I learn so much from you. What I love most is that I don't feel like I am being instructed but rather having coffee with an incredibly knowledgeable friend. Thank you
Thank you for sharing your thought process with how your breed study is going, you seem very perceptive about how your brain works and learns, and I find that so interesting.
I've used a commercially produced Wensleydale Longwool 4 ply yarn (bought online from Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Shop ). I used it to make a scarf for my husband, he chose the wool and chose how he wanted the scarf to be. The yarn certainly had less stretch/bounce than anything else I've knitted with, but it was nice to knit with, and my husband is delighted with his scarf!
Those old knitting magazines are a lot of fun to look at. Catch-22: I'd love to knit that bandage cover for my finger, but I can't knit because I have a bandage on my finger!
For quilt labels I use either fine weave muslin or plain white cotton. If you want to embroider using your sewing machine use a stabilizer behind the fabric. You can find either wash away or tear away stabilizers at quilt shops or probably Joann Fabrics. The stabilizer will prevent your fabric from puckering while stitching.
You can also use a warm dry iron and temporarily fuse the plastic side of freezer paper to your fabric for a simple stabilizer, either for writing on your label, or stitching through. It peels right off! I used to use freezer paper ironed onto fabric, cut to A12 size, and run the fabric-paper combo through my printer! We figured that out in 1989-1990 in the first online quilter’s group. We use photo fixative to set the inks.
I'm currently making a scarf for my aunt with my handspun longwool. It's Border Leicester x Gotland and mulberry silk. Each comb full was 12 grams wool to 3 grams of silk. I'm using a fisherman rib to add squish to the scarf. I love the drape of longwool. It's definitely a different experience.
Great episode! The best part of being a long time viewer of this channel is seeing a project go from an idea to finish. I enjoy all aspects of the process. I also love the tidbits, history, and WPK series.
Yes! Please show us more from your collection of historical knitting!! ❤❤ I also love learning 2nd hand from you and your breed project. ❤😊 Thank you for all the great content. 👍
Great observations on the breed study and sampling. I sample but I don't block the sample and knit it or crochet it before I continue on into spinning. I think you are on to something...until you try the spun yarn in its' intended use, it is difficult to predict how it will behave, particularly for someone like me who remains still relatively new to spinning. While I love spinning and have 4 bins of handspun wool awaiting projects, I tend to just "go with it" when I start a spinning project and hope for the best...not the best strategy if you want to spin for a specific project. I love the way you have organized your breed study blanket; what a great idea to set up chart. I enjoy all aspects of the history of knitting. I am not sure I have a favorite period or geographic location. I find it fascinating what people accomplished without the technology we have today to give us guidance on our projects.
I saw a German historical sewing video, where they use the longwool spun up extremely fine as a sewing thread. I could also imagine adding a fine thread of the lonngwoool yarns to strengthen a sockheel
Thank you for this series on Weldon's books... I particularly love the clothing and knitted patterns of the 30's and 40's. The Gibson Girl look was so cute. And of course Edith Head's gorgeous fabric creations during that era were so feminine. I'd love to see some of your patterns from that era. Thanks Roxanne.
Just to be clear...you want to see things from the '30s and '40s, and also more things from the Gibson Girl era (which is what the Weldon's issues in the 1890s to early 1900s are)?
For quilt label - a good quality light cotton or muslin will work and use an archival permanent marker ( Sakura, Pigma) to write down info. You can also buy fabric in printer paper size that has been treated and ready for use in a printer and print your labels out. Loving the breed study!!
Love the knitting outcomes from your spinning to see how the different breeds respond to being knitted. The glimpses into the old patterns are fascinating and love your word "dodads". Not a common word here. 🇬🇧
I did think about "doodad" when I was editing, wondering if it would translate into other languages, but it didn't occur to me it wouldn't translate into another English dialect! :-)
I am currently using aran weight Wensleydale to knit a fishermans rib jumper for hiking. It's silky and strong and non-itchy. It's not mean't to pill. It doesn't have much insulation to it, so may stop me overheating going uphill. Hopefully it's warm enough on a cold day. I'm new to the yarn, so am interested to learn how it wears. I will strengthen the shoulders and back with tweed patches to make it rucksack proof. I love your breed study section, among other bits.
