested that I put together a tour package to share these avorite places with my customers. Suzi Clarke, a good riend and ellow costumier in London (see www.suziclarke.co.uk), had contacts at United Kingdom museums who would help us get “backstage tours” tours” o important costume collections, so we began working together to create an itinerary. Te 2009 tour centered in London with an extension to Chawton and Bath or the opening o the Jane Austen Austen Festival. Festival. It was such such a success success that I had a crammed waiting list o olks wanting to go the next year. Our second tour in 2010 took us rom London to Bath to Hereord and Devon, where we visited several costume collections and also had our fll o Austen-related delights (including participation in the costumed promenade in Bath or the estival). I’m now busily planning the 2012 tour, and we hope to include
a dip into Derbyshire this time to show why Lizzie Bennet ell in love with the countryside there.
What do you have planned for the future? I have sewn three of your patterns and enjoyed each one immensely; I would love to know what you are working on these days. Right now, I’m working on some revisions to my earliest patterns or girls. I began the girls’ g irls’ patterns patterns when my oldest daughter was a baby. Now that she is eight, I’ve discovered areas where I can tweak those patterns to make them even better. Once those are fnished, I hope to complete work on a late Victorian/ early Edwardian underthings pattern, which will include drawers, petticoats, and corset covers. Ater that, I have plans to dive into the 1950s, thanks to multiple customer requests! Joanna Johnson of northern Colorado, has a BA in literature from Drew University and has greatly enjoyed writing the stories and designing the knitting patterns for the knitting picture books that she writes and that her husband, Eric Johnson, illustrates for their independent book-publishing company, Slate Falls Press (www.slatefallspress.com).
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Special Issue 2011 • Jane Austen Knits
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Jaane & J
KNIING
ane Austen, her mother, and her sister all knitted, but this was only to be b e expected. In Georgian England, everyone but the very wealthy spun wool yarn and knitted. But even so, keeping a amily supplied with clothing was an ongoing challenge, and
J
by Sheryl Craig
most people at least occasionally bought handknitted stockings to fll in the gaps in their own production. Troughout Jane’s lietime (1775–1817), knitting stockings or sale was an enormous cottage industry, and men, women, and children all over Britain fnancially supported themselves or added to their incomes with their knitting needles. O course, the wealthy paid other people to make all o their clothing or them, so among the aristocracy, knitting was considered to be a tedious, mundane activity, an obviously practical pursuit but something that anyone would avoid i she could aord to do so. o be seen knitting was just so working class. Although women like Jane’s mother enjoyed knitting, pretentious upstarts like Pride and Prejudice’s Caroline Bingley or Sense and Sensibility ’s Fanny Dashwood would have shunned knitting, at least until 1837—twenty years ater Jane’s death—when knitting suddenly became a ashionable pastime or aristocrats aristocrats..
In Her Novels
Wensley Dale knitters from The Costumes of Yorkshire in 1814 by George Walker (Leeds, England: Richard Jackson, 1885).
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Tere is no mention o anyone knitting in Jane Austen’s frst our novels, although the wealthy Mrs. Jennings in Sense and Sensibility must be a knitter as she is planning a knitting project. Mrs. Jennings’s knitting is perectly in keeping with her character as just one more example o her indierence to upper-class notions o propriety propriety.. Jane’s fnal two novels novels contain three characters characters who knit: Mrs. Bates and Jane Fairax in Emma and Mrs.
Smith in Persuasion. All three characters live in reduced circumstances, and their their knitting serves as a s a clue to their precarious fnances. During Jane’s lie, knitting stockings or sale was considered to be the ideal employment or the poor. Pamphlets and articles written by clergymen, magistrates, and charitable societies extolled the virtues o knitting or an income. Workhouses, poorhouses, and charity hospitals all taught knitting knitting with the idea that the poor in their care were learning a trade. Orphanages and charity schools also taught knitting and usually presented their emale charges with a set o knitting needles when they were discharged, with the understanding that the young women could now fnancially support themselves.
o a workingman’s income. One person knitting continuously or ten to twelve hours a day could barely earn sixpence, so such high wages suggest that at least two amily a mily members were employed more or less constantly with their knitting needles. Entire amilies, even whole villages, were employed in knitting and gathered together to work on their stockings. In fne weather, people usually knitted outdoors to take advantage o the daylight. In their cottages, knitting neighbors clustered around a window, a candle, or a hearth to share the light as they worked. Larger groups o knitters generally congregated in the village church where they chatted, told stories, recited poetry, read novels and newspapers aloud, or sang songs to help pass the time while busy needles clicked in rhythm. rhythm. Children as young as seven or eight were employed knitting stockings, although they might require Bread-and-Butter Tough no one was ever going to become prosperous assistance to turn the heel or the toe, and knitting was rom knitting stockings, an industrious knitter could oten the only job option available or the rail or the perhaps keep bread on the table, elderly. “Past almost everything but no small accomplishment or “She Taught Me to Knit, which tea and quadrille,” Emma’s Mrs. Bates widows, orphans, and the elderly. elderly. In still knits. People with poor eyesight, has been a great amusement.” retrospect, we can now see that the like Mrs. Bates, could knit even when — MRS. SMIH IN PERSUASION cottage industry o handknitting they could not see well enough to was beginning its decline in the thread a needle or to sew a seam. early nineteenth century, but that conclusion was not so (When Jane Austen’s mother was having trouble with evident at the time. In 1799, in Jane’s home county o her eyesight, Jane’s mother wrote to her granddaughter Hampshire, ten thousand people in Christchurch parish that she could “do hardly any work but knitting white alone were employed ull-time in knitting stockings. yarn,” but even the blind could knit.) Although Mrs. As the invalid Mrs. Smith in Persuasion demonstrates, Bates is rarely seen without “her usual employment,” knitting was also a convenient part-time job. she does not seem to be knitting or hersel, as her Women with amilies could knit while they tended granddaughter granddaught er Jane Fairax “knit a pair o garters or to their children, stirred the soup, and otherwise kept her grandmother.” Tis little tidbit o inormation was the home fres burning, but men knitted as well. Wagon no doubt a hint to Emma’s original readers that the drivers were particularly known or knitting as their elderly Mrs. Bates was a working woman. horses learned their regular routes and did not require Village shops, like Ford’s in Emma’s Highbury, much supervision, leaving the wagon driver’s hands dispensed wool and paid knitters who brought back ree to work his needles. Shepherds knitted as their fnished stockings and gloves. Knitters were usually ocks grazed, and although most knitters sat to work, paid on account creating a barter system o exchange period illustrations also show people knitting as they or tea, sugar, soap, candles, needles, and thread. In a stood or walked about the village. People who knitted letter, Jane Austen wrote w rote o her “charities “charities to the poor, p oor,” incessantly were reerred to as “terrible knitters,” terrible which mostly involved distributing “Worsted Stockings” meaning compulsively hardworking in this case. Other to some impoverished women in her village. As Jane people knitted only during “idle” hours. Farm laborers recorded the expense involved, she apparently bought knitted in the evenings and on Sundays to supplement the stockings ready-made and locally knitted. By their wages. purchasing rather than knitting the stockings hersel, In 1820, a Sussex amily could earn twelve to Jane enriched enriched both the the village’s knitters knitters and the needy needy twenty pounds a year by knittingup to two-thirds recipients o their knitting.
