Rox, my Norwegian grandmother was born in 1898 and immigrated from Norway in 1902. She taught me how to knit when I was 10. She taught me the exact method of cast on that you demonstrated. It’s so funny, because I have never seen this since, and I don’t use it myself. But I was so thrilled to know it was the Old Norwegian cast on!
Roxanne, with every episode the information you are unearthing continues to fascinate. Your research & experimentation process in itself is a masterclass on how to independently research a subject. When you are finished knitting through the decades, please consider publicly exhibiting this collection of knitted garments along with your research process. Your focused work is an extraordinary gift to the field of knitting, fashion & textiles. For students of all ages seeing this body of work as a whole would be of great value. If such an idea appeals to you and you need help making contacts with curators in the fashion/textile field I may be able to assist. I am don’t work in the curatorial field myself, but know some folks in the arena. Personally, watching your videos about how you do your research and test out techniques all the way through the final outcomes is helping me out a creative slump in my main area of making which is weaving. I also knit, but only in fits and starts, as time allows. Many thanks, for the jump start!
Oh, thank you, Wanda! I hadn't thought at all about exhibiting the sweaters, except as part of a program/lecture. You have given me food for thought! I'm so glad my obsessive need to research and test is helping you out of a creative slump! :-)
Brown Sheep, on the original family farm, in Mitchell NB, has an on-site store which also serves as the LYS. They are super nice and friendly and in addition to every BSheep yarn in every color, they sell "skein" put-ups in colors that may be a bit streaky or not exactly what they wanted it to be as well as those with a visible knot, which they pull before shipping, by the pound which comes out to around half retail. Its a fun stop if you happen, tee hee, to be in the area, near Scotts Bluff and about 3.5 h S of Mount Rushmore NP. (Google maps cant seem to find the address, it's rural, but everyone in Mitchell knows how to get there.)
As a quilter and a quilt designer, I run into the same problem with blocks that get the same result approaching from different directions, different construction techniques and even different cutting patterns. It’s fun to research traditional old quilt blocks just like you did to find these differences and extrapolate to modern techniques and looks. .
Thanks, Roxanne! Even when you're talking about something that seemingly has no connection with what I'm doing you teach me something. I love seeing and hearing how you think so deeply about technique.
Thriftbooks.com has the Knitter's Handbook by Montse Stanley if anyone doesn't have it! We have had such good luck with that company/website. Thank you Rox for all this history. I *LOVE* it!
I enjoy your videos sooooo much. You are a constant inspiration for me. When I make research through old patterns (never as far as XIX Century, wow!) I also wonder what needles they used, what kind of wool was in fashion then, etc. and everybody around tells me I'm nuts. You made my day! Greetins from Argentina. Muchas Gracias
About the number of rows to knit the body of the sweater, remember that the row gauge is different between sport weight and worsted weight yarns. You would need fewer rows per inch for the worsted vs. the sport weight. Looking forward to seeing how this comes out.
The yarn weight difference changes the circumference and the length proportionally. I'm not trying to make the same size sweater the pattern was written for, I'm making much larger sweater -- one that is proportionally larger in circumference and length, it's just that the sweaters back then were much longer than what we normally would knit today, and that's what I'm trying to make a decision on -- whether or not to make the sweater as long as it would have been knit back in 1897.
Wow, this is really nice! Casually, I was looking for a stretchy cast on for a bottom-up sweater, and I saw this twisted cast on on a book, but it was so hard to understand the instructions 😅 even in a “contemporary” book... so I’ve found a TH-cam video with the instructions that made everything easier... so I did some appointments on the book, so I can follow the instructions properly, but it was kind of frustrating, you know? Sometimes the instructions are not clear, and unfortunately we cannot attach mini videos to the books (yet) hahahah I felt like this when I read the instructions of this cast on that you showed, nothing seemed to make sense hahahah maybe the knitters of that time period felt like this too... who knows 🤷🏻♀️ I love your videos, I learn so much! Kisses from Brazil ❤️
This is why I am fascinated by the history of knitting and your current historical project. I'm still flummoxed by the fact that someone in time picked of one or two sticks and tried wrapping the thread in such a manner to produce fabric. Your discussion about cast on methods added to my happy fascination about the history. There are so many names for the same cast on methods (Italian, Norwegian for example) yet these methods were 'invented' at a time when there was very little interplay between cultures. If there was travel between countries it certainly wasn't to pick up knitting tips! So does this mean there is a universal, intrinsic understanding in knot tying (which, in my most basic understanding of knitting is what we're doing...knot tying with needles--correct me if I've got the wrong end of the needle on that) that allowed the learning of same/similar techniques regardless of where one lived at the time? Are the similarities due to alien or divine intervention? I know that statement sounds glib, but sometimes one wonders how our forefathers decided to try a new method of doing something that seems so natural to us in 2020. I'm adding your jogless jog technique to my arsenal. The easiest one I've seen! See you next Friday!