Hey I bet that carrot pincushion at 12:30 is the one that EngineeringKnits made! It came out way to big for sewing pins... maybe hat pins instead 😂 I love when you share old knitting patterns, it's so fun to see what kind of weird and specialized items they were knitting. I hope your breed study blanket will keep you warm in this chilly MN weather soon!
Aah yes - the difficulty of trying to get all your squares pretty much the same when you've got a bunch of different wools! How about a bunch of different yarns and a bunch of different knitters? A number of years ago I helped at an event at our local museum where people all around the the country had knitted garter stitch "Peggy squares" to be joined together into blankets for charity. Those of us who gathered at the museum had huge piles of squares to join together. That experience was quite something - all the squares were so different even though everyone was supposed to have followed the same pattern (cast on 40, knit 80 rows, cast off - that kind of thing). Some people had woven their ends in, others hadn't, some had sloppy or tight cast-ons or cast-offs, or both - and all the selvedges were different lengths and were made different ways. It was very slow-going trying to join them efficiently, and neatly, into good blankets. Afterwards I thought about what I'd do in future if I was involved in organising an event like that, and how I'd go about organising the "sew them into blankets" working bees. It seemed to me that the best solution was to make the kind of square where you start at a corner with just a couple of stitches, increase to a certain size and then decrease down to almost nothing again. There are no cast-ons and cast-offs to speak off, they're all virtually same size (because you knit to a size, not a number of rows) and all the sides are the same length. So, so much easier to join together and there's no need to worry about everyone's different gauge. Of course I wrote up a page all about that experience along with the free pattern - so if anyone is interested in the more detailed info on that you can find it under Meggy Square musings. :-)
Regarding the bottle covers. I have several, mostly recycled knit socks that I cover small working ferments with, so if forget and they blow up, I'm not cleaning the ceiling (only happened once so far). I also have a glass salve jar in a recycled sock top and a glass pump bottle that sits by my recliner and I kept knocking them off. I knew sooner or later they would break. The pump bottle is in front, so I crocheted a pretty cover for it, spread out at the bottom to make the base wider.
I love your sheep breeds blanket idea. I wonder if you could modify the Ten stitch Twist blanket pattern by Frankie Brown. I think the circular design might work better than squares. if you start with the smaller gauge samples in the center and use larger gauge on the outside. You could simplify the labeling by embroidering on fabric and attaching small labels. I wasn’t sure if you were planning to embroider directly onto the knit fabric. That sounds difficult.
Thank you for your visit. Really enjoyed the plan and workings for the blanket. There have been some Teesdale sheep embryos imported to NZ and their yarn looks really impressive and your samples confirmed that. Anyhow I am trying to figure shoulder shaping on a top down sweater with drop sleeves using GSR. I can do GSR but it just looks odd. I am sure that I will get it, just might not be today.
Wow! This entire video was so intriguing and informative! I am thrilled to have learned more about your 30-breed trial experience, and love the throw idea! Again-you’ve taught me so much. Thank you!!!
So interesting! My favorite eras were “Edwardian” and post Edwardian era. Beautiful clothes and accessories, at least as it’s depicted by movies and television. 😊 I’m fascinated by your breed specific project because as I find that online shopping is more of a thing (I live in Florida so my nearest lys is a 90 minute drive) it’s good to understand how different yarns will perform to get a better “educated guess” when trying something new. Currently I am trying to figure out the lightest fluffiest yarn (besides mohair) to use on an upcoming project because the suggested yarn is $40 a skein 😬
I've loved the Weldon's tours! Little sad they're almost over. Personally I would love to see patterns from the 20s & 30s if you have any. Too much Agatha Christie is the culprit.
This breed study is very fascinating. Regarding the labels, embroidery on simple unbleached muslin will coordinate with the natural characteristic of the wools. Or you can use a wide, natural cotton woven ribbon instead. However, I find embroidery lettering to be difficult. I would take the “down-and-dirty” route and print the text onto transfer paper then iron it on the label fabric. It should wear well because you’ll be hand washing it anyway. I can’t wait to see the FO!
