Flitting into Victorian Times and Knitwear

I can't believe I have somehow gone for more than three years without knowing about the work of Beth Hahn, an artist, writer, and knitwear designer who has written and illustrated in watercolours a series called The Adventures of Miss Flitt, a four-part, steampunk-ish, Victorian mystery novel, each installment of which contains six character-based knitting patterns. I mean, I love mysteries, I love history, I love knitwear design, I especially love knitwear design that references literature and history — how did this happen? However, the situation will soon be remedied. I intend to read the shit out these books as soon as I can get them into my hands, and for those of you who may not be familiar with Hahn's work, I shall try to fill you in.

The narrative follows Emma Flitt into a nineteenth-century New York filled with magicians, clairvoyants, charlatans, and pickpockets, as she unravels the mysterious disappearance of her sister Lucy. Hahn offers patterns for some of the items her characters wear. She has said that she hasn't been strictly historically accurate in her designs so as to keep them wearable for contemporary wear, which just shows good design principles. Let us hope, for instance, that Hahn hasn't offered us an item with pockets that would be easy to pick. But let's have a look at a few of the designs she has proffered in the Miss Flitt books.





This sweater is the Gretel pattern. It's understated and yet with interesting details. The hat is Emma's City Beret.





This is the Séance Shawl. The lacework is lovely and the shawl appears to drape really well.





This is the Nadya Corset and the Nadya Slip. Of course Victorian women would have worn items like these under several more layers of clothing, but you'll be appearing out just like this, like a brazen hussy.

You can read a very good January 2011 interview with Hahn, in which she describes the process of creating the books, on Popshifter, visit the Miss Flitt blog, and Hahn's main web site, and also check out some of her patterns on Ravelry.

The Olympknits

Take a look at this knitted rendering of the Olympics, by Alan Baker and Laura Long. From a Chariots of Fire-esque opening scene to the lofty commentary by "Phil Sportsman" to the streaker, it has all the excitement of the Olympics, if none of the muscle definition.

Knitting Pattern Narratives

Are you familiar with that old English teacher trick of giving their students an intriguing picture to look at, and telling them to write a story based on the picture? I've taken many an English class, and sometimes when I look at pictures of knitted creations, they speak to me and insist on telling me their stories, even when I don't want to hear them. I thought I'd share a collection of such images and their back stories here. A number of these have previously appeared on the Facebook page for this site, but there are some new ones.





"Oh, you mean my new bikini dress? Yes, it knitted up in no time, and then because it needed a little something I added some flowers that I crafted out of white and green garbage bags. Kicky, isn't it? And so versatile. It's just the best thing ever to wear at the beach all day and for the party circuit all night, and it'll see me right through my pregnancy."





"You know when I told you the best thing for us to do to prepare for the apocalypse was to take our stashes and retreat to a remote mountain top? Was I right or was I right?"

"You were right, I must admit. Do you think we should head back now to help rebuild civilization?"

"Let's wait until the dust settles."

"Or at least until we run out of yarn."





Chloe was uncertain if her new dress was a statement on depression, urban decay, or the declining quality of mass-produced clothing, but in any case she was proud of its utilitarian qualities. Not many dresses can make a profound statement about modern life and double as a sleeping bag for sub-zero temperatures.





When his girlfriend Tara presented him with his "new spring coat" that morning, Andreas knew the only thing to do was run far, far, away. To his horror, Tara pursued him. When he got up the courage to look back, he found she was gaining on him, and, worse, that she seemed to be shrieking something about "the matching toeless socks".





Gaia felt the only true form of art and design were those without boundaries or bourgeois rules, and she'd lived by those principles her entire life, throwing a screaming tantrum at six when her mother suggested she colour inside the lines, and threatening to impale herself with her knitting needles at twelve when her home ec teacher commented that she really ought to use a stitch gauge. There weren't many people in the world with such unimpeachable artistic integrity in the world, and Gaia was proud to be one.





Nothing was going to stop Dawn Marie from achieving her dream of going for the gold as an Olympic swimmer, and she would do absolutely anything that might better her time. She was even willing to wear the swimsuit her coach's second cousin, a scientist and crocheter, swore would give her the highest possible level of hydrodynamic advantage. But to be on the safe side, Dawn Marie did resolve to have his science credentials and mental health history discreetly investigated before the qualifying meet.