Special Issue 2011 • Jane Austen Knits
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apparently more acceptable to consumers, but the vast majority o British eet were clad in wool. wo ol. Worn Out Although they were common enough at the time, knitted items rom the Georgian period are very rare today, today, as ew survived the ravages o use. Knitted clothing was generally worn until it was literally worn out. When Jane paid a social call at a riend’s house, she recorded that her riend’ riend ’s mother “sat “sat darning a pair o Stockings the whole o my visit.” Jane apparently ound this a bit embarrassing, although she acknowledged that her mother might well have done the same thing. Had the woman been knitting a new pair More Wensley Dale knitters from The Costumes of Yorkshire in 1814 by George Waker (Leeds, o stockings rather than patching England: Richard Jackson, 1885). old ones, and thus exposing her amily’s need or economy, there A pair o worsted stockings sold or two to two and a would presumably have been no embarrassment at hal shillings in the shop, and the knitter was paid one all. Te kindly Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove in Persuasion shilling in coin or credit or a fnished pair. A shilling fnd darning their amily’s stockings to be a ull-time was a day’s wages or the average workingman. In 1799, occupation or their elderly servant. ser vant. Once stockings the typical Hampshire knitter earned our shillings a were beyond repair, any salvageable yarn was unraveled week. For someone like Mrs. Bates, who lives “in a very and recycled. Even little bits o yarn were worked into small way,” our shillings would buy the groceries. In new garments or used to mend old ones. 1801, the Kendal Market sold on average 2,400 pairs Although she lived in rural England where sheep o handknitted, wool stockings each week. Rural areas dotted the nearby felds, when Jane traveled to London, supplied the London market, and British stockings she purchased “Lambswool.” Probably, she was able to were also exported or sale sa le in Europe. fnd a larger variety o colors in the city and perhaps Color illustrations rom the time show a 3- to 4-inch unusual textures rom the wool o dierent breeds o white band at the top cu o the stocking and the sheep. Jane’s mother particularly enjoyed knitting, as rest o the stocking knitted in a contrasting, usually Jane recorded recorded in her letters: “My Mother is very well dark, color. color. Georgian knitting needles were normally & fnds great amusement in glove-knitting; when this made o relatively sot metal. Steel needles were not pair is fnished, she means to knit another, & at present available until the Victorian age, and wooden needles wants no other work.” Mrs. Austen also knitted “rugs.” had to be handcrated. Te most up-to-date in early Jane wrote to her sister that their mother promised to nineteenth-century technology was a knitting rame “knit one or you, as soon as you return to chuse the which produced machine-knitted stockings, but at the colours & pattern.” time people considered clothing knitted by machines Te term rug is a bit misleading or modern to be shoddy merchandise and reused to buy the Americans. A knitted wool rug reerred to a large, heavy items. Machine-knitted cotton or silk stockings were shawl, or what we might reer to as an aghan, a warm
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Jane Austen Knits
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wrap or a chilly room in the days beore central heating. In Sense and Sensibility, Mrs. Jennings is “busily employed in measuring lengths o worsted or her rug,” probably determining the best way to use remnants o yarn. When Jane suggested that her niece “work a rug or Uncle John’s Coee urn,” she was reerring to a knitted tea cozy. Te knitter’s personal touch was obviously a valued part o the git.
Jane’s Spinning Wheel Because women spent so much o their lives spinning and knitting, a woman’s spinning wheel and her knitting needles were considered very personal possessions. An antique spinning wheel usually bears the impression o the original owner’s oot on the treadle, and old knitting needles are oten bent by the individual owner’s grip. In 1811, when an elderly relative proposed giving her spinning wheel to Jane, the author was both touched and appalled by the suggestion: “I cannot endure the idea o her giving away her own wheel, & have told her no more than the truth, in saying that I could never use it with comort;—I had a great mind to add that i she persisted in giving it, I would spin nothing with it but a Rope to hang mysel—but I was araid o making it appear a less serious matter o eeling than it really is.”
Aristocrats Knitting
MistyVales Stole More exquisite lace, patterns and yarn at www.fiddlesticksknitting.co www .fiddlesticksknitting.com m
Knitting was such a routine part o most people’s lives in Britain that Jane would would have been surprised to learn that twenty years years ater her death, knitting became positively chic. In other parts o Europe, there was no social stigma against knitting, and aristocratic aristocratic German ladies routinely knitted in public, even on ormal occasions such as at the opera. As a child, Queen Victoria had been taught to knit by her German mother (the Duchess o Kent) and her German governess. When she inherited the throne in 1837, the young queen instantly became a trendsetter, and whatever she did was suddenly ashionable. Te new monarch enjoyed knitting, and she continued to knit in the German tradition, tradition, when and where and beore whomever she pleased, pleased , or the rest o her long and inuential lie. Te queen’s hobby turned knitting needles into trendy ashion accessories. Te frst knitting patterns in England were published in the mid-1830s, just as Victoria ascended to her uncle’s throne. By the 1840s, knitting books with instructions and patterns were extremely popular, and many went through successions o reprints. I Jane had lived long enough to see knitting become all the rage among the upper class, she would no doubt have echoed Caroline Bingley in Pride and Prejudice: “I am all astonishment.” Sheryl Craig has a PhD in nineteenth-century British literature rom the University o Kansas, and she teaches English at the University o Central Missouri. She has published dozens o articles in Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine World magazine and writes flm reviews or the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, England. Sheryl is a lie member o the Jane Austen Society o North America.