My sewing machine has an alphabet that is meant for doing this sort of quilt labeling. I tried it out last year when I bought my new machine, using some muslin I had for sewing mock ups (plus stabilizer), and it's pretty easy to do, but I wasn't sure what sort of fabric would be good for a nice label.
This was so interesting! From the way that you described the long wools, it sounds like they might be good for crochet. Such as in the types of lace patterns that usually call for crochet cotton.
I use either quilter cotton or muslin to make the quilt label. I either machine embroider the information onto the label with a stabilizer on the back of the fabric or use an archival marker to write the information onto the label without a stabilizer.
Once I decided to make swatches of patterns that were in a stitch dictionary I have. I made a number of holes with yarn overs that told me the number of the pattern in the book. When you started this project I thought I'd do that and make a decorative picture in a frame with numbers and samples that matched the blanket. I know this is an older video and I'm anxious to get caught up to see how your blanket turns out.
Quilt labels ,I use nice muslin or cotton, white or off white, print info with permanent fabric marker ( use sandpaper board under fabric to keep from slipping while you print .
Quilt labels. The answer is iron on interfacing. Wash, dry, & iron your label fabric. Get several different kinds of lightweight iron on interfacing. Now do some experimenting. What you're looking for is: something your sewing machine likes, after embroidering & washing your label doesn't require ironing, & the finished label is nearly undetectable when sewn to the knitting. I, personally, would start with an iron-on knit/tricot interfacing. BTW Remember, if you tire of doing all that embroidery, there are iron on interfacings that will allow you to print directly to the fabric.
I’m really enjoying the glimpses of the items in Weldon’s Practical Needlework, and week after week, the photos and descriptions look so familiar to me. No idea why. It’s a mystery to me why they look so familiar. If I figure out where I’ve seen these before, I’ll let you know.
First thing that came to my mind when you were going through Weldon’s was that they must have run out of ideas for new items to knit, and were really reaching.😂
I have heard of people knitting very fine lace shawls out of teeswater and wensleydale. The wensleydale in particular is supposed to have great stitch definition.
I had to look up what “bent iron work” was. I expected it to be some sort of lace, like ribbon lace, that might resemble iron fencing or something like that. NOPE! It was our late 19th century forebears going over the top, again, and making ornate, unnecessary filigree items out of metal strips! “A stand for a finger bowl.” Heavens!
Fascinating, as always! Are the darker breed study wools dyed? I wondered if they're also in the "natural" category as are the lighter ones. When I was in Shetland, I saw sheep in the darker colors, as well as lighter ones. I am always interested in your historical information and look forward to your context-rich content!
That's so interesting to hear how the knitting of your hand spun made you notice more of the characteristics. I've been slowly working my way through a fibre advent with no real plan for the yarns. Maybe I need to do some kind of sampling too. 🤔 Something to think about. They're only small bits (10+g), so I definitely won't have enough for a blanket.
@@RoxanneRichardson I should!! I'm using some bits for awful looking frankensocks to test different spinning/plying and fibres/blends. I still have a lot to spin before I can knit up anything. We'll call it a very long term project 🤣 The advent is from 2019!
I would be interested in your vintage books, if you can discuss what we can learn from them for contemporary knitting and to explain where, how and why certain techniques developed. Thank you!
I’m surprise that you don’t have a rigid, heddle loom sitting someplace in the back corner, so you can do some plain weave weaving. I would love to be able to sit down with some of those yarns and do some plain weave with them I’m going to think about getting that small sampler pack that you talked about earlier in another video and maybe I’ll do some weaving and see how those yarns weave up. I just want to say I really enjoy your videos, you stay right on the topic and you don’t talk about the weather. I know there are people who like to know what people are doing and they want to know about their families, etc. etc. etc., but I don’t, I just want to know about the topic, and you are great
It's my understanding that shawls during these times were more often fabric than knitted, with the possible exception of the crossover hap shawl for practicality. Paisley and Norwich shawls were particularly popular as they had very elaborate patterns woven into them. They were decorative as well as warm.