It does appear that knitting moved from where it originated into Europe via trade routes. The fiber used for knitting early on was cotton, and then silk. Wool seems to have entered the picture as knitting moved into Europe. Technology of various kinds likely had a role in knitting rising in popularity. For example, the fine gauges used in knitting would have required knitting "wires". Wood and bone couldn't have been used to make needles that fine. The technology to draw wire more efficiently in the Middle Ages made producing knitting needles easier (and cheaper).
Lol. As it seems many inventions pop up simultaneously in different areas of the world, maybe the prototypes are floating around in Plato’s Reality or India’s Akashic Record so people just pluck out the ideas and run with them.
Hello Roxanne. In the 29.30 minutes you showed how to CO in the way my mother taught me 58 years ago when I learned to knit. I knit english way of course. Greetings from Argentina.
Great historical discussion. I will research many of the CO methods you mentioned. I probably also have done several of them without labeling them. You always provide fodder for my brain. Thank you again.
I'm loving your channel!! Such wonderful informations about circular knitting and history. I got a great book from V&A ' knitting: Fashion Industry craft' back in 2017 and I'm finally enjoying the reading in this quarantine.😊 I'm still learning a lot about needleworks and I need to stop knitting for my Barbie dolls and plan something for myself. Cheers from Brazil!! 😘😘
So what I'm hearing you say is, there's more than one way to skin a cat. My mom gets upset when I try to learn a method that she didn't teach me. I hear her saying, " There's the wrong way and there's my way!" Sometimes I learn a different way just to watch her reaction. The last time I showed her how I had taught myself to reverse engineer the twisted German cast on so that I could do it switching the yarn and the needle to the other hands and she got so flustered all she could say was, "Why do you insist on doing things the hard way?!?"
Often, the differences in processes have to do with knitting style (English vs Continental), but also due to other differences (holding the right needle like a pencil vs a knife, or using a knitting belt to hold the right needle). All of these variations plus just slight differences between knitters will cause a widely used technique to evolve into very different processes that are each easier and more difficult to do than the others, depending on your knitting style and how you hold the needles.
Fascinating as always Roxanne. I so enjoy your history lessons. Butterick brings me back to my youth! I love the colors you’ve chosen for this sweater. The yarn looks so soft. I love your technique for dealing with the jog. I believe I’ve seen you do a tutorial on this. It’s funny how many cast on methods are called Italian and they are different. Good to know! I think I may have found this issue with the Icelandic Bind Off as well. May I ask what brand your needle is? The tip looks nice. Not too pointy. Thanks for another great podcast. I look forward to seeing this sweater progress and to hear all that you learn. During this pandemic I’ve learned many new techniques. I’m more interested in learning rather than finishing a project which probably isn’t the best move I’ve made but oh well! I’m learning!!😊
Loved the jobless knitting demo. Question: in my circular knitting My work is slanting and therefore not straight rows up/down (both top down and bottom up. What am I doing?
I know this might not have anything to do with tonights video, but...you are always mention videos or tv programs you watch, and I just watched that same thing. I keep thinking, boy we must think just alike. Because you stated that you like crime solving programs, I thought I would share an interesting one with you, (but if you do think just like me, you may have already found it, lol.) It's a youtube channel called profiling evil. I believe it is fairly new, but I found it interesting, and thought maybe you would too.
In regards to the flipping up of the hem of the sweaters on sports teams. I remember when I was in high school , we were required to wear school provided swimsuits every week. You didn't always get the size that fit you. Could it be that the sweaters were provided by the team or school? So if the sweater was too long you would flip the hem up to ensure freedom of movement?
I've seen many pattern photos (in the knitting books!) where they were modeled with the hem flipped. For most sweaters, they never list length or row gauge, but will just state how many rows to work, but occasionally, they do indicate the actual length, and they were quite long, much longer than we would typically knit today.
