I just sat down to work on my 1890s fascinator and saw you posted a new video and I was so excited! Thank you so much for mentioning my project, I loved diving into the details of the Polka Jacket with you! All of the resources and information you were able to find has been so enlightening, it is fantastic to see all of the information presented together. I can't wait to see the progress on the mid-1890s boy's sweater, what a unique construction! (Also, I did not sew my own corset for my project, I only added a hand-knit lace trim, I still feel too new to sewing to tackle a corset!)
So happy to see you here! I just watched your CoCoVid video and you've given me some good ideas for ways of thinking about these gauge issues. It's so frustrating to not know what the yarns were actually like, and what sort of fabric density they *intended* to knit. I'm starting to think our yarns are much denser than 100+ years ago!
@@RoxanneRichardson That is so true - I believe you mentioned that you've actually purchased some vintage yarn to understand what it was like, but that seems much more difficult with 100+ year old yarns! I do own a few hand knit pairs of stockings from the 1800s, and you are right the fabric is quite dense that they knitted. I've been scouring antique sellers to see if I can find non-stocking or mitten items from 100+ years ago to better understand what their stitches, yarns and construction were like, but it seems quite rare. Though I have found a few knit petticoats from that time that would be fascinating to look at!
@@EngineeringKnits I am dying to go to our History Center and ask if I can examine some of their collection of antique knitted garments. I was able to go to the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa a couple of summers ago (it's the national Norwegian American museum) and was able to examine their collection of Norwegian sweaters (all knit in Norway), dating from 1908 to the 1980s. That 1908 sweater was for a little boy, and the tension was certainly tight (but also uneven), and not what I would call expertly knitted! I was examining the inside of the sweater to evaluate how knitters managed their stranded colorwork (parallel floats or rotating floats), Stockings, for sure, were densely knit, because of wear concerns, but it's hard to know about other items. Where is that time machine technology when you need it?
Roxanne, Can't wait to see how your new project manifests! Funny, as you were describing the instructions re: the shoulder and, in particular, the armhole construction I was thinking, out loud, 'sure, that's what I was thinking__sounds simple enough'! Mind you, I have never knit a sweater in the round or top, down__considering my fascination with knitting began in JHS, late 1960's, I haven't knit that many items. However, I try conceptualizing the simplest method possible for construction, functionality, and visual appeal. In fact, when you showed and explained your final decision on the underarm gusset for your 1920's sweater, I thought you might have had good results using the method for the armhole in this new project. That was just a simplistic thought, from a 'simple mind'! 😳😹 Looking forward to your next project! 💖🙌🙌🙌😺
I was recently at the Gettysburg Museum and they had a small display of hand knit items from the Civil War. I was tickled to see my hobby so well represented!
Thank you so much for this discovery. I have been trying to find vintage or folk knitting patterns or samples from Poland for a little while now, however it seemed that any evidence of the craft prior to soviet occupation had been wiped out. The Polka jacket renewed my hope in some success. I am hopeful to find evidence of unique lacemaking and colour motifs like in our folk costumes. If you have any leads, I’d greatly appreciate it!
The Polka Jacket/Polish Pelisse does not appear to have any connection to Polish folk knitting. (It might, but it doesn't seem to be the case.) Military uniforms influence fashion in cycles, and the pelisse is an example of a woman's jacket influenced by military garments. The knitted version is just that...a knitted take on the version made from woven cloth and lined with fur. Have you looked on Ravelry for groups that would be likely to have knowledge about Polish folk knitting?
The description of the sleeve/shoulder construction in your new vintage project sounds like Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Nalgar" ("raglan" backward) from her book Knitting Workshop (Schoolhouse Press, 1981).
I couldn't remember how that construction worked, so I looked it up (I had a vague memory of buying a digital download pattern a few years back.). The two methods are quite different, although both are a bit mind-bending!
I typically do updates on my projects (vintage or otherwise) as a Casual Friday segment as I work on them, and talk about challenges, possible modifications, etc. on the weeks where I make progress. :-)
Very interesting podcast Roxanne! I love all of the history! I can now wow my Polish aunt with my new knowledge!😀. It’s funny to hear you mention John L. Sullivan. He was a boxer from Boston but, even though I’m from the MetroWest Boston area, I remember learning about him from a couple of old movies! I look forward to seeing how your new sweater progresses! Sounds fascinating! I know you will have a lot to share on how you work through it! Have a great week!