I took a look through some of the earlier books, and there are quite a few shawl patterns, it's just that they don't illustrate the entire shawl. They'll have instructions for a "half square" (triangular shawl) knit with a specific stitch pattern, and the illustration will be a close up of the stitch pattern, as well as the edging/border pattern. Probably because they all knew what a triangular shawl looked like, and wouldn't need an illustration of that. They needed to see what the stitch patt looked like.
Probably not for me, but it might work well for someone else. Saving samples of the wool in different stages as a physical reference is more useful to me.
Your Fridays are always most interesting and I thank you. Question for you. Why are you putting your identification labels on the back of your breed identity blanket? Wouldn't they be much easier to reference on the front and also of interest to anyone else looking at the work, especially if hanging on the wall?
I'm not going to hang it on the wall, it needs to be with easy reach if I want to use it as a lap blanket or to reference a particular breed. I want to be able to see and feel the knit side of the fabric. If someone wants or needs to see the label, it's simple enough to flip it over.
I also have a breed study bag of wool and have considered knitting squares for a blanket. You perfectly articulated my hesitations with doing so! When spinning, were you aiming for a particular weight of yarn or will you make all adjustments with gauge?
I started with my default method of spinning, and then observed what was happening, and what I needed to do to make the spinning as even as possible based on whatever the wool did. (I just don't have the skills to control my spinning and make everything come out the same weight.) For some of the breeds, the singles ended up thicker, others quite fine. I'm adjusting stitch count and gauge of the squares based on the individual yarns. The thickest is the Manx Loughton that I carded and spun long draw, while the thinnest so far has been the Romney, which is a 2-ply, knitting up at fingering weight. The Corriedale singles were similarly thin, but I chain plied it, so it was a bit thicker than the Romney.
@@RoxanneRichardson Thank you for the explanation. Given how different breeds spin and perform differently, I couldn't quite figure out how to approach the project. I think you may be braver than I am!
I wonder if the more whimsical knitted items in Weldon's were mostly used as gifts: just as currently, birthday gifts are not necessarily useful, but just for fun.
I like the Weldons. I was wondering if at any time, women wore knitted under clothes? And from your 30 different sheep, did you find some wool was softer to spin, which was the softest after spinning? Now what is the softest for knitting? I think its all interesting. Thank you very much
There have been a number of knitted "combinations", undervests, and other sorts of undergarments in the Weldon's books. Wool underwear became popularized in the second half of the 19th century, when a German physician, Dr. Jaeger promoted wool against the skin being more healthy than plant fibers.
I don't think you have a technique video on the linen stitch. Everyone does the first and last stitch differently and I wonder if you could comment on this and tell us your preference and why. Thx for all your videos.
I wonder if the average household actually had all these wacky knitted gadgets around the house. The breed study continues to be so darn interesting! 🐑
I learn so much from you. What I love most is that I don't feel like I am being instructed but rather having coffee with an incredibly knowledgeable friend. Thank you
I could not agree more! Also I really love your sweater Roxanne, I think that's the one you reverse engineered.
Thank you for sharing your thought process with how your breed study is going, you seem very perceptive about how your brain works and learns, and I find that so interesting.
I spend a LOT of time inside my head, oblivious to the real world! :-)
@@RoxanneRichardson me too 😆
I've used a commercially produced Wensleydale Longwool 4 ply yarn (bought online from Wensleydale Longwool Sheep Shop ). I used it to make a scarf for my husband, he chose the wool and chose how he wanted the scarf to be. The yarn certainly had less stretch/bounce than anything else I've knitted with, but it was nice to knit with, and my husband is delighted with his scarf!
Those old knitting magazines are a lot of fun to look at. Catch-22: I'd love to knit that bandage cover for my finger, but I can't knit because I have a bandage on my finger!