Hi rox...this video was very interesting. You are a true history teacher of knitting. I have a question a little related to the video in that its about the jogless join in the round. I know there are 3 wAys. I chose the slip st way. However the video i watched she had me remove the marker do the slip st and then put the marker back. Ive been doing that but every two rounds when i change colors it keeps moving me over to the left. So guess my question is should i be removing the marker or just stay at my original join point. I cant send you a picture of what it looks like😢
@@sandracasagrande3825 There's a link in the video description to the Rox Rocks group. Click on Discussion. You'll see a long list of various discussion threads. Click on Start a New topic.
It depends! *In general* I count rows *under* the needle, knowing that when I cast off, the sts on the needle will become the final row of sts and the new loops created will be the chain bind off. If I need 10 rows of ribbing before I switch to stockinette, I count the number of ribbed rows under the needle to make sure there are 10 before I switch to stockinette. If I need 10 rows of a particular *color* I do include the sts on the needle, because as a row of color they exist already, but as a row worked in a particular stitch pattern, they don't exist until they come off the needle.
Rox, my Norwegian grandmother was born in 1898 and immigrated from Norway in 1902. She taught me how to knit when I was 10. She taught me the exact method of cast on that you demonstrated. It’s so funny, because I have never seen this since, and I don’t use it myself. But I was so thrilled to know it was the Old Norwegian cast on!
Roxanne, with every episode the information you are unearthing continues to fascinate. Your research & experimentation process in itself is a masterclass on how to independently research a subject. When you are finished knitting through the decades, please consider publicly exhibiting this collection of knitted garments along with your research process. Your focused work is an extraordinary gift to the field of knitting, fashion & textiles. For students of all ages seeing this body of work as a whole would be of great value. If such an idea appeals to you and you need help making contacts with curators in the fashion/textile field I may be able to assist. I am don’t work in the curatorial field myself, but know some folks in the arena. Personally, watching your videos about how you do your research and test out techniques all the way through the final outcomes is helping me out a creative slump in my main area of making which is weaving. I also knit, but only in fits and starts, as time allows. Many thanks, for the jump start!
Oh, thank you, Wanda! I hadn't thought at all about exhibiting the sweaters, except as part of a program/lecture. You have given me food for thought! I'm so glad my obsessive need to research and test is helping you out of a creative slump! :-)
Brown Sheep, on the original family farm, in Mitchell NB, has an on-site store which also serves as the LYS. They are super nice and friendly and in addition to every BSheep yarn in every color, they sell "skein" put-ups in colors that may be a bit streaky or not exactly what they wanted it to be as well as those with a visible knot, which they pull before shipping, by the pound which comes out to around half retail.
Its a fun stop if you happen, tee hee, to be in the area, near Scotts Bluff and about 3.5 h S of Mount Rushmore NP. (Google maps cant seem to find the address, it's rural, but everyone in Mitchell knows how to get there.)
I'd love to go there in person, but it is really out of the way!
As a quilter and a quilt designer, I run into the same problem with blocks that get the same result approaching from different directions, different construction techniques and even different cutting patterns. It’s fun to research traditional old quilt blocks just like you did to find these differences and extrapolate to modern techniques and looks. .
Ah, that is very interesting! I bet many crafts run into similar situations!
Thank you, Roxanne, for your curious exploring mind, it helps me widen my horizons. Gratitude !
I'm glad!
Thank you! I really enjoy your videos about the history of knitting, it is fascinating. Much appreciated.
You are so welcome!
I know I say it every week but You are Terrific! Best part of my week.
Thanks, Roxanne! Even when you're talking about something that seemingly has no connection with what I'm doing you teach me something. I love seeing and hearing how you think so deeply about technique.
Thriftbooks.com has the Knitter's Handbook by Montse Stanley if anyone doesn't have it! We have had such good luck with that company/website. Thank you Rox for all this history. I *LOVE* it!
Love Brownsheep. Great customer service and you can also buy their yarn in cones for some weights.
Customer service is really excellent, I agree!
I enjoy your channel. I learn something every time!
Glad to hear it!
I enjoy your videos sooooo much. You are a constant inspiration for me. When I make research through old patterns (never as far as XIX Century, wow!) I also wonder what needles they used, what kind of wool was in fashion then, etc. and everybody around tells me I'm nuts. You made my day! Greetins from Argentina. Muchas Gracias
Wonderful!
Thank you! This episode was very informative. I will be ordering some yarn from the mill you mentioned to try it!
Wonderful!
Wow, you are totally amazing!! You know so much! You are an awesome speaker, as well and interesting.
Wow, thank you!
About the number of rows to knit the body of the sweater, remember that the row gauge is different between sport weight and worsted weight yarns. You would need fewer rows per inch for the worsted vs. the sport weight. Looking forward to seeing how this comes out.