Special Issue 2011 • Jane Austen Knits
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Regency Fashion IN COLOR by Meghan Fernandes
R E K L A W N A C N U D / M O C . O T O H P K C O T S I ©
“The family embarks—St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside.” An illustration by Randolph Caldecott from The Diverting History of John Gilpin (London: George Routledge & Sons) 1881.
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Jane Austen Knits • janeaustenknits.com
he Regency era (1795–1837) was an exciting time or color in textiles, as by b y this time, ships rom the European colonies in the New World (the Americas) and Asia were bringing back vibrant new abrics and dyes—although it wouldn’t be until 1856 that syntheti syntheticc dyes were invented. All the colors described in Jane Austen novels were extracted rom nature. Jane Austen’s descriptions o clothing in her novels and letters, as well as descriptions in ashion magazines rom the period (the frst o their kind in England) oer us pleasant characterizations o popular Regency colors. Te Te ashion periodicals were expensive and exclusive—the twenty or so names o the subscribers were printed in the back and oten included a princess or a countess. One o the most notable o these magazines was Te Gallery of Fashion—a monthly that eatured hand-illustrated plates with detailed descriptions o the latest ashions or ladies. Luckily or us, the descriptions are rich and very specifc—the many shades o red are described as coquelicot, scarlet, and crimson, while yellows are primrose, jonquille, gold, and straw. Tere are also many other delightully named shades: carmelite (a rich brown named or the order o monks who wore the color), puce (a deep purpley red oten also seen in china patterns and a avorite o Marie Antoinette), and dove (a drab grayish purple); in addition there are those we are still amiliar with: silver, lilac, olive, salmon, lead, lemon, and morone (which we now spell maroon).
Buff
Another popular color rom the period that we can easily identiy today is bu, and it has an interesti interesting ng history. Te name comes rom the word bualo, so it wasn’t in use until ater the French encountered the animal in the Americas. In Britain, the tough bualo skins were used in military uniorms as a sort o armor armor,, and the name stuck and came to be used even when the item described was not necessarily made o leather. One dyer rom the period went as ar as to say that a “good “good bu ” was as a s dicult to dye as a “good scarlet,” and it was so complex that some dyers specialized in bu. Red
As or reds, the tiny, dye-producing bug cochineal was brought to Europe by the Spanish rom Mexico in the sixteenth century, and it soon overtook madder as the red dye o choice. Cochineal was more concentrated than madder and was the cause o much international uror while the Spanish kept its source a secret and charged exorbitant ees or the dye. Te French fnally uncovered its mystery in 1777 when the botanist Tiéry de Menonville undertook a dangerous undercover mission in Mexico. Ater the espionage, it became much easier or Regency ladies, like those described in Austen’s novels, to wear scarlet spencers, coquelicot ribbons, or crimson caps. O course, many a Regency gentleman also wore red—Mr. Wickham cutting a dashing fgure in his uniorm in Pride and Prejudice comes to mind. And it was only about 150 years earlier that the British
Army began wearing the amous red coats, which were originally dyed with madder. Tough at times European (and later, American) governments chose the color o their militaries’ uniorms according to the economics o dye prices, it is oten said that red was chosen or the British Army because o its ability to hide another source o the color red—blood. Te particular cochineal dye used or the army was frst produced by a Dutch scientist living in London who accidentally mixed cochineal with tin chloride. He manuactured it or the British Army in a neighborhood o London called Bow, and the color o the dye or the uniorms was henceorth called Bow red and was still in use into the 1950s. By the end o the eighteenth century, Britain was importing nearly one-fth o New Spain’s cochineal dye or its expanding colonial army. Also, men declared decla red their political politi cal aliations by the color o their jackets—red was the color o the ory party, while blue was the color o the Whigs. Blue and other colors
Blue was another popular color or men’s clothing, and suiting in particular was oten blue because o the relative colorastness o indigo dye, which was sourced rom India during the Regencyy. Both Mr. Wickham Regenc Wickham and a nd Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice are seen in blue coats, and Charles and Frank Austen (Austen’s seaaring brothers) would have worn what we know as navy blue—which King George II declared should be used or naval ocer’s uniorms ater admiring the Duchess o Bedord in a dark blue riding habit. In women’s ashion, some colors were common to particular items o clothing or accessories. More oten than not, the parasols eatured in Regency ashion illustrations are green—perhaps because the blue/yellow combination they were dyed with would have been less likely to ade
Special Issue 2011
• Jane Austen Knits
25
when the parasols were exposed to the sun. By contrast, items such as elbow-length gloves and ribbon trims are depicted in light shades such as pink, light blue, or yellow. Shawls, however, appear in a wide variety o colors, including green with a crimson border, silver, very deep black, light blue, and, o course, white.
White White was undeniably the most popular color or dresses o the era, and this certainly did not escape Austen, who writes in Mansfeld Park , “A woman can never be too fne while she is all in white.” White also plays a symbolic role in Northanger Abbey, in which Eleanor ilney, idolized by Catherine Morland as the ideal young lady and riend, is never ne ver seen in anything else. Catherine’s chaperone, excited by the idea that she will be associating with the elegant Miss ilney, tells her, “Go, by all means, my dear; only put on a white gown; Miss ilney always wears white.” O course, women did wear dresses in other colors. Lighter colors colors were more popular than in previous eras; however, the the new abrics available washed better and were thereore less prone to ading. A lady would be more likely to wear a colored dress during the day than in the evening, however, as colors were more practical than white because white was easily stained
and required servants to launder it properly. A spencer, or short jacket, would oten be worn in a stronger color to contrast with a white or pale gown. Austen hersel appears in more than one portrait wearing light blue. She depicts Miss Smith in Emma and Isabella Torpe in Northanger Abbey as wearing yellow. Isabella appears again describing her purple gowns as well a s her acquaintance Miss Andrew’s “puce sarcenet” (a silk abric). As several o Austen’s letters to her sister Cassandra attest, women oten had their clothes dyed to keep up with the latest ashion, a shion, so an old white dress might become new again in another color or be dyed black or mourning. Just J ust as Au Auste sten n gave gave us ins insigh ightt int intoo a ch chara aracte cter’r’s inner inner workings by sharing details o his or her wardrobe with us, we can choose the colors and textures that arouse our creativity when we create handknits inspired by her works—an olive shawl à la Mrs. Bates in Emma? Or Or perhaps a spencer in James Morland’s avorite shade o purple rom Northanger Abbey? Te choice is yours. Meghan Fernandes is an American living in the Bow neighborhood of London, England, where she teaches, designs, and writes about knitting and textiles. She has a master’s degree in writing, gender, and culture from Kings College, University of London.