For quilt labels I use either fine weave muslin or plain white cotton. If you want to embroider using your sewing machine use a stabilizer behind the fabric. You can find either wash away or tear away stabilizers at quilt shops or probably Joann Fabrics. The stabilizer will prevent your fabric from puckering while stitching.
Thanks, Kathy!
You can also get damask weave wool. Some label sellers use damask weave fabric.
You can also use a warm dry iron and temporarily fuse the plastic side of freezer paper to your fabric for a simple stabilizer, either for writing on your label, or stitching through. It peels right off! I used to use freezer paper ironed onto fabric, cut to A12 size, and run the fabric-paper combo through my printer! We figured that out in 1989-1990 in the first online quilter’s group. We use photo fixative to set the inks.
I'm currently making a scarf for my aunt with my handspun longwool. It's Border Leicester x Gotland and mulberry silk. Each comb full was 12 grams wool to 3 grams of silk. I'm using a fisherman rib to add squish to the scarf. I love the drape of longwool. It's definitely a different experience.
Great episode!
The best part of being a long time viewer of this channel is seeing a project go from an idea to finish. I enjoy all aspects of the process. I also love the tidbits, history, and WPK series.
I've found the breed study really interesting, Roxanne. Thank you for sharing ❤️
Yes! Please show us more from your collection of historical knitting!! ❤❤ I also love learning 2nd hand from you and your breed project. ❤😊 Thank you for all the great content. 👍
Great observations on the breed study and sampling. I sample but I don't block the sample and knit it or crochet it before I continue on into spinning. I think you are on to something...until you try the spun yarn in its' intended use, it is difficult to predict how it will behave, particularly for someone like me who remains still relatively new to spinning. While I love spinning and have 4 bins of handspun wool awaiting projects, I tend to just "go with it" when I start a spinning project and hope for the best...not the best strategy if you want to spin for a specific project. I love the way you have organized your breed study blanket; what a great idea to set up chart. I enjoy all aspects of the history of knitting. I am not sure I have a favorite period or geographic location. I find it fascinating what people accomplished without the technology we have today to give us guidance on our projects.
I saw a German historical sewing video, where they use the longwool spun up extremely fine as a sewing thread. I could also imagine adding a fine thread of the lonngwoool yarns to strengthen a sockheel
Thank you for this series on Weldon's books... I particularly love the clothing and knitted patterns of the 30's and 40's. The Gibson Girl look was so cute. And of course Edith Head's gorgeous fabric creations during that era were so feminine. I'd love to see some of your patterns from that era. Thanks Roxanne.
Just to be clear...you want to see things from the '30s and '40s, and also more things from the Gibson Girl era (which is what the Weldon's issues in the 1890s to early 1900s are)?
For quilt label - a good quality light cotton or muslin will work and use an archival permanent marker ( Sakura, Pigma) to write down info. You can also buy fabric in printer paper size that has been treated and ready for use in a printer and print your labels out. Loving the breed study!!
Love the knitting outcomes from your spinning to see how the different breeds respond to being knitted. The glimpses into the old patterns are fascinating and love your word "dodads". Not a common word here. 🇬🇧
I did think about "doodad" when I was editing, wondering if it would translate into other languages, but it didn't occur to me it wouldn't translate into another English dialect! :-)
I am currently using aran weight Wensleydale to knit a fishermans rib jumper for hiking. It's silky and strong and non-itchy. It's not mean't to pill. It doesn't have much insulation to it, so may stop me overheating going uphill. Hopefully it's warm enough on a cold day. I'm new to the yarn, so am interested to learn how it wears. I will strengthen the shoulders and back with tweed patches to make it rucksack proof.
I love your breed study section, among other bits.
I so admire the scholarly approach you use. I always have lots to think of after each video. I'd love to see some patterns from the 30s and 40s.
Hey I bet that carrot pincushion at 12:30 is the one that EngineeringKnits made! It came out way to big for sewing pins... maybe hat pins instead 😂 I love when you share old knitting patterns, it's so fun to see what kind of weird and specialized items they were knitting. I hope your breed study blanket will keep you warm in this chilly MN weather soon!
Aah yes - the difficulty of trying to get all your squares pretty much the same when you've got a bunch of different wools!
