Knitting History: Linen mitts ca. 1787

General Knitting
1

AntiqueLace.com has a beautiful series of photos documenting a pair of finely wrought, knitted mitts. These are elbow length, and were executed in unbleached flax thread.
Notice the textural detail!

The geek in me really wants to see if I can reconstruct this pattern and knit a replica pair. swoon

2

very interesting…but I’ll let you figure that pattern out on your own…:slight_smile:

3

I’ve got the basic textures figured out (the brightness of the photos did make it a bit challenging). Now I just have to figure out the gauge.

I may have to make my own wire needles in order to knit this. :shock:

4

wire needles! MMMM you’ve got some patience. Those are gorgeous though. Would love to see the result if you do it!

5

With my luck they’ll take me all summer. But hey, I can have them ready for Patriots’ Day 2007, mebbe? :XX:

6

Question for my fellow knitters:

In looking at the photos of these mitts, can any of you tell me how the picot edge on the arms might have been achieved? In looking at it I came up with the following theories:

  1. they were knit backward from hand to elbow (which would be “interesting” in a chinese-curse-sort-of-way)
  2. they were knit as we would knit them today, and then stitches were picked up to make a picot edging.

Based on the lay of the thread, which scenario is more likely? What type of cast on would show the least if method #2 is used?

7

I can’t answer your questions, Wynnie, but just wanted to say how much I love looking at historical knitted items! (Loving the history of it is how I ended up buying For the Love of Knitting.) In reading Andean Folk Knits, I was interested to see that many people there knit with bicylce spokes :shock: so maybe you could do that.

8

I can’t answer those questions either! but I was just looking at the gloves again, and you know those are really neat! They’re beautiful. I think towards next fall I might try to make something like these, but not knit too tiny, I mean not on small needles. Maybe 3 or 6. I did a picot edge on some socks from let’s see, a book… forget which knittingbook and it
had a provisional cast on but that was the top of a sock.

Weekend Knitting that’s it, the book.

9

I almost wonder if that edging is crocheted… :thinking:

10

That picot edge looks picked up to me. See the delineation from the body of the glove. Those are really amazing. Kudos to you – would love to see the finished product!