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Jaane J
WHA WOULD
KNI?
by Larissa Brown
I
t seems like a straightorward question—a question seductive in its simplicity and an invitation to dream. So I set out to answer it. What would Jane knit? I asked a lot o knowledgeable and creative people, and I got an answer right away: We just don’t know. A K O I “We have little evidence to tell B K / us what Jane personally p ersonally knitted,” O T O says designer and Austen devotee H P K Kristen Hanley Cardozo. “But C O T S rom her surviving letters to her I © sister, Cassandra, we can piece together possible clues.” She points to an 1807 letter in which Jane writes about a nished project. Te author is vague about her hand in the matter, but “we can iner that Jane Ja ne pro probab bably ly kni knitte ttedd a lap rug rug..” Despite such scant detail, I persisted with my question. I asked my experts or hypotheticals, speculations, visions. Ater all, many knitters are Austen ans or even rabid Janeites. I wanted to nd what knitters today might m ight have in common with a long-gone author they adore. I ound mysel making unexpected connections. Shawls, or example. Te knitting world today is obsessed with them, and they were the crucial accessory in Jane’s time, too.
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Jane Austen Knits • janeaustenknits.com
“Everyone was wa s wearing ‘the little white dress,’ so the shawl could really set you apart,” says author Mary Robinette Kowal whose novel Shades of Milk and Honey imagines a Regency era in which magic exists. She says that or ladies o quality shawls were showpieces, and their employment at balls and in society had little to do with warmth. “One o the things you were judged on was the way in which you wore the shawl—your ability to manage it graceully.” For me, it brought to mind the current shawlette craze and knitters who stage backyard photo shoots to show of their work to lovely efect. “A popular thing to do was wear an overdress o net, in some color like a brilliant scarlet, over the little white dress,” dress,” Kowal says. “It would mirror the shape o the dress perectly.” While Jane hersel wouldn’t have knitted such a concoction, Kowal believes a dream version could be made by an Austen an today. today. Others picture ar smaller knitted works o art. Teater historian and Regency-era expert Sarah Grace Marsh says, “I I were to imagine her h er creating something, it would be knotty, complex lacework. For
reasons unknown to me, I think o spiderwebs. Not yet lacy chus, and small shawls—quick and unobtrusive reaky, Gothic ones, but taking her inspiration rom projects she could bestow on her near and dear.” them. Lines and angles taken rom an organic source.” Tis combination o generosity, grace, and useulness Kristen Hanley Cardozo also thinks Jane’s knitting is something a contemporary knitter would be proud would be small and intricate intricate.. She describes purses o a to possess. It conjures up images o knitters creating type that ladies then crated. “Tese were oten knitted woolly hats or strangers or colorul, washable aghans with metallic threads, beads, or delicate colorwork, and or children in need. It brings to mind tender moments closed by a drawstring or a metal clasp,” she says. “A o hope and giving—a knitter considering a ball o genteel but not especially well-of lady like Jane might sotest organic cotton or an expected baby. have knitted some gloves to wear during her requent It’s that kind o private moment that sticks in my and much-enjoyed trips to the theater.” mind as I consider my original question. As much as A small project might have had special appeal to a writer we share knitting with our riends and amily, it can and keen observer like Jane. Designer and literary blogger also be an anonymous good deed, a secret indulgence, Emily Johnson imagines her working on low-prole low-p role a hidden pleasure. Some o the most exquisite knitting projects that she could use as a screen, “keeping her hands moments are the quiet ones. busy while she observed the interactions around her.” Tis Austen’s world and personality led her to keep her isn’t ar diferent rom the way we employ our crat when writing close. None o us know what other creativity meeting with knitting groups at caés and LYSs LYSs (otherwise Jane might might have been hiding. So none o us really know known as local yarn stores). We We listen, our hands work, the answer to what she would knit. But we can imagine and we learn about one another. a number o ways she might be just like us. Most o all, I heard themes o useulness, modesty, and generosity. Designer and Austen an Kristin Larissa Brown is an author and designer who writes about the relationships knitters form with family, friends, history, and Spurkland says, “I nd mysel imposing the traits o Austen’s heroines onto Jane hersel. I think o Jane as a special places. Her latest book is My Grandmother’s Knitting version o Elizabeth Bennet—smart, no-nonsense.” no-nonsense.” Spurkland believes Jane would have been an (STC Crafts/Melanie Falick Books, 2011). unpretentious knitter. “When complimented, I don’t think she would be one o those knitters who deects by pointing out the aws in a project. I think she would smile and modestly accept the praise.” Johnson, too, believes Austen would be unassuming. Speaking o how Austen purportedly hid her writing rom those outside her amily, Johnson says, “She strikes me as someone who didn’t like to obtrude her own projects on the attention o others.” Everyone I spoke with thought Jane would be generous. “I she knitted, she would have rst knitted scarves and gloves or her two brothers, who who were career naval o cers and spent s pent much time at sea, sea ,” speculates Dr. Joan Klingel Ray, ormer president o the Jane Austen Austen Society o North America and author o o Jane Austen For For Dummies. E K Emily Johnson keys into a similar attachment to R A L C amily.. “She was so close with her sister amily sister,, Cassandra, . S and her novels are ull o important emale riendships N I M A and sisterhoods,” she says. “It strikes me that much o J N E Austen’s hypothetical knitting would be items or amily B members and emale riends—little reticule bags, simple
Special Issue 2011
• Jane Austen Knits
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LINEN WORK APRON Designed by ANNIE MODESITT. PAGE 36. YARN: Louet Eurofax Sport Weight.
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Jane Austen Knits janeaustenknits.com •
SHORT STAYS Designed by LARISSA BROWN. PAGE 38. YARN: Shibui Knits Merino Alpaca.
FITZ FINGERLESS MITTS Designed by CATHERINE SHIELDS. PAGE 45. YARN: Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift.
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Jane Austen Knits
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PEMBERLEY SLIPPERS Designed by KRISTI SCHUELER. PAGE 46. YARN: Louet Gems Sport Weight.