The yarn weight difference changes the circumference and the length proportionally. I'm not trying to make the same size sweater the pattern was written for, I'm making much larger sweater -- one that is proportionally larger in circumference and length, it's just that the sweaters back then were much longer than what we normally would knit today, and that's what I'm trying to make a decision on -- whether or not to make the sweater as long as it would have been knit back in 1897.
Wow! You are so amazing! The amount of knowledge you have and share is wonderful. Thank you!
Thank you for the jogless join! I've NEEDED that! I look forward to each post so much. Tickles my curiosity and eases my stress like a medicine.
Wow, this is really nice! Casually, I was looking for a stretchy cast on for a bottom-up sweater, and I saw this twisted cast on on a book, but it was so hard to understand the instructions 😅 even in a “contemporary” book... so I’ve found a TH-cam video with the instructions that made everything easier... so I did some appointments on the book, so I can follow the instructions properly, but it was kind of frustrating, you know? Sometimes the instructions are not clear, and unfortunately we cannot attach mini videos to the books (yet) hahahah I felt like this when I read the instructions of this cast on that you showed, nothing seemed to make sense hahahah maybe the knitters of that time period felt like this too... who knows 🤷🏻♀️ I love your videos, I learn so much! Kisses from Brazil ❤️
This is why I am fascinated by the history of knitting and your current historical project. I'm still flummoxed by the fact that someone in time picked of one or two sticks and tried wrapping the thread in such a manner to produce fabric. Your discussion about cast on methods added to my happy fascination about the history. There are so many names for the same cast on methods (Italian, Norwegian for example) yet these methods were 'invented' at a time when there was very little interplay between cultures. If there was travel between countries it certainly wasn't to pick up knitting tips! So does this mean there is a universal, intrinsic understanding in knot tying (which, in my most basic understanding of knitting is what we're doing...knot tying with needles--correct me if I've got the wrong end of the needle on that) that allowed the learning of same/similar techniques regardless of where one lived at the time? Are the similarities due to alien or divine intervention? I know that statement sounds glib, but sometimes one wonders how our forefathers decided to try a new method of doing something that seems so natural to us in 2020.
I'm adding your jogless jog technique to my arsenal. The easiest one I've seen! See you next Friday!
It does appear that knitting moved from where it originated into Europe via trade routes. The fiber used for knitting early on was cotton, and then silk. Wool seems to have entered the picture as knitting moved into Europe. Technology of various kinds likely had a role in knitting rising in popularity. For example, the fine gauges used in knitting would have required knitting "wires". Wood and bone couldn't have been used to make needles that fine. The technology to draw wire more efficiently in the Middle Ages made producing knitting needles easier (and cheaper).
Roxanne Richardson How cool is that? I have only thought of metal in the Middle Ages being used for military purposes or making stain glass windows.
Lol. As it seems many inventions pop up simultaneously in different areas of the world, maybe the prototypes are floating around in Plato’s Reality or India’s Akashic Record so people just pluck out the ideas and run with them.
Hello Roxanne. In the 29.30 minutes you showed how to CO in the way my mother taught me 58 years ago when I learned to knit. I knit english way of course. Greetings from Argentina.
Great historical discussion. I will research many of the CO methods you mentioned. I probably also have done several of them without labeling them. You always provide fodder for my brain. Thank you again.
Wonderful as always. Love your “knitted” T.
Thank you! 😊
Great detective work on the "twisted" cast on!
I'm loving your channel!! Such wonderful informations about circular knitting and history. I got a great book from V&A ' knitting: Fashion Industry craft' back in 2017 and I'm finally enjoying the reading in this quarantine.😊 I'm still learning a lot about needleworks and I need to stop knitting for my Barbie dolls and plan something for myself. Cheers from Brazil!! 😘😘
Thank you for the info. Always enjoy listening to you.. the sweater looks like it’s gonna be good for you.. looking forward to it being finished.
Thank you. Love that trick to make a jobless color change. Priceless!
You are so welcome!
I have put my thoughts about the vintage stockings in the Ravelry thread for this podcast. Regards Julie
Fascinating!!
So what I'm hearing you say is, there's more than one way to skin a cat. My mom gets upset when I try to learn a method that she didn't teach me. I hear her saying, " There's the wrong way and there's my way!" Sometimes I learn a different way just to watch her reaction. The last time I showed her how I had taught myself to reverse engineer the twisted German cast on so that I could do it switching the yarn and the needle to the other hands and she got so flustered all she could say was, "Why do you insist on doing things the hard way?!?"
