I got into using antique patterns when I was making the scarf my hero wears in my Regency romance, The Spinster’s Christmas . I wanted to do another pattern which I think was in use in the Regency period, the Pyrenees Knit Scarf on pages 36-38 of The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work, volume 1, by Jane Gaugain, published in 1840. She is thought to be the first person to use knitting abbreviations, at least in a published book, although they are not the same abbreviations used today (our modern abbreviations were standardized by Weldon’s Practical Needlework in 1906). Since the book is out of copyright, you can download a free PDF copy of the book at Archive.org. I found this to be a fascinating look at knitting around the time of Jane Austen’s later years. Although the book was published in 1840, many of the patterns were in use and passed down by word of mouth many years before that, so it’s possible these are
Ok, you've enticed me Camy! I might have to order one of these babies! :)
ReplyDeleteI totally want one!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletehmmm, not sure if I want to give up the feel of a real book in my hands yet. :)
ReplyDeleteI still like the smell of new books, but lately I've been completely won over by ebooks because they are never nasty and stained like some used books, and I like being able to carry 1000 books in my purse because what I choose to read is usually based on my mood, so I like having a large pool of books to choose from.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I recently discovered several of my favorite Regency authors have their backlist available as ebooks, which is AWESOME!!
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