LYDIA BENNET SECRET STOCKINGS Designed by SUSAN STRAWN. PAGE 54. YARN: Shibui Knits Staccato.
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Jane Austen Knits janeaustenknits.com •
AN ARAN FOR FREDERICK Designed by PAGE 40.
KATHLEEN DAMES.
Brooklyn Tweed Shelter.
YARN:
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GEORGIANA SHAWLETTE Designed by PAGE 52.
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Jane Austen Knits janeaustenknits.com •
SUSANNA IC.
Madelinetosh Tosh Sock.
YARN:
FRIVOLOUS SOCKS Designed by KATIE FRANCESCHI. PAGE 50. YARN: Yarn Love Joan of Arc.
MODERN RETICULE Designed by HEATHER ZOPPETTI. PAGE 48. YARN: Lana Grossa Setanova.
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y r t n u o C
Small Bobble:
Wide Rib:
Knit into ront, back, and ront o next st on let needle—3 sts on right needle. [Pass 2nd st on right needle over rst st and o needle] 2 times—1 st on right needle.
Row 1: (RS)
Double-Knit Slipped-Stitch Edge (DKSS):
LINEN WORK APRON Annie Modesitt
“
o sit in the shade on a fne day and look upon verdure is the most perect rereshment. rereshment.” ” —Jane Austen What better to wear, and work, in a garden than a useul u seul linen apron? It protects the clothing and grows soter and more beautiul with each washing.
17 3 ⁄ 4 (20, 221 ⁄ 4 , 243 ⁄ 4, 27)" wide at waist and 31 3 ⁄ 4 (323 ⁄ 4 , 333 ⁄ 4 , 34 3 ⁄ 4 , 353 ⁄ 4)" rom top o bib to lower edge. Apron shown measures 20". Y A R N Louet Eurofax Sport Weight (100% (1 00% linen; 270 yd [247 m]/100 g): #57 French blue, 3 (3, 3, 4, 4) skeins. N E E D L E S Sizes 5 (3.75 mm) and 7 (4.5 mm). Adjust needle sizes i necessary to obtain the correct gauge. N O T I O N S Markers (m); stitch holder; tapestry needle. G A U G E 20 sts and 25 rows = 4" in St st on smaller needles. FINISHED SIZE
NOTE Te double-knit slipped-stitch edge is worked on each edge o the entire apron and is worked over the rst and last 3 stitches o each row. Tese stitches are shown on the charts. Stitch Guide Large Bobble:
[Knit into center o st below next st but do not drop st rom let needle, then knit next st but do not drop st rom let needle] 3 times, drop st rom let needle—6 sts on right needle. [Pass 2nd st on right needle over rst st and o need le] 5 times—1 st on right needle.
36
janeaustenknits.com m Jane Austen Knits • janeaustenknits.co
RS rows: K1,
sl 1 pwise with yarn in ront (wy), k1, work in patt to last 3 sts, k1, sl 1 pwise wy, k1. WS rows: Sl 1 pwise wy, k1, sl 1 pwise wy, work in patt to last 3 sts, sl 1 pwise wy, k1, sl 1 pwise wy.
APRON With smaller needles, CO 148 (168, 188, 208, 228) sts. Lace edging: Work Rows 1–22 o Bobble Lace chart once. Next row: (RS) DKSS (see Stitch Guide), p1, knit to last 4 sts, p1, DKSS. Next row: (WS) DKSS, knit to last 3 sts, DKSS. Rep last 2 rows once more. Work Rows 1–4 o Openwork chart once—134 (152, 170, 188, 206) sts rem. Next row: (RS) DKSS, p1, knit to last 4 sts, p1, DKSS. Next row: (WS) DKSS, knit to last 3 sts, DKSS. Rep last 2 rows once more.
DKSS, p4 (3, 2, 1, 0), [p1, k10 (12, 14, 16, 18), p1] 10 times, p4 (3, 2, 1, 0), DKSS. Row 2: DKSS, k4 (3, 2, 2 , 1, 0), [k1, p10 (12, 14, 16, 18), k1] k1] 10 times, time s, k4 (3, 2, 1, 0), DKSS. Rep last 2 rows until piece measures 24 (25, 26, 27, 28)" rom CO or desired length, ending with a WS row. Waistband: Dec row: (RS) K32 (36, 40, 44, 48), [ssk] 35 (40, 45, 50, 55) times, k32 (36, 40, 44, 48)—99 (112, 125, 138, 151) sts rem. Next row: DKSS, *k1tbl; rep rom * to last 3 sts, DKSS. Rep last row 8 more times. Next row: (RS) DKSS, [k1tbl] 23 (30, 36, 43, 49) times, pm, k46, pm, [k1tbl] 24 (30, 37, 43, 50) times, DKSS. Next row: (WS) DKSS, [k1tbl] 24 (30, 37, 43, 50) times, p46, [k1tbl] 23 (30, 36, 43, 49) times, DKSS. Waistband I-cord bind-off: Rearrange rst 2 sts on needle so rst st becomes 2nd and 2nd st becomes rst. [K3, transer 3 sts rom right needle to le t needle] 2 times, *k2, ssk, transer 3 sts rom right needle to let needle; rep rom * to 4 sts beore m, k2, ssk, remove m, [p2, k9] 4 times, p2, remove m, cable
CO (see Glossary) 3 sts onto let needle, *k2, ssk, transer 3 sts rom right needle to let needle; rep rom * until 6 sts rem on let needle, k1, s2kp2, transer 2 sts rom right needle to let needle, k1, s2kp2, transer 2 sts rom right needle to let needle, k2tog; break yarn; asten of last st—49 sts rem: 46 bib sts and 3 sts
k on RS; p on WS p on RS; k on WS yo k2tog on RS; p2tog on WS ssk k3tog
Bobble Lace
sssk 21
sl 2 as if to k2tog, k1, p2sso 19
sl 1 wyb on RS; sl 1 wyf on WS
17
sl 1 wyf on RS; sl 1 wyb on WS
15 13
small bobble (see Stitch Guide)
11
large bobble (see Stitch Guide) 9
pattern repeat
7 5
Openwork
3 3
1
10-st repeat
1
Wheat Lace 11 9 7
rom I-cord BO. Bib: With RS acing, insert tip o right needle into 3 cable CO sts—52 sts total. With WS acing, rejoin yarn. Next row: (WS) DKSS, [k2, p9] 4 times, k2, DKSS. Rep Rows 1–12 1– 12 o Wheat Lace L ace chart until unti l piece measures 6½" rom top o waistband, or desired bib length, ending with Row 6 or 12. Bib bind-off and right strap: Next row: (RS) DKSS, p2, k4, p2, place last 11 sts on holder or let strap, cable CO 3 sts onto let needle, *k2, ssk, transer 3 sts rom right needle to let needle; rep rom * until 15 sts rem on let le t needle, k2, ssk, p2, k4, p2, DKSS—14 DKSS—14 sts rem. Next row: (WS) DKSS, k8, DKSS. Next row: (RS) DKSS, p2, k4, p2, DKSS. Rep last 2 rows until piece measures 27½ (28, 28½, 29, 291 ⁄ 2)" rom top o bib, or reaches comortably over shoulder and across back to let waistband edge. Do not BO. With empty needle, pick up (but do not knit) 14 sts along let waistband edge. With RS tog and larger needle in right hand, being careul that strap isn’t twisted, join picked-up sts to end o strap using 3-needle bind-of (see Glossary). Left strap: ranser 11 sts rom holder to needle and, with RS acing, insert tip o right needle into 3 cable CO sts at edge o strap—14 sts total. Work Work let strap as or right strap, joining to right edge o waistband so straps crisscross in back.