Often, the differences in processes have to do with knitting style (English vs Continental), but also due to other differences (holding the right needle like a pencil vs a knife, or using a knitting belt to hold the right needle). All of these variations plus just slight differences between knitters will cause a widely used technique to evolve into very different processes that are each easier and more difficult to do than the others, depending on your knitting style and how you hold the needles.
Fascinating as always Roxanne. I so enjoy your history lessons. Butterick brings me back to my youth! I love the colors you’ve chosen for this sweater. The yarn looks so soft. I love your technique for dealing with the jog. I believe I’ve seen you do a tutorial on this. It’s funny how many cast on methods are called Italian and they are different. Good to know! I think I may have found this issue with the Icelandic Bind Off as well. May I ask what brand your needle is? The tip looks nice. Not too pointy. Thanks for another great podcast. I look forward to seeing this sweater progress and to hear all that you learn. During this pandemic I’ve learned many new techniques. I’m more interested in learning rather than finishing a project which probably isn’t the best move I’ve made but oh well! I’m learning!!😊
Loved the jobless knitting demo. Question: in my circular knitting My work is slanting and therefore not straight rows up/down (both top down and bottom up. What am I doing?
Lisa Garcia Could it be that your yarn is very tightly spun? That would cause a bias.
James one of the yarns may be but the other isn’t.
I know this might not have anything to do with tonights video, but...you are always mention videos or tv programs you watch, and I just watched that same thing. I keep thinking, boy we must think just alike. Because you stated that you like crime solving programs, I thought I would share an interesting one with you, (but if you do think just like me, you may have already found it, lol.) It's a youtube channel called profiling evil. I believe it is fairly new, but I found it interesting, and thought maybe you would too.
I'll check it out! Currently watching the new Perry Mason. :-)
Is there any way you could very specifically, label the various castons now that you have compared them all.
In regards to the flipping up of the hem of the sweaters on sports teams. I remember when I was in high school , we were required to wear school provided swimsuits every week. You didn't always get the size that fit you.
Could it be that the sweaters were provided by the team or school? So if the sweater was too long you would flip the hem up to ensure freedom of movement?
I've seen many pattern photos (in the knitting books!) where they were modeled with the hem flipped. For most sweaters, they never list length or row gauge, but will just state how many rows to work, but occasionally, they do indicate the actual length, and they were quite long, much longer than we would typically knit today.
Here you can read and download the knitting section of Nature Unbowelled: www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/monographs/phil_nat.pdf
Ah...the link I had for that didn't have the 2 after www! Thanks!
@@RoxanneRichardson My pleasure!
I am curious to see your new project evolution!
Hi rox...this video was very interesting. You are a true history teacher of knitting. I have a question a little related to the video in that its about the jogless join in the round. I know there are 3 wAys. I chose the slip st way. However the video i watched she had me remove the marker do the slip st and then put the marker back. Ive been doing that but every two rounds when i change colors it keeps moving me over to the left. So guess my question is should i be removing the marker or just stay at my original join point. I cant send you a picture of what it looks like😢
You can always post your question and a photo in my Ravelry group. Much easier to help with specific project questions that way!
Ill try....
Roxanne Richardson ok. Im sorry im having trouble doing what you ask. I got to rox asks or something but cant see where to post my question?????
@@sandracasagrande3825 There's a link in the video description to the Rox Rocks group. Click on Discussion. You'll see a long list of various discussion threads. Click on Start a New topic.
Roxanne Richardson i just cant figure it out. Ill post the question to the facebook knitting group. Thanks
You were explaining about stitches on the needles not being complete stitches, do you count them when counting rows or do you ignore them
It depends! *In general* I count rows *under* the needle, knowing that when I cast off, the sts on the needle will become the final row of sts and the new loops created will be the chain bind off. If I need 10 rows of ribbing before I switch to stockinette, I count the number of ribbed rows under the needle to make sure there are 10 before I switch to stockinette. If I need 10 rows of a particular *color* I do include the sts on the needle, because as a row of color they exist already, but as a row worked in a particular stitch pattern, they don't exist until they come off the needle.
Archive of site where you may have first seen the book: www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/front_door.html
Are you still looking for that book? We have a digitized copy in my library. I will email you the pdf if you still need it
Would the yarn be woollen spun vs worsted spun?
No idea. I had considered that a while back, and wrote to them to ask, but they never responded.