sarah not mary ([info]sarahsaloser) wrote in [info]knitting,
@ 2006-06-17 21:49:00
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Pattern Help! History Buffs Required!
Hello Everyone! This is my first ever post. I went through the memories, but they didn't seem to cover my specific problem.



The Story:

I work at a place called Greenfeild Village. I don't know if any of you have heard of it. Anyways, basically what the place is ... well our tag line is '300 Years Of America's History'. It's about 80 acres and we have all these historic building, like the original Wright Brothers Home, Noah Websters House, and the place where Henry Ford was born.

I work on a site called Fire Stone Farm (where Harvey Firestone, the tire guy, was born) and we do living history there. We live each day like they would have in 1885. I'm starting christmas gifts for some of my farm friends and I wanted to make them scarfs to wear on the farm once it gets cold here (I live and work near Detroit, Michigan, our winters get crazy cold!). The problem is the patterns for scarfs I use have to date to 1885 or before!

So here's the question. Does anyone know where I could find scarf patterns that would be historically accurate? I would be using 100% Merino Wool. We have merino sheep here on the farm so we make all our own yarn. It's undyed and I get a whole hank for 6 dollars, so it's a good deal.

Can anyone help me? It would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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[info]silverblayze
2006-06-18 02:25 am UTC (link)
unrelated comment: yeah for michigan knitters! :)

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[info]yourmammasdream
2006-06-18 02:27 am UTC (link)
http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/godey/fashion/work.html

maybe you could adapt one of those? (scroll to the bottom) no scarves, but some patterns you could look at to get ideas.

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[info]fallingempire
2006-06-18 02:33 am UTC (link)
Whoooooaaaa about the yarn, that's super lucky!
Also: I tried googling your issue, and I came up with these sites:
http://www.onceuponapattern.com/Knit_Patterns.html
http://escproductions.bizland.com/stonesneatstuff/patterns.html
http://escproductions.bizland.com/stonesneatstuff/knittingtreasury/patterns.html
http://www.geocities.com/vintageconnection/VintageConnection--VictorianKnittingCONTENTS.html
And there are many more... I basically just googled "victorian knitting"... you should get quite a bit. Some are free, some are not free, but you should be able to find something (or at least find a stitch pattern you can use for something to your liking).
Good luck, and have fun with that yarn of yours!!

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[info]sarahsaloser
2006-06-18 02:39 am UTC (link)
thanks so much! Yeah, I was going to say something. I could probably set up to get the yarn for people if they are really interested. I get it for crazy cheap, I mean, you'd have to dye it yourself, but it's good stuff, it's all we use here at the village.

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[info]peachymanaangel
2006-06-18 02:50 am UTC (link)
i love greenfield village! (i was thinking of working their but i live an hour away. . . .) good luck with your hunt.

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Yeah Greenfield Village!!!
[info]neefer_1
2006-06-18 03:05 am UTC (link)
I lived in Liviona until i was 5.. I spent many a summer there going to camp... Learning to make cookies, and having ducks steal them from our hands outside the school house.
As far as a scarf goes, I would think a simple garter would be rather accurate. They didn't go for fancy back then just quick and warm..

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[info]dianak
2006-06-18 04:00 am UTC (link)
When I was there in November, I saw a bunch of garter stitch scarves. I'd imagine that anything that is probably a combination of knits and purls would be appropriate; it mainly had to be useful, not decorative during that time, right? They wanted it done, done quickly, and warm. Wide enough to be folded over and still be wide enough to insulate, and long enough to hang down to your waist or a little above (the idea being that you could fold it in half then around your stomach, and wear it under your jacket or sweater).

I actually enjoyed talking to the women in one of the houses about spinning when I was there; my companion was trying to talk me into taking a job there, but I don't like driving far.

Good luck with your job :)

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[info]42shadesofgray
2006-06-18 04:02 am UTC (link)
Greenfield Village is awesome. You might want to take a look at the books published by the Dover company - they reprint a lot of old books, and some of them are needlework books. They've got all sorts of random things. The only problem with them is that their shipping is kind of slow.

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[info]prncsscindy
2006-06-18 04:38 am UTC (link)
I have a book by Lionbrand company, Vintage Styles for Today, has mostly sweater patterns but a few scarves and stoles and various other things. Some cute hats. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400080614/102-1129847-0437755?v=glance&n=283155

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[info]sarakate
2006-06-18 04:47 am UTC (link)
Check out the Project Gutenberg version of Beeton's Book of Needlework, published in 1870.

There aren't actual scarf patterns, but that's because a scarf doesn't really *need* a pattern -- it's just a really long swatch. There are a number of stitch patterns, both presented by themselves and as part of patterns (check both the "knitting instructions" and the "knitting patterns" sections). I would submit that you could use any one of these to make a scarf, and be perfectly historically accurate. In fact, as there are a number of patterns that use ribbing, you could probably use these to demonstrate that ribbing was well known, and from there extrapolate to a ribbed scarf. That's much more historically accurate than actually finding a pattern written out specifically to make a scarf, because people who really knew what they were about with knitting wouldn't have bothered with a pattern for something that easy.

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[info]string_2_sticks
2006-06-18 11:16 am UTC (link)
Well, I can tell you what I know about historical knitting- 2-ply (jumper-weight) wool was mostly used, so small needles are necessary. Worsted-style (the style of spinning the wool, not the weight) was used in 19th century woolens. Colored wools, like crimson, green and orange were the most expensive to produce, therefore used by the wealthy. Poor or trades people would use natural colored wool, like cream, black, grey, brown or dyed-purple.

Here are some resources:

Hook and Book Bibliography

The Hook and The Book: The Emergence of Crochet and Knitting in American Popular Culture

Weldon's Practical Needlework

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[info]palopinto
2006-06-18 11:22 am UTC (link)
What an excellent job you have! We have a historical village which is run by volunteers, and I got married there. It's such a neat place, and I can just imagine how interesting yours is if people actually role play!

I agree with a few others here - any simple combination of knits and purls would probably be appropriate. Ladies also knitted/crocheted/tatted lace back then (wealthy ladies with time to spend on such frivolous pursuits of course ;), so you might be able do a nice lace pattern for a shawl inspired scarf.

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[info]sarahsaloser
2006-06-18 04:55 pm UTC (link)
it is an awesome job! The farm work is hard though. I always ache at the end of the day. It's worth it though you know? Especially when you see kids just get so excited about history! They want to know everything!

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[info]latara
2006-06-18 02:19 pm UTC (link)
That's really cool that you work at Greenfield Village. I love it there, and sometimes I see the spinners. I was just wondering, however, do they sell the yarn that is spun to the public?

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[info]sarahsaloser
2006-06-18 04:54 pm UTC (link)
they do in fact! You can purchase it at the village store for 8 dollars a hank. I get it for cheaper since I work there!

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