100+-year-old kilt hose knitting instructions (free online)

[sydnie7]

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/library/ldu/wsa.html

Collection of old knitting instruction books, scanned into PDF format. At least two of them include instructions for "knickerbocker or kilt hose for gentlemen." Here are individual links to the ones I found:

See pg 24

See pg 6

Some other interesting projects in the collection ("Ladies Work for Sailors," anybody?). Enjoy!

[Pleater]

OOOH - must take a good look there.

Just a word of warning thought - people were rather smaller back then - I have some old patterns which have to be sized up either by using thicker yarn and larger needles or by increasing the stitches and rows in order to fit modern people.

Old magazines I have collected had woman's sizes 32, 34 and 36 inch bust - men's sizes went to 40 inch chest sometimes.

My granddad was well under 5ft tall, my dad was 5ft 4in, like me, but my son is 6ft 4ins, easily half a yard taller than his great granddad.

Be sure to check the size before embarking on a wearable item.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Friday]

In "The Stocking Knitter's Manual" it says:

"It may be interesting to know, that the art of knitting is first about the sixteenth century; and, according to some, originate in Scotland, whence it found its way into France. It is related that, in 1564, a certain Wm. Ryder, an apprentice of Master Thomas Burdett, having seen accidentally, in the shop of an Italian merchant, a pair of knitted worsted stockings, made a pair exactly like them, which he presented to William, Earl of Pembroke, and these were the first stockings knitted in England of woolen yarn."

The Scots invented or made the first of everything.

[Pleater]

I just realised it is the Richard Rutt collection - I met him a couple of times and heard him speak too - he was a Bishop and knitted himself a mitre out of Twilley's goldfingering yarn - greatly envied by his fellows.

He was a lovely man - a real treasure. He'd had a few adventures in his time as a missionary in China.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[piperdbh]

The "intakes" prescribed on p. 24 seem a bit drastic. They call for a sl1, K3tog, psso. That's a big decrease.

[frank_a]

Thank yo for these links! Great stuff.

Frank

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/library/ldu/wsa.html

Collection of old knitting instruction books, scanned into PDF format. At least two of them include instructions for "knickerbocker or kilt hose for gentlemen." Here are individual links to the ones I found:

See pg 24

See pg 6

Some other interesting projects in the collection ("Ladies Work for Sailors," anybody?). Enjoy!

[sydnie7]

I just realised it is the Richard Rutt collection - I met him a couple of times and heard him speak too - he was a Bishop and knitted himself a mitre out of Twilley's goldfingering yarn - greatly envied by his fellows.

He was a lovely man - a real treasure. He'd had a few adventures in his time as a missionary in China.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

Thanks for the back-story on these, Anne.

As for the instructions themselves. . . let's just say they make Gainford's book look like "Kilt Hose for Dummies" LOL Somebody with much more experience than I should whip up a pair and show us what you get!

[/tongue firmly in cheek]