After Holden put on his birthday present from his girlfriend, he stared into space and wondered if being alone, unloved, and celibate would be such a bad thing after all.





"Hello, I am Zorba. I vill put on zis sexy man from Kazakhstan ivory aran jacket and scarf, and I vill butcher zis chicken and you vill cook it for a romantic dinner for just us two at my home, because Zorba does not cook. And zen after you have done the dishes, because Zorba does not do dishes, zen you vill let me make sweet, vild love to you, yes?"





Amber loved her newly finished crocheted bathing suit so much, she thought she'd make a speedo out of the remaining yarn for her husband. Or maybe, she mused, he'd like a thong better. But the important thing was that the suits matched. Just like their marriage counsellor had said, the two of them needed to develop some shared interests and commonalities in order to save their marriage.





Cosette couldn't understand it. She'd finally overcome the grief of her husband's death to the extent that she could appear at her former mother-in-law's cocktail party in a dress that she considered the perfect sartorial compromise between mourning and moving on, and the next morning the headlines of the newspaper on her doorstep read, "BLACK WIDOW SPIDER DEATH INQUEST TO BEGIN TODAY".





"Oh yes, I made this all by myself! I glue gunned some pieces of fishnet and a couple dozen of the fringed garters I had left over from my days as a chorus girl to this old blanket. Hey, don't hate me because I'm talented. I'll be happy to make you one. For a price."





Cassandra was finding it a challenge to play Shia, a non-verbal character who'd been raised by sheep, spending an entire three-month shoot frolicking about in sheep doo-doo hadn't been fun, and the love scenes had been just plain disgusting, but as her agent kept telling her, her role in Dances With Sheep could be a career-maker.





We the Crochet Posse, yo.
We ain't down with the knitting, no.
Needles and garter stitch, they all just wack.
Hooks and doilies, they where it's at.

The Knitting Mania, and Those Who Hate It

It seems that as long as there have been those who are avid knitters, there have been non-knitters who complain about it. One of my exes complained that it made him feel as though "he must not be very important" when I knitted while we watched TV rather than cuddling with him. Sorry, darling. Here's hoping your current partner has two left thumbs. Another pointed out that it was "not cost-efficient" for me to knit when I could earn the money to buy the item in much less time. He also kept quoting Anthony Robbins at me. I'm sure he's still out there somewhere making facile and condescending observations to some woman who, happily, isn't me.

The Hampshire Advertiser & Salisbury Guardian published the poem below on Saturday, December 11, 1847, only a few decades after knitting had become commonplace among English women of all classes. The poet, though he felt he "must speak out his mind", did so anonymously. He was, after all, criticizing an armed camp. I can't help wondering if he got the kind of wife he wanted, one who never did needlework for pleasure but instead was happy to only attend to the necessary sewing and mending and "every duty prize". Because if he did find such a woman, I bet she either developed an addiction to laudanum or decamped with the chimney sweep within a few years.



The Knitting Mania


I really must — it is no use — I must speak out my mind
And wonder how the ladies can delight in knitting find;
Such pointed, pricking, sharp-edged tools, such rolling balls of thread,
Such puzzling over bewildering rules with such bewilder’d head.


My mother and my sisters four are clever in this way,
They knit at morning, noon and night; they knit, in fact, all day;
Their little bags, their pointed pins, are in their fingers ever;
In short, I really do believe, they’ve got the knitting fever.


And, after all, what good results, come from such industry?
It is not comforters, or socks, they ever knit for me;
But pence-jugs, purses, smoking-caps, while over chair and screen
Are knitted clothes of every kind, and newest patterns seen.


We’ve mats for every standing thing, we’ve covers for each dish;
We’ve knitted cloths for bread and cheese, for fruit, and flesh, and fish;
Our rich dessert dish is fill’d up with bobbins starch’d and clean,
We wipe our mouths in d’Oyleys of every pattern seen.


How many a scratch and prick I get! I could not count them all!
How many a time about my feet I get the tangled ball.
And often have I borne away a handsome square of knitting
Which clung unto my buttons from the chair where I’ve been sitting.


Alas! Alas! each stitch of work I now must pay for doing
My sisters they will knit for me, but cannot think of sewing.
No buttons can I get put on; no gloves can I get mended,
All little comforts of my home are now left unattended.