How about a bunch of different yarns and a bunch of different knitters? A number of years ago I helped at an event at our local museum where people all around the the country had knitted garter stitch "Peggy squares" to be joined together into blankets for charity. Those of us who gathered at the museum had huge piles of squares to join together. That experience was quite something - all the squares were so different even though everyone was supposed to have followed the same pattern (cast on 40, knit 80 rows, cast off - that kind of thing). Some people had woven their ends in, others hadn't, some had sloppy or tight cast-ons or cast-offs, or both - and all the selvedges were different lengths and were made different ways.
It was very slow-going trying to join them efficiently, and neatly, into good blankets. Afterwards I thought about what I'd do in future if I was involved in organising an event like that, and how I'd go about organising the "sew them into blankets" working bees.
It seemed to me that the best solution was to make the kind of square where you start at a corner with just a couple of stitches, increase to a certain size and then decrease down to almost nothing again. There are no cast-ons and cast-offs to speak off, they're all virtually same size (because you knit to a size, not a number of rows) and all the sides are the same length. So, so much easier to join together and there's no need to worry about everyone's different gauge. Of course I wrote up a page all about that experience along with the free pattern - so if anyone is interested in the more detailed info on that you can find it under Meggy Square musings. :-)
The collarette and muff is so cute, I kind of want one in my size 😂
Regarding the bottle covers. I have several, mostly recycled knit socks that I cover small working ferments with, so if forget and they blow up, I'm not cleaning the ceiling (only happened once so far). I also have a glass salve jar in a recycled sock top and a glass pump bottle that sits by my recliner and I kept knocking them off. I knew sooner or later they would break. The pump bottle is in front, so I crocheted a pretty cover for it, spread out at the bottom to make the base wider.
My MIL was an amazing quilter. She cross-stitched the quilt name, who it was made for and the month and year made using cotton.
thank you for sharing, very interesting, please continue the podcast
I love your sheep breeds blanket idea. I wonder if you could modify the Ten stitch Twist blanket pattern by Frankie Brown. I think the circular design might work better than squares. if you start with the smaller gauge samples in the center and use larger gauge on the outside. You could simplify the labeling by embroidering on fabric and attaching small labels. I wasn’t sure if you were planning to embroider directly onto the knit fabric. That sounds difficult.
I did look at that blanket early on, but the all-garter stitch and modular design weren't what I was looking for.
Thank you for your visit. Really enjoyed the plan and workings for the blanket. There have been some Teesdale sheep embryos imported to NZ and their yarn looks really impressive and your samples confirmed that. Anyhow I am trying to figure shoulder shaping on a top down sweater with drop sleeves using GSR. I can do GSR but it just looks odd. I am sure that I will get it, just might not be today.
Wow! This entire video was so intriguing and informative! I am thrilled to have learned more about your 30-breed trial experience, and love the throw idea! Again-you’ve taught me so much. Thank you!!!
So interesting! My favorite eras were “Edwardian” and post Edwardian era. Beautiful clothes and accessories, at least as it’s depicted by movies and television. 😊
I’m fascinated by your breed specific project because as I find that online shopping is more of a thing (I live in Florida so my nearest lys is a 90 minute drive) it’s good to understand how different yarns will perform to get a better “educated guess” when trying something new.
Currently I am trying to figure out the lightest fluffiest yarn (besides mohair) to use on an upcoming project because the suggested yarn is $40 a skein 😬
I've loved the Weldon's tours! Little sad they're almost over. Personally I would love to see patterns from the 20s & 30s if you have any. Too much Agatha Christie is the culprit.
This breed study is very fascinating. Regarding the labels, embroidery on simple unbleached muslin will coordinate with the natural characteristic of the wools. Or you can use a wide, natural cotton woven ribbon instead. However, I find embroidery lettering to be difficult. I would take the “down-and-dirty” route and print the text onto transfer paper then iron it on the label fabric. It should wear well because you’ll be hand washing it anyway. I can’t wait to see the FO!