Re: your next vintage sweater. When you discribed the sleeve technique in the vintage sweater you are planning, memory bells went off in my brain. The technique sound very similar to one Barbara Walker uses in Knitting from the Top Down. Frank H. Jernigan improved upon BW's method on several sweater patterns in recent issues of Cast On. Only instead of picking up the sleeve stitches after the body is worked, their method incorporates working the sleeve tops as you work from the top down. It's been several months since I read Jernigan's article/pattern in Cast On. But you can compare the vintage pattern to the instruction Jernigan gives in Cast On, which as a Master Knitter I am sure you have access to.
Walker has two methods in Knitting from the Top. One is the simultaneous set-in sleeve, which establishes the set in sleeve as the body is worked (several designers have modified her method in various ways). The other is when she works the front and back down to at least past the underarm, and then the sleeves can be picked up around the entire circumference and the cap is shaped with short rows. Lots of variations on that method as well. Previous to the 1890s sweater, I had seen some 1930s and 1940s books demonstrate sleeve cap shaping by picking up for the top of the cap and then knitting back and forth, picking up more each time (the PU rates differ). I'm seeing lots of 19th century patterns for upper body garments PU around the armhole, but this is the earliest pattern I've seen where sleeve cap shaping was done at the same time.
hello, a little thing to add about the translation point, when you ask someone - usually someone you don't know - to translate a pattern, you are asking someone (mostly women) to put in a lot of quite technical work which takes time and to do that for free. In doing so, you are devalorising both her time and the work of professional translators, also often women and it's hard enough for us as it is. also, I got a little thrill when I saw your comment on Engineering Knits thread earlier this week, I really enjoy her content.
I have been watching the CosTubers for a while now. Cathy Hay is one of my favorites, and I just found Engineering Knits a few weeks ago. Its a dream come true to have Costume College online because I will never get out to Cali.
I don't know that I would have ever found out about Costume College if it weren't for the internet, and I certainly would have missed it this year, regardless. What I love about this is that I can pick and choose what looks interesting, and then bail if it's not really what I was hoping it would be. Much cheaper! It's too bad so many of the channels are so small, with no way to monetize. It would be nice to help them out with a Ko-fi or two. I saw Bernadette's live streams were taking Super Chats, but most of the channels are too small to be able to do that.
@@RoxanneRichardson Thank you so much for just spreading the word about CoCoVid. I'm one of those smaller TH-camrs, and every extra view really does help. Might not have a KoFi or Patreon, but a few extra eyeballs for a few minutes really do mean a lot!
Thank you for sharing this video. I've been looking for knitting patterns for mens garments and struggling to find more information. I was delighted to see this sweater pattern, thank you for sharing the link. I understand that with mens knit wear was mostly undergarments and accessories, and if it was for a sweater/jumper or jacket/cardigan that we know today it was more sports wear, or worn by the working class who worked outdoors. This is a weird question but do you know if there are sorce knitting patterns for mens draws and other undergarments? I've only been able to find one pattern on ebay or etsy, but I don't know how authentic it is or which publication it could be based on. Thank you for indulging me, sorry for the long message. Keep up the good work.
Wool underwear (what we would call long johns today, for the bottoms, or union suits for an all-in-one) became popular in the 1870s, first for women, and then men. (A German doctor declared that plant fibers were toxic and what people needed -- right next to the skin -- was wool, because it was "more hygienic") The industrial revolution was led by textile manufacturing, including knitting frames. By the second half of the 19th century, wool underwear was commonly machine knit, and it was that underwear fabric that was first used to create athletic jerseys/sweaters in the late 19th century, when cycling and team sports were on the rise. There are patterns for women's "combinations" (upper body + lower body knitted underwear), and lots of patterns for all ages for undershirts, but I don't recall having seen any patterns for men's lower body underwear. That doesn't mean they don't exist, it just means I haven't noticed them (because I wasn't looking). There are lots of sources for 19th century knitting manuals/patterns on archive.org. (If you search on archive.org for "Knitting Reference Library" that will give you lots to start with) You might also check with the All Things Vintage group or Historic Knitting group on Ravelry to see if anyone knows of any specific patterns.
@@RoxanneRichardson you have been more than helpful, thank you so much. I will definitely give the Historic Knitting group a look. This gives me lots of avenues to explore in my research.
Your description of forming that sleeve cap sounds very much like the way I learned to create top down sleeves from Carol Feller--I think in her Craftsy class on short rows? You can change the shape of the sleeve cap depending on how closely together you work the short row turns.