5 3 1
22-st repeat 8" 20.5 cm
6 3 ⁄ 4" 17 cm
FINISHING Weave in loose ends and steam-block apron. A good washing and pressing will bring out the natural sotness o the linen abric and will block the piece beautiully! Te more you wash and use the apron, the soter it will become. Annie Modesitt lives in St. Paul, Minneso-
173 ⁄ 4 (20, 221 ⁄ 4, 24 3 ⁄ 4, 27)" 45 (51, 56.5, 63, 68.5) cm
ta, with her husband, children, pets and many, many books. She agrees with Miss Austen that “the person, be it gentleman
25 (26, 27, 28, 29)" 63.5 (66, 68.5, 71, 73.5) cm
or lady, who has not pleasure in a good
Apron
novel, must be intolerably stupid.”
281 ⁄ 2 (321 ⁄ 2, 361 ⁄ 2, 40 1 ⁄ 2, 44 1 ⁄ 2)" 72.5 (82.5, 92.5, 103, 113) cm
Special Issue 2011 • Jane Austen Knits
37
ies—Size 4 (3.5 mm): mm): double-pointed (dpn), body—Size 6 (4 mm): 36" or longer circular (cir), doublepointed (dpn). Adjust needle sizes i necessary to obtain the correct gauge. N O T I O N S 10 stitch markers ma rkers (m), 8 to denote shadow rib, 2 locking markers or ties and darts; tapestry needle; waste yarn or stitch holders. G A U G E 19 sts and 26 rows = 4" in St st on larger needles; 6 sts = 3 ⁄ 4" in tubular stitch on smaller needles. In particular, the row gauge o the tubular stitch should match the stitch gauge o the St st. NEEDLES
y r t n u o C
SHORT STAYS Larissa Brown
S
hort stays were a orm o corset worn in the Regency era. They ended immediately under the bust and were worn between layers, underneath the “public” dress. This top turns this fattering orm into outerwear. Crossed in ront and tied in back, its tted shape would look wonderul over a fowing blouse, simple T-shirt, or Empire-waist dress like those worn in Jane’s day. It brings the sweet shaping o short stays out into the light.
NOTES • Long ties are worked frst. Stitches are picked up along the ties to orm the lower edge o the body. • Te body is worked in one piece to armholes and then separated to complete ronts, shoulder, and neck shaping.
SIZES
Stitch Guide Tubular Stitch: Row 1 and all subsequent rows: *K1, sl
FINISHED SIZE
1 pwise wy; rep rom * to end o row.
32 (36, 39, 41)". Back width, measured between armhole seams 13½ (15¼, 16½, 17¼)" to ft actual back width o 13½ (15¼, 16½, 17¼)". Roughly corresponds with bust sizes 32 (36, 39, 41)". 41)". Project shown measures me asures 36". Y A R N Shibui Knits Merino Alpaca (50% merino, 50% alpaca; 132 yd [121 m]/100 g): #220 peony, 3 (3, 3, 3) skeins.
Shadow Rib: (multiple o 4 sts +
3) Row 1: (RS) *P3, k1tbl; rep rom * to last 3 sts, p3. Row 2: Knit. Rep Rows 1 and 2.
TIES With smaller dpn, CO 3 sts. Do not join, work back and orth or th in rows.
K1&b 3 times—6 sts. Work tubular stitch until piece measures 22" rom CO edge. Place locking marker into abric. Continue in tubular stitch until piece measures me asures 57 (60¼, 63½, 67¼)" 67¼)" rom CO edge. Place locking marker into abric. Continue in tubular stitch until piece measures 79 (82¼, 85½, 89¼)" rom CO edge. BO all sts. With larger needles, beg at the right m, pick up and knit 166 (182, 198, 214) sts across the center o the tie to the second marker. About 22" o ties should hang ree at each end o the picked-up sts. Remove m. urn work to begin begi n body.
BODY With larger needles, work the frst WS row, dividing it into 9 sections as oll: Sl 1 pwise wy, k1, p8 (10, 13, 16), pm, k15, pm, p23 (25, 27, 30), pm, k7, pm, p12 (17, 18, 20), pm, k19 (19, 23, 23), pm, p25 (28, 29, 31), pm, k7, pm, p to last 2 sts, k2. From this point orward, always maintain the ollowing 3-st border at the beg o all WS rows: Sl 1 pwise wy, k1, p1; and the ollowing 3-st border at the end o all WS rows: P1, k2. Establish patt and shape front neck: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wy, k1, ssk, [work in St st to m, work shadow rib to m] 4 times, k to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2—2 sts dec’d. Next row: (WS) Sl 1 pwise wy, k1, [p to m, work shadow rib to m] 4 times, p to last 2 sts, k2. Rep the last 2 rows 6 (5, 4, 3) more times—152 (170, 188, 206) sts rem.
