Victorian knitting with 1mm knitting needles

The Knitting Reference Library at Southampton University has digitised 67 pre-1900 books from the Richard Rutt collection (books that are out of copyright). This is a wonderful resource of a wide range of knitting recipes, advice, guidance, and social history.

The instructions to knit a garment are referred to as recipes, which in current parlance we refer to as patterns. The use of the term pattern seems to infer colour patterns and the yarns used, rather than how to make the garment. There is a lack of drawings or images of the finished items, and no gauges. In a few cases there are instructions to knit for a certain distance, but other than that, no finished garment sizes are provided, and certainly no details for creating the garments in multiple sizes. 

To start my foray into knitting a Victorian garment, I selected a baby bootee recipe: Baby's Shoes (a very pretty pattern) from The Knitters Companion by Mrs Mee and Miss Austin, which was published in approximately 1840-50. Here is a screenshot from the digital copy:

After some research at the Knitting Reference Library in Winchester, and some looking-up of standard wire gauge measurements, the nearest modern needle size I could find to Victorian No. 19 pins are 1mm DPNs. Not easily available. Most knitting shops only go down to 2mm needles for very fine lace knitting or socks. Luckily for me, the Knitter's Pride Karbonz go down to 1mm (US 00000), and were available by mail order.

Whilst waiting for the 1mm DPNs to arrive, I had a go using 1.75mm DPNs (the smallest I had in stock) and some 2 ply wool from my stash and I produced the first version of the baby shoes.

They came out about the size of a 3 year old's foot. For the second attempt I used 1mm DPNs and Yeoman Yarn's 1 ply merino wool that I had left over from making a Zandra Rhodes machine knit circular jacket. 

This one seemed to come out about the right size, though several friends with babies commented that the size is at the smaller end of baby feet, but suggested perhaps Victorian babies were (on average) smaller than today. The Victorian knitting recipes certainly assume a much higher level of knitting ability from the reader, and in some places are more of a guide than instructions. The finished shoes certainly received warm praise and lots of "ooohs" from the members of the Knitting History Forum at the annual conference last month. 

Brighton Mini Maker Faire 2014

The annual Brighton Mini Maker Faire kicked off at 10am on Saturday, and it was the busiest Faire to date. Last year there were waves of creatives asking interesting and thought-provoking questions, but this year it was a constant stream.

As well as my faithful staples of the giant machine knitted periodic table blanket, and the glowing crocheted hat, there were new items of interest including some baby shoes from a Victorian pattern knit on tiny 1mm needles (the nearest equivalent to a Victorian number 19), and a steampunk-style coat made from a decommissioned parachute.

The draw-scan-knit end of the stand was in constant demand, and according to the counter on the scanner, over 40 pictures were knit during the 8 hours the show was open ... a new record for me! (my arms didn't half ache the next day!). The questions ranged from interest in how a knitting machine actually worked, through to some very technical questions from both textile students and keen Makers.

Last year there were a few 'Learn to knit' kits that I had made up from finds in local charity shops. That went down really well, so this year we upped our game. The fabulous Knitting and Crochet Guild supplied knitting needles and both knitting and crochet instruction leaflets (the leaflets are a free download from their website). The crochet hooks, yarn and British-made recycled paper bags were supplied courtesy of a small Arts Council grant. We took enough stock for 150 learn to knit bags, and 50 learn to crochet. A quick look through what it left suggests we gave away about 100 knit kits, and 25 crochet kits. The enthusiastic response was infectious. A few people took the bags away to try and home, but a lot wanted to have a quick go on the spot.