Usually the way short row sleeve caps are done these days is that you pick up all around the armhole *first* and then you do the short rows. It's interesting to see the progression of this technique, starting with ribbed fabric, and the gradual pick up as each row is worked then onto how they were doing it in the 1930s and 1940s, and then the way Barbara Walker suggested doing it in the 1970s. Walker's method has been tweeked and refined by various designers since then.
I made myself a 'bosom friend' I guess. I have a shirt I like that has too low a v. I crocheted; but it could easily be knitted; a small piece which I slip stitched in place, for modesty's sake 😃
Not the date. The first year was numbered sequentially. The second year is numbered 2-(episode number), and this year it's 3-(episode number). Everything this year is prefaced with a 3.
Thanks always for the podcast! I was just watching Melissa from “Knitting the Stash”. She posted a link to a M.A. thesis on the history of sweaters. You might be interested in it. repository.lib.ncsu.edu/bitstream/handle/1840.16/174/THESIS.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. The thesis is by Gail Lambert and accessible to all. It would be interesting for us to see how it corroborates some of your own research.
Well, that was a fascinating read, and well worth it. I was afraid at first that after reading her thesis, I would have nothing to add to the discussion, but instead, she has done all of the research that leads up to the timeframe where my project begins, so once again, thank you so much for this link!
Knitting terms in Hebrew are really weird, the knit stich is Right stich, and purl is Left stich. Most of the other terms dont have a word for them so you have to describe exactly what you're doing or say the term in English. Garter stich for example is called "Right on Right" (which is true only for flat knitting), ssk have no term so you say left slanting decrease.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี : คู่มวยแห่งยุค (11 ตุลาคม 2567)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aTc7-tPYuJM/mqdefault.jpg)
I just sat down to work on my 1890s fascinator and saw you posted a new video and I was so excited!
Thank you so much for mentioning my project, I loved diving into the details of the Polka Jacket with you! All of the resources and information you were able to find has been so enlightening, it is fantastic to see all of the information presented together.
I can't wait to see the progress on the mid-1890s boy's sweater, what a unique construction!
(Also, I did not sew my own corset for my project, I only added a hand-knit lace trim, I still feel too new to sewing to tackle a corset!)
So happy to see you here! I just watched your CoCoVid video and you've given me some good ideas for ways of thinking about these gauge issues. It's so frustrating to not know what the yarns were actually like, and what sort of fabric density they *intended* to knit. I'm starting to think our yarns are much denser than 100+ years ago!
@@RoxanneRichardson That is so true - I believe you mentioned that you've actually purchased some vintage yarn to understand what it was like, but that seems much more difficult with 100+ year old yarns!
I do own a few hand knit pairs of stockings from the 1800s, and you are right the fabric is quite dense that they knitted. I've been scouring antique sellers to see if I can find non-stocking or mitten items from 100+ years ago to better understand what their stitches, yarns and construction were like, but it seems quite rare. Though I have found a few knit petticoats from that time that would be fascinating to look at!
@@EngineeringKnits I am dying to go to our History Center and ask if I can examine some of their collection of antique knitted garments. I was able to go to the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa a couple of summers ago (it's the national Norwegian American museum) and was able to examine their collection of Norwegian sweaters (all knit in Norway), dating from 1908 to the 1980s. That 1908 sweater was for a little boy, and the tension was certainly tight (but also uneven), and not what I would call expertly knitted! I was examining the inside of the sweater to evaluate how knitters managed their stranded colorwork (parallel floats or rotating floats), Stockings, for sure, were densely knit, because of wear concerns, but it's hard to know about other items. Where is that time machine technology when you need it?
Roxanne,
Can't wait to see how your new project manifests!
Funny, as you were describing the instructions re: the shoulder and, in particular, the armhole construction I was thinking, out loud, 'sure, that's what I was thinking__sounds simple enough'! Mind you, I have never knit a sweater in the round or top, down__considering my fascination with knitting began in JHS, late 1960's, I haven't knit that many items.
However, I try conceptualizing the simplest method possible for construction, functionality, and visual appeal.
In fact, when you showed and explained your final decision on the underarm gusset for your 1920's sweater, I thought you might have had good results using the method for the armhole in this new project.
That was just a simplistic thought, from a 'simple mind'! 😳😹
Looking forward to your next project!
💖🙌🙌🙌😺
I’ve been watching Cocovid. It’s been amazing!