I might get married, certainly — but I’ll not think of this —
I know how much a knitting wife can marr domestic bliss;
There are such things as knitted caps, and robes, and trimmings too,
And many other pretty things the ladies now can do.


No — I shall wait until I find a wife as wives should be —
Who for all taste of fancy work of every kind is free;
One who will gladly make, and mend, and every duty prize,
Which may increase her loveliness in a fond husband’s eyes.

Queen Victoria's Royal Example

Queen Victoria was a lifelong avid knitter and crocheter, and she also spun. Though she probably only did handiwork because she enjoyed it, her taste for it had far-reaching effects. Prior to the early nineteenth century, knitting was a folk art and a cottage industry, something the poor did from necessity and to earn a living. Queen Elizabeth I bought handknitted stockings, but wasn't herself a knitter. In the nineteenth century knitting became something all socioeconomic classes did, partly because of the rise of the popular press and the subsequent availability of printed knitting patterns, partly because of technical advances in the production of knitting needles and the introduction of standardized size needles, but also and in no small part because Queen Victoria elevated the status of knitting by setting a royal example. By the end of Queen Victoria's life every properly brought-up young girl in Western society was taught to knit as a matter of course, regardless of her family's economic status. Queen Victoria probably had a very salutary effect on crocheting as well, as crocheting did not even exist long before 1800, but became a common craft in less than a century. In the picture above, Queen Victoria is show knitting in the Queen's sitting room at Windsor Castle while her daughter Princess Beatrice reads the newspaper aloud.




This crocheted scarf is one of eight Queen Victoria made to be awarded to some members of the British military who had served with distinction in the Boer War in South Africa. The scarves had no significance as a military decoration, but must have had their own very special cachet. Not to mention that I find the whole idea of Queen Victoria crocheting these special scarves for her soldiers hilariously maternal and loving-hands-at-home. Can you picture any modern head of state doing such a thing for members of his or her national military? Would Stephen Harper knit bow ties for members of the Canadian military? Would Barack Obama cross-stitch medallions for his soldiers? But then it's my understanding that this sort of thing was typical of Queen Victoria's character. She did live in a bubble of extreme privilege and could be appallingly out of touch with what life was like for her subjects (she was middle-aged before she realized there was such a thing as train tickets, as she'd always simply walked on board herself), but her tastes and mindset could be very middle class. Queen Victoria enjoyed the circus and a nip of whiskey.





In this photo, Queen Victoria is photographed crocheting. I have read that Victoria, as much as she liked to knit, was not all that skilled in the art. There's a story told that on one occasion, Victoria was visiting a Scottish household near Balmoral Castle and presented her hostess with a pair of socks that she had knitted herself. There was an elderly woman also present who was hard of hearing and hadn't grasped the visitor's identity, and who loudly remarked, "If her man gets no better made socks than that, I pity him." Fortunately, Her Majesty was amused.

My Knitted Boyfriend

My Knitted Boyfriend is a short yarn about a poor, lonely knitter who decided to take her love life into her own skilful hands. Alas, she appears to have forgotten to make her knitted boyfriend anatomically correct, but in every other way he's perfect. He's cuddly, he's no pill, and he's even machine washable! My Knitted Boyfriend is the work of Noortje de Keijzer, who knitted herself a boyfriend for a masters' project at the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2012. You can see more of de Keijzer's work on her website.

Getting Shirty

If you're into upcycling or simply can't bear to let your favourite but worn t-shirts go, Relevé Design can tell you how to make t-shirt yarn. Figuring out what to do with the resulting balls of t-shirt yarn may be more of a challenge. I'm less than impressed by the suggested projects at the bottom of Relevé Design's page, and was underwhelmed by what I came up with via Google image searches and on Ravelry. T-shirt yarn is simply too bulky to use in knitwear. People make pom-poms out of them (for what purpose I don't know), weird rope necklaces, lumpy-looking headbands, and kitschy belts.




I think your best bet is to stick with décor items such as baskets, cushions, and rugs. You'll probably be braiding rather than knitting, and you'll need to know how to work with colour and have a good eye for design in order to get attractive results, because you're going to be working with small amounts of each colour. The classic braided rug seems to be the most generally successful t-shirt yarn project. The beautiful rug above was made by Meg McElwee of Sew Liberated. I bet it feels awesomely soft and cushiony to walk on.

If you've made a successful t-shirt yarn project, feel free to link to it in the comments!