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Testing Huron County Arcott wool
In preparation for choosing a wool for the reproduction of Herbert Wheeler’s knitted gloves, I’ve been knitting up a few test swatches using a locally produced wool, a Huron County Arcott. The sport-weight wool is a medium grade with a tendency to create a natural nap on the surface after wet finishing, according to Deborah Livingston-Lowe, experienced weaver, textile designer and owner of Upper Canada Weaving. Upper Canada Weaving was founded in 2010 by Deborah to reproduce 19th century Ontario textiles such as coverlets, rag carpets and linens. I can tell you, fellow knitters, that Huron Arcott, sourced from a Brussels-area farm and purchased through Upper Canada Weaving, is an…
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Knitting the Huron Wristers video tutorials
Hi there! I’ve been working on a video series on how to knit the Huron Wristers. The videos are meant to help beginners or knitters with a little experience who would like to knit their own pair of history inspired wristers but maybe need some help with knitting in the round and colourwork. My knitting skill level is experienced beginner, so I’m always learning, reading and asking lots of questions. I would like to let you know that the wristers aren’t difficult to make; with a few basic skills in hand, they are designed to be a friendly and inclusive knit: quick and fun for experienced knitters and a small…
- Historic Textiles in Our Local Museums, Knitting, museum reproduction, Needlework, Needlework History, Pattern Recreation
The Huron Wristers: a story of connections part 2
Continued from The Huron Wristers: a story of connections part 1 Was there a family tie to either Estonia or the British Isles? The answer would help to identify the glove pattern perhaps. When an instagram post by Best Dishes, a Goderich business owned by Sarah Anderson, appeared in my feed one day identifying the wristers pattern as based on a family heirloom, chance had dropped the perfect opportunity. It was time to connect. A couple messages back and forth and the story unfolded… History of the Wheeler Family Sarah as it turns out, is the daughter of Richard Anderson, great-