I was recently at the Gettysburg Museum and they had a small display of hand knit items from the Civil War. I was tickled to see my hobby so well represented!
Thank you so much for this discovery. I have been trying to find vintage or folk knitting patterns or samples from Poland for a little while now, however it seemed that any evidence of the craft prior to soviet occupation had been wiped out. The Polka jacket renewed my hope in some success. I am hopeful to find evidence of unique lacemaking and colour motifs like in our folk costumes. If you have any leads, I’d greatly appreciate it!
The Polka Jacket/Polish Pelisse does not appear to have any connection to Polish folk knitting. (It might, but it doesn't seem to be the case.) Military uniforms influence fashion in cycles, and the pelisse is an example of a woman's jacket influenced by military garments. The knitted version is just that...a knitted take on the version made from woven cloth and lined with fur. Have you looked on Ravelry for groups that would be likely to have knowledge about Polish folk knitting?
The description of the sleeve/shoulder construction in your new vintage project sounds like Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Nalgar" ("raglan" backward) from her book Knitting Workshop (Schoolhouse Press, 1981).
I couldn't remember how that construction worked, so I looked it up (I had a vague memory of buying a digital download pattern a few years back.). The two methods are quite different, although both are a bit mind-bending!
Suggestion for technique Tuesday: video your progress with that sweater to show how it progresses as it does sound fascinating
I typically do updates on my projects (vintage or otherwise) as a Casual Friday segment as I work on them, and talk about challenges, possible modifications, etc. on the weeks where I make progress. :-)
It was especially fun to watch your excitement this week. Delighted to learn about a new knitting channel thanks so much for sharing.
Very interesting podcast Roxanne! I love all of the history! I can now wow my Polish aunt with my new knowledge!😀. It’s funny to hear you mention John L. Sullivan. He was a boxer from Boston but, even though I’m from the MetroWest Boston area, I remember learning about him from a couple of old movies! I look forward to seeing how your new sweater progresses! Sounds fascinating! I know you will have a lot to share on how you work through it! Have a great week!
Re: your next vintage sweater. When you discribed the sleeve technique in the vintage sweater you are planning, memory bells went off in my brain. The technique sound very similar to one Barbara Walker uses in Knitting from the Top Down. Frank H. Jernigan improved upon BW's method on several sweater patterns in recent issues of Cast On. Only instead of picking up the sleeve stitches after the body is worked, their method incorporates working the sleeve tops as you work from the top down. It's been several months since I read Jernigan's article/pattern in Cast On. But you can compare the vintage pattern to the instruction Jernigan gives in Cast On, which as a Master Knitter I am sure you have access to.
Walker has two methods in Knitting from the Top. One is the simultaneous set-in sleeve, which establishes the set in sleeve as the body is worked (several designers have modified her method in various ways). The other is when she works the front and back down to at least past the underarm, and then the sleeves can be picked up around the entire circumference and the cap is shaped with short rows. Lots of variations on that method as well. Previous to the 1890s sweater, I had seen some 1930s and 1940s books demonstrate sleeve cap shaping by picking up for the top of the cap and then knitting back and forth, picking up more each time (the PU rates differ). I'm seeing lots of 19th century patterns for upper body garments PU around the armhole, but this is the earliest pattern I've seen where sleeve cap shaping was done at the same time.
hello, a little thing to add about the translation point, when you ask someone - usually someone you don't know - to translate a pattern, you are asking someone (mostly women) to put in a lot of quite technical work which takes time and to do that for free. In doing so, you are devalorising both her time and the work of professional translators, also often women and it's hard enough for us as it is.
also, I got a little thrill when I saw your comment on Engineering Knits thread earlier this week, I really enjoy her content.
I have been watching the CosTubers for a while now. Cathy Hay is one of my favorites, and I just found Engineering Knits a few weeks ago. Its a dream come true to have Costume College online because I will never get out to Cali.
I don't know that I would have ever found out about Costume College if it weren't for the internet, and I certainly would have missed it this year, regardless. What I love about this is that I can pick and choose what looks interesting, and then bail if it's not really what I was hoping it would be. Much cheaper! It's too bad so many of the channels are so small, with no way to monetize. It would be nice to help them out with a Ko-fi or two. I saw Bernadette's live streams were taking Super Chats, but most of the channels are too small to be able to do that.
@@RoxanneRichardson Thank you so much for just spreading the word about CoCoVid. I'm one of those smaller TH-camrs, and every extra view really does help. Might not have a KoFi or Patreon, but a few extra eyeballs for a few minutes really do mean a lot!
Thank you for sharing this video. I've been looking for knitting patterns for mens garments and struggling to find more information. I was delighted to see this sweater pattern, thank you for sharing the link. I understand that with mens knit wear was mostly undergarments and accessories, and if it was for a sweater/jumper or jacket/cardigan that we know today it was more sports wear, or worn by the working class who worked outdoors.
This is a weird question but do you know if there are sorce knitting patterns for mens draws and other undergarments? I've only been able to find one pattern on ebay or etsy, but I don't know how authentic it is or which publication it could be based on.
Thank you for indulging me, sorry for the long message. Keep up the good work.
Wool underwear (what we would call long johns today, for the bottoms, or union suits for an all-in-one) became popular in the 1870s, first for women, and then men. (A German doctor declared that plant fibers were toxic and what people needed -- right next to the skin -- was wool, because it was "more hygienic") The industrial revolution was led by textile manufacturing, including knitting frames. By the second half of the 19th century, wool underwear was commonly machine knit, and it was that underwear fabric that was first used to create athletic jerseys/sweaters in the late 19th century, when cycling and team sports were on the rise. There are patterns for women's "combinations" (upper body + lower body knitted underwear), and lots of patterns for all ages for undershirts, but I don't recall having seen any patterns for men's lower body underwear. That doesn't mean they don't exist, it just means I haven't noticed them (because I wasn't looking). There are lots of sources for 19th century knitting manuals/patterns on archive.org. (If you search on archive.org for "Knitting Reference Library" that will give you lots to start with) You might also check with the All Things Vintage group or Historic Knitting group on Ravelry to see if anyone knows of any specific patterns.
@@RoxanneRichardson you have been more than helpful, thank you so much. I will definitely give the Historic Knitting group a look. This gives me lots of avenues to explore in my research.
Your description of forming that sleeve cap sounds very much like the way I learned to create top down sleeves from Carol Feller--I think in her Craftsy class on short rows? You can change the shape of the sleeve cap depending on how closely together you work the short row turns.
Usually the way short row sleeve caps are done these days is that you pick up all around the armhole *first* and then you do the short rows. It's interesting to see the progression of this technique, starting with ribbed fabric, and the gradual pick up as each row is worked then onto how they were doing it in the 1930s and 1940s, and then the way Barbara Walker suggested doing it in the 1970s. Walker's method has been tweeked and refined by various designers since then.
Check out Cathy Hay. She talks about historical clothing in similar ways that you talk about knitting.
'Sweater' talk starts at 17:12. Actual Polka Jacket talk starts around 23:35.
Huzzar.. S is pronounced z I learned to polka at school. The step was 1,2,3, hop! round in a circle with a partner. 😂
Very good as always.
Now I wonder about the earliest use of the word "dot" as a decorative spot.
I made myself a 'bosom friend' I guess. I have a shirt I like that has too low a v. I crocheted; but it could easily be knitted; a small piece which I slip stitched in place, for modesty's sake 😃
I’m not sure why it says 3-30? I always thought that was the date(?)
Not the date. The first year was numbered sequentially. The second year is numbered 2-(episode number), and this year it's 3-(episode number). Everything this year is prefaced with a 3.
I love Discord. I belong to a book club and a crafting server!
Thanks always for the podcast! I was just watching Melissa from “Knitting the Stash”. She posted a link to a M.A. thesis on the history of sweaters. You might be interested in it. repository.lib.ncsu.edu/bitstream/handle/1840.16/174/THESIS.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. The thesis is by Gail Lambert and accessible to all. It would be interesting for us to see how it corroborates some of your own research.
Amazing! I know how I will be spending today...
Well, that was a fascinating read, and well worth it. I was afraid at first that after reading her thesis, I would have nothing to add to the discussion, but instead, she has done all of the research that leads up to the timeframe where my project begins, so once again, thank you so much for this link!
Roxanne Richardson Looking forward to hearing all about it!
Knitting terms in Hebrew are really weird, the knit stich is Right stich, and purl is Left stich. Most of the other terms dont have a word for them so you have to describe exactly what you're doing or say the term in English. Garter stich for example is called "Right on Right" (which is true only for flat knitting), ssk have no term so you say left slanting decrease.
I'd be curious to see a Hebrew pattern. No abbreviations for stitches?
If the outfit worn for riding is called a ‘riding habit’ a habit shirt is for wearing with a riding habit....?