My sewing machine has an alphabet that is meant for doing this sort of quilt labeling. I tried it out last year when I bought my new machine, using some muslin I had for sewing mock ups (plus stabilizer), and it's pretty easy to do, but I wasn't sure what sort of fabric would be good for a nice label.
This was so interesting! From the way that you described the long wools, it sounds like they might be good for crochet. Such as in the types of lace patterns that usually call for crochet cotton.
I use either quilter cotton or muslin to make the quilt label. I either machine embroider the information onto the label with a stabilizer on the back of the fabric or use an archival marker to write the information onto the label without a stabilizer.
Once I decided to make swatches of patterns that were in a stitch dictionary I have. I made a number of holes with yarn overs that told me the number of the pattern in the book. When you started this project I thought I'd do that and make a decorative picture in a frame with numbers and samples that matched the blanket.
I know this is an older video and I'm anxious to get caught up to see how your blanket turns out.
Quilt labels ,I use nice muslin or cotton, white or off white, print info with permanent fabric marker ( use sandpaper board under fabric to keep from slipping while you print .
❤Hello, Roxanne. Time for a knitting chat. My favorite.😊 Your sweater is gorgeous ❤
Great podcast thank you 🧶☕️☺️
Quilt labels. The answer is iron on interfacing. Wash, dry, & iron your label fabric. Get several different kinds of lightweight iron on interfacing. Now do some experimenting. What you're looking for is: something your sewing machine likes, after embroidering & washing your label doesn't require ironing, & the finished label is nearly undetectable when sewn to the knitting. I, personally, would start with an iron-on knit/tricot interfacing. BTW Remember, if you tire of doing all that embroidery, there are iron on interfacings that will allow you to print directly to the fabric.
I’m really enjoying the glimpses of the items in Weldon’s Practical Needlework, and week after week, the photos and descriptions look so familiar to me. No idea why. It’s a mystery to me why they look so familiar. If I figure out where I’ve seen these before, I’ll let you know.
First thing that came to my mind when you were going through Weldon’s was that they must have run out of ideas for new items to knit, and were really reaching.😂
I have heard of people knitting very fine lace shawls out of teeswater and wensleydale. The wensleydale in particular is supposed to have great stitch definition.
I had to look up what “bent iron work” was. I expected it to be some sort of lace, like ribbon lace, that might resemble iron fencing or something like that. NOPE! It was our late 19th century forebears going over the top, again, and making ornate, unnecessary filigree items out of metal strips! “A stand for a finger bowl.” Heavens!
Fascinating, as always! Are the darker breed study wools dyed? I wondered if they're also in the "natural" category as are the lighter ones. When I was in Shetland, I saw sheep in the darker colors, as well as lighter ones. I am always interested in your historical information and look forward to your context-rich content!
Those are all natural colors.
Longwools are great for spinning boucles. Also great for lace.
If you use your machine to label the yarn you can use a quality cotton with a stabilizer behind it it so the embroidery label is easy to read.
That's so interesting to hear how the knitting of your hand spun made you notice more of the characteristics. I've been slowly working my way through a fibre advent with no real plan for the yarns. Maybe I need to do some kind of sampling too. 🤔 Something to think about. They're only small bits (10+g), so I definitely won't have enough for a blanket.
You'll have enough to create a patchwork piece of fabric, though, that you can refer to later!
@@RoxanneRichardson I should!! I'm using some bits for awful looking frankensocks to test different spinning/plying and fibres/blends. I still have a lot to spin before I can knit up anything. We'll call it a very long term project 🤣 The advent is from 2019!
I would like to hear more about knitted items in the past from books in your collection
I would be interested in your vintage books, if you can discuss what we can learn from them for contemporary knitting and to explain where, how and why certain techniques developed. Thank you!
Love your new glasses Rox!
Really interesting video!