10 (113 ⁄ 4, 113 ⁄ 4, 121 ⁄ 4)" 25.5 (29.75, 29.75, 31) cm 2 (21 ⁄ 4, 23 ⁄ 4, 23 ⁄ 4)" 5 (5.75, 7, 7) cm
m c ) 5 7 . 2 2 , " ) 5 m 9 2 c , . 4 2 ) ⁄ 3 5 2 . 8 , 9 , " 2 5 , ⁄ . ) 1 4 5 1 ⁄ 3 8 7 2 3 ( ( . 4 ⁄ , 0 1 1 4 1 1 8 2 ⁄ , 4 5 , . 2 1 ⁄ 1 1 4 ( ( 2 5 . ⁄ 1 1 4 1 " 4 m ⁄ 3 c 2
7 (81 ⁄ 4, 73 ⁄ 4, 81 ⁄ 4)" 11 ⁄ 2 (13 ⁄ 4, 2, 2)" 17.75 (21, 19.75, 21) cm 3.75 (4.5, 5, 5) cm
Back Left Front
22" 55.75 cm
38
103 ⁄ 4 (1 (11 11 ⁄ 2, 121 ⁄ 2, 14)" 27.25 (29.25, 31. 31.75, 75, 35.5) cm
Jane Austen Knits • janeaustenknits.com
Right Front
131 ⁄ 2 (151 ⁄ 4, 161 ⁄ 2, 171 ⁄ 4)" 34.25 (38.75, 42, 43.75) cm
103 ⁄ 4 (1 (11 11 ⁄ 2, 121 ⁄ 2, 14)" 27.25 (29.25, 31. 31.75, 75, 35.5) cm
22" 55.75 cm
dec’d. Rep the last 2 rows 1 (1, 2, 2) more time(s)—20 time(s)—20 (25, 29, 37) sts re m. Work 1 WS row even as established. Neck dec row: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wy f, k1, sssk, work to end as established—2 sts dec’d. Rep the last 4 rows 1 (1, 2, 2) more time(s)—16 (21, 23, 31) sts rem. Rep the last 2 rows 3 (5, 5, 9) more times—10 (11, 13, 13) sts rem. Work even in patt until arm hole measures 8¼ (8½, (8½, 8¾, 9)", 9)", ending afte afterr a RS RS row. Shape shoulder: (WS) BO 7 (8, 10, 10) sts—3 sts rem. Place these 3 sts on waste yarn or holder. Keep yarn attached. BACK
Neck dec row: (RS)
Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, sssk, work as established to last 5 sts, k3tog, k2—4 sts dec’d. Work Work 1 WS row even as established. Rep the last 2 rows 1 (2, 2, 0) more time(s time (s)—1 )—144 44 (158, 176, 202) sts rem. Shape bust darts: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, sssk, k19 (20, 24, 33), 33), M1R (see Glossary), pm for dart, k1, M1L (see Glossary), [k to m, work shadow rib to m] 3 times, t imes, k12 k1 2 (14, (14, 16, 18), M1R, k1, pm for dart, M1L, work to last 5 sts as established, k3tog, k2—st count remains the same. Work 1 WS row even as established.Dart row: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, sssk, work to dart m, M1R, sl m, k1, M1L, work as established to 1 st before next dart m, M1R, k1, sl m, M1L, work to last 5 sts, k3tog, k2. Work 1 WS row even as established. Rep the last 2 rows 0 (1, 1, 1) more time(s). Neck dec row: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, sssk, work as established to last 5 sts, k3tog, k2— 4 sts dec’d. Work 1 WS row even as established. Sizes 32 (36, –, –) only:
Rep neck dec row. Work 1 row even. Rep the last 2 rows 0 (1, –, –) –) more time—128 (146, –, –) sts rem.
BO 9 (9, 11, 13), work work 54 (62, 66, 68) 6 8) back sts as established, BO 9 (9, 11, 13), work as established to last 5 sts, k3tog, k2—26 (31, 38, 46) sts rem each front; 54 (62, 66, 68) sts rem for back. Turn to work left front. Place back and right front sts on waste yarn or holder. LEFT FRONT Next row: (WS)
Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, p to
last 2 sts, k2. Armhole and neck dec row: (RS)
Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, ssk, k to last 5 sts, k3tog, k2—3 sts dec’d. Rep the last 2 rows 1 (1, 2, 2) more time(s)—20 time(s)— 20 (25, 29, 37) sts re m. Work 1 WS row even as established. Neck dec row: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k to last 5 sts, k3tog, k2—2 sts dec’d. Rep the last 4 rows 1 (1, 2, 2) more time(s)—16 (21, 23, 31) sts rem. Rep the last 2 rows 3 (5, 5, 9) more times—10 (11, (11, 13, 13) 1 3) sts rem. Work even in patt until a rmhole measures 8¼ (8½, 8¾, 8¾, 9)", 9)", ending endi ng after af ter a WS row. Shape shoulder: (RS) BO 7 (8, 10, 10) sts—3 sts rem. Place these 3 sts on waste yarn or holder. Break yarn.
Sizes – (–, 39, 41) only:
RIGHT FRONT
Rep dart row. Work 1 row even. Rep neck dec row. Work 1 row even. Rep the last 4 rows – (–, 0, 1) more time— – (–, 168, 190) sts rem. All sizes: Divide for armholes: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, sssk, k23 (28, 35, 43),
Place right front sts on larger needles and join yarn yarn preparing preparing to to work work a WS row row.. Next row: (WS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, purl to last 2 sts, k2. Armhole and neck dec row: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, sssk, k to last 4 sts, k 2tog, k2—3 sts
Place back sts on larger needles and join yarn preparing to work a WS row. Next row: (WS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k1, work as established to last 2 sts, k2. Armhole dec row: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wy f, k1, ssk, work as established to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2—2 sts dec’d. Work armhole dec row every other row 1 (1, 2, 2) more time(s time (s), ), then every eve ry fourth row 1 (1 (1,, 2, 2) time(s)—48 (56, 56, 58) sts rem. Work even in patt until armholes measure 51 ⁄ 2 (53 ⁄ 4, 6, 61 ⁄ 4)" )",, ending after a WS row. Shape neck and left shoulder: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wyf, k15 (16, (1 6, 18, 18), BO 16 (22, 18, 20), knit to
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end. Turn to work let shoulder, leaving right shoulder sts to rest on needle or waste yarn. Next row: (WS) Sl 1 pwise wy, k1, p to end. Dec row: (RS) K2, ssk, work to end—1 st dec’d. Rep the last 2 rows 8 more times—7 (8, 10, 10) sts rem. I necessary, work even in pattern until armhole measures 8¼ (8½, 8¾, 9)". 9)". BO all a ll sts.
