As you might know from some of my earlier posts, I’ve developed an interest in Shaker knitting and have been doing various kinds of research on what knit collections are available. I’m actually going to did a collection tour this past Friday at The Mount Lebanon Shaker Museum in New York. I was lucky to be able to see quite a bit from the textile collection even though it was a general tour. It was great fun to go “behind the scenes,” and I had time to chat with the staff later about some research I’d like to do. In November I’ll join members of the Museum working on a mini-version of one of the rugs knit by Elvira Hulett in about 1893. It is a knit-along via Zoom, and I’m looking forward to seeing the various interpretations from the original piece.
My assumption was (from several articles written about these rugs) was that these were knit in tubes and then spiraled and sewn together like a rag rug. As it turns out, they are knit flat, and the spiral section is only in the center. The bands are then knit as circles (presumably using short rows to make the curves) and each sewn on concentrically and then finished with a braided edge and backed with heavy fabric to hold them flat. This will be a good opportunity to use up scrap yarn. Again, it is presumed that the original was made of leftovers, since there are color changes that suggest that Elvira ran out of colors as she worked some of the circles and had to make substitutions.
I think that one of the reasons I’m so drawn to Elvira Hulett’s rugs is that I too have been working (for many years) on a scrap project (a blanket) with leftover yarn. It’s the time of year I bring that blanket out to work on it now and again while watching TV.
While my blanket obviously looks nothing like Elvira’s rug, the concept of letting nothing go to waste clearly contributed to the appeal of the project for both of us, so I feel a sort of “kinship” with Elvira.
Left: Knitted Rug, circa 1893 attributed to Sister Elvira Hulett from the Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts. Owned by the Mount Lebanon Shaker Village, NY.
Object #: 1957.8574.1
Another thing I’ve been looking at is the Shaker Sweater. As the story goes, a gentleman brought a sweater to the Sisters of the Canterbury Shaker Community in New Hampshire with a request that they make a duplicate. While nothing is known about the original, in 1886 the community purchased a single web knitting machine from Jonas Aiken, enabling the Sisters to deliver an order of 60 dozen sweaters to New York that December.
According to an article in The Friends’ Quarterly (1991) from Canterbury Shaker Village, the original Shaker sweaters were 100% wool, and made in two styles (cardigan and pullover), with 4 weights and 11 sizes. The sweaters were evidently quite popular, and a diary from 1910 noted that 1,489 were produced that year.
I’ve found a few examples of Stadium Sweaters produced by the Shakers. Unlike contemporary sweaters of this type that usually are made of cotton and with raglan sleeves, this example appears to be stockinette stitch. It is known that the Canterbury Shakers produced this type of Letter Sweater for several of the Ivy League colleges, but I haven’t been able to find any detailed information about their production. It’s quite possible that they produced both the Shaker stitch garments as well as stockinette sweaters at the same time (so now you see my “down the rabbit hole” research). For certain, both the stockinette “Stadium Sweater” (shown here) and the Shaker stitch type were present in the Mount Lebanon Museum collection, so the question is partially answered.
It’s not yet clear to me what kind of knitting was being done in New York, but the collection includes a Lamb knitting machine as well as racks of bobbins that would have held the yarn being fed into the machines. Lamb knitting machines were generally used for making socks and other tubular knits.
Spinning along
Current spinning is Gotland fleece for this month’s breed study. This is the ply back from my first spin. This particular bag of roving is a well-combed top that blends all of the different fibers into one. The result is a lovely silver-grey mix, but with all of the short fibers plus the outer coat gives it a really rustic (i.e., scratchy) feel. I’m not sure what this will become, but my first thought is that it would make nice strong warp.
On the needles…
Swatching. My level 2 projects for the Master Knitter program include an argyle sock. I love these colors together, but this is probably not going to be what I’ll settle on. I’ve told some of you about my first knitting project, but it’s worth repeating here.
Mom was a knitter, and a really good one. When I first expressed an interest in learning to knit, she was pretty skeptical. For a start, I wasn’t (and still am not) known for patience, so she didn’t think I’d stick with it (probably an accurate assumption as well because I was just 5 years old at the time). Still, I was given a skein of Red Heart yarn and needles, and set to producing squares of garter and stockinette stitch. Having proven that I could produce reasonable knitting, I wanted a project that would make something to wear. We settled on a pair of argyle socks for my dad. Argyles were her first project, so they would be mine. My dad got one sock for Christmas that year. It was brown, mustard yellow and avocado green with cream ribbing.
I still like the gold and rust colors for socks, so that’s the direction I think I’ll go. If not just for the sentimental value, these are great fall colors, and as today’s a gloomy, rainy fall day with leaves collecting outside on the deck, it somehow seems just right for my project.
The rugs are fascinating!
😮 WOW!