I’m surprise that you don’t have a rigid, heddle loom sitting someplace in the back corner, so you can do some plain weave weaving. I would love to be able to sit down with some of those yarns and do some plain weave with them I’m going to think about getting that small sampler pack that you talked about earlier in another video and maybe I’ll do some weaving and see how those yarns weave up. I just want to say I really enjoy your videos, you stay right on the topic and you don’t talk about the weather. I know there are people who like to know what people are doing and they want to know about their families, etc. etc. etc., but I don’t, I just want to know about the topic, and you are great
Yeah, I'm not a weaver. I joined the Weavers Guild because that's also where the spinners are. My interest in yarn is in its use for knitting.
It's my understanding that shawls during these times were more often fabric than knitted, with the possible exception of the crossover hap shawl for practicality. Paisley and Norwich shawls were particularly popular as they had very elaborate patterns woven into them. They were decorative as well as warm.
I took a look through some of the earlier books, and there are quite a few shawl patterns, it's just that they don't illustrate the entire shawl. They'll have instructions for a "half square" (triangular shawl) knit with a specific stitch pattern, and the illustration will be a close up of the stitch pattern, as well as the edging/border pattern. Probably because they all knew what a triangular shawl looked like, and wouldn't need an illustration of that. They needed to see what the stitch patt looked like.
@@RoxanneRichardson Oh, that’s very interesting! Of course they would have assumed “knit a large rectangle” or whatever. Thanks.
I wonder whether the "Uhlan cap" is a variation of a Balaclava, which can also cover the entire head and provide a neck-warmer.
Enjoying your breed study journey! Do you think using photo/video notes a better complement to capturing the process?
Probably not for me, but it might work well for someone else. Saving samples of the wool in different stages as a physical reference is more useful to me.
Your Fridays are always most interesting and I thank you. Question for you. Why are you putting your identification labels on the back of your breed identity blanket? Wouldn't they be much easier to reference on the front and also of interest to anyone else looking at the work, especially if hanging on the wall?
I'm not going to hang it on the wall, it needs to be with easy reach if I want to use it as a lap blanket or to reference a particular breed. I want to be able to see and feel the knit side of the fabric. If someone wants or needs to see the label, it's simple enough to flip it over.
I also have a breed study bag of wool and have considered knitting squares for a blanket. You perfectly articulated my hesitations with doing so! When spinning, were you aiming for a particular weight of yarn or will you make all adjustments with gauge?
I started with my default method of spinning, and then observed what was happening, and what I needed to do to make the spinning as even as possible based on whatever the wool did. (I just don't have the skills to control my spinning and make everything come out the same weight.) For some of the breeds, the singles ended up thicker, others quite fine. I'm adjusting stitch count and gauge of the squares based on the individual yarns. The thickest is the Manx Loughton that I carded and spun long draw, while the thinnest so far has been the Romney, which is a 2-ply, knitting up at fingering weight. The Corriedale singles were similarly thin, but I chain plied it, so it was a bit thicker than the Romney.
@@RoxanneRichardson Thank you for the explanation. Given how different breeds spin and perform differently, I couldn't quite figure out how to approach the project. I think you may be braver than I am!
I wonder if the more whimsical knitted items in Weldon's were mostly used as gifts: just as currently, birthday gifts are not necessarily useful, but just for fun.
I like the Weldons. I was wondering if at any time, women wore knitted under clothes? And from your 30 different sheep, did you find some wool was softer to spin, which was the softest after spinning? Now what is the softest for knitting? I think its all interesting. Thank you very much
There have been a number of knitted "combinations", undervests, and other sorts of undergarments in the Weldon's books. Wool underwear became popularized in the second half of the 19th century, when a German physician, Dr. Jaeger promoted wool against the skin being more healthy than plant fibers.
"Torchon" is a special technique of bobbin lace. What a pitty that you did´t show it !
Re labels, I have my sewing machine embroider my name onto a strip of bias tape then hand sew it to my knits.
I am curious to know if you have been spinning since that breed study.
Not much!
I don't think you have a technique video on the linen stitch. Everyone does the first and last stitch differently and I wonder if you could comment on this and tell us your preference and why. Thx for all your videos.
I have to admit I want to knit all the odd little "Practical" things.
I wonder if the average household actually had all these wacky knitted gadgets around the house. The breed study continues to be so darn interesting! 🐑