Use Kitchener st (see Glossary) to grat neck edging together. Larissa Brown is the author o My Grandmother’s Knitting: Family Stories and Inspired Knits from Top Designers (STC Crat/Melanie Falick Books, 2011). 2011). She learned to knit on the chenille couch in her grandmother’s suburban New Jersey home. Today, she lives and knits in
RIGHT SHOULDER Place right shoulder sts on larger needles and join yarn preparing to work a WS row. Next row: (WS) Work as established to last 2 sts, k2. Dec row: (RS) Sl 1 pwise wy, work to last 4 sts, k2tog, k2—1 st dec’d. Rep the last 2 rows 8 more times—7 (8, 9, 9) sts rem. I necessary, work even in patt until armhole measures 8¼ (8½, 8¾, 8¾, 9)". 9)". BO all al l sts. FINISHING Block to measurements. Sew shoulder seams, leaving 3 held ront sts unseamed. Weave in all ends, closing any gaps where underarm BO began or ended. Finish back neck: Starting at right ront shoulder, place 3 held sts on larger dpn. Beg with RS row: Sl 1 pwise wy, k2tog, pick up and knit 1 st rom neck edge. ed ge. Turn work . Row 2 and all WS rows: K3. Rep the last 2 rows until work meets 3 held sts rom let ront shoulder. Place those 3 sts on a dpn.
Portland, Oregon.
AN ARAN FOR FREDERICK Kathleen Dames
A
“
well-looking man,” said Sir Walter, “a very well-looking man.” “A very ne young man indeed!” said Lady Dalrymple. “More air than one oten sees in Bath. Irish, I dare say.” “No. I just know his name. A bowing acquaintance. acquaintanc e. Wentworth— Captain Wentworth o the navy.” —Persuasion Though Captain Frederick Wentworth may not be Irish, this handsome captain, who stole Anne Elliot’s heart beore the beginning o Jane Austen’s Persuasion , is certainly worthy o his own Aran sweater. This cabled pullover is worked in the round, with a “hybrid” yoke to highlight the Celtic fourish cable running up the center back and ront, fanked by OXO and superimposed double wave cables, and Ensign’s Braids (Ensigns were junior ocers in the inantry and navy at the time, and Frederick would have been one when he rst met Anne) running up the sleeves and along the shoulder saddles. This yoke style
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makes a fattering pullover or any man. To modernize, body and sleeves begin the cable patterns immediately, and it is nished with a simple rolled neck so as not to distract rom this cable tour de orce.
37¼ (43½, 49, 53¼, 59½)" 53¼, 59½)" chest circumere circ umerence. nce. Sweater shown measures 43½ 43½".". Y A R N Brooklyn Tweed Shelter (100% wool; 140 yd [128 m]/50 g): #16 nest, 8 (10, 12, 14, 15) skeins. N E E D L E S Size 6 (4 mm): 16" and 29" circular (cir) and set o doublepointed (dpn). Adjust needle size i necessary to obtain the correct gauge. N O T I O N S Markers (m); cable needle (cn); locking markers; stitch holders or waste yarn; tapestry needle. G A U G E 15 sts and 27 rnds = 4" in seed st; 18 sts o Double Wave chart = 3½"; 3½ "; 10 sts o OXO OXO chart char t = 2"; 28 sts o Celtic Flourish chart = 6"; 22 sts o Ensign’s Braid chart ch art = 2½". FINISHED SIZE
NOTES • Cabling without a cable needle is brilliant. • Spit splicing this yarn works like a dream and will almost eliminate ends to weave in. • Front and back stitch counts do not include increased stitches on Rows 8–22 o Celtic Flourish chart and Back Saddle chart. Stitch Guide 4-st Dec: (RS or WS
row) [Sl 1 st row) kwise] 2 times, *sl 1 st pwise, pass 2nd st on right needle over frst, transer st rom right needle to let needle, pass 2nd st on let needle over frst; rep rom * once more, sl 1 pwise—4 sts dec’d. Seed Stitch: (odd number o sts) st s) Rnd 1: *K1, p1; rep rom * to last st, k1.
On ollowing rows, knit the purls and purl the knits. K1, *k1, insert let needle into ronts o 2 sts on right needle and work k2tog through back loop (tbl) rom this position; rep rom * around. K2tog tbl Bind-Off:
BODY
With longer cir needle, CO 180 (204, 224, 240, 264) sts. Place marker and join joi n in i n the t he rnd. r nd. Next rnd: Beg and ending each chart as indicated for your size, work 3 (9, 9, 13, 19) sts in seed st (see Stitch Guide), pm, work Double Wave chart over 18 (18, 20, 20, 20) sts, pm, work OXO OXO chart over 10 (10, 12, 12, 12) sts, pm, work Celtic Flourish chart over 28 (28, 30, 30, 30) sts, pm, work OXO OXO chart over 10 (10, 12, 12, 12) sts, pm, work Double Wave chart over 18 (18, 20, 20, 20) sts, pm, work 3 (9, 9, 13, 19) sts in seed st, pm for side, cont in seed st over 3 (9, 9, 13, 19) sts, pm, work Double Wave chart over 18 (18, 20, 20, 20) sts, pm, work OXO OXO chart over 10 (10, 12, 12, 12) sts, pm, work
k on RS; p on WS
Double Wave 32
p on RS; k on WS
30 MR
M1R (see Glossary) 28
ML
M1L (see Glossary)
26 24
(k1, p1, k1) in same st
5
22
4-st dec (see Stitch Guide)
20 no stitch 18 sl 1 st onto cn, hold in back, k2, p1 from cn
16
sl 2 sts onto cn, hold in front, p1, k2 from cn
14
sl 1 st onto cn, hold in back, k3, p1 from cn
12
sl 3 sts onto cn, hold in front, p1, k3 from cn
10
sl 2 sts onto cn, hold in back, k2, p2 from cn
8
sl 2 sts onto cn, hold in front, p2, k2 from cn
6
sl 2 sts onto cn, hold in back, k2, k2 from cn
4
sl 2 sts onto cn, hold in front, k2, k2 from cn
2
sl 3 sts onto cn, hold in back, k2, sl last st from cn to left needle, p1, k2 from cn sl 3 sts onto cn, hold in back, k3, k3 from cn sl 3 sts onto cn, hold in front, k3, k3 from cn
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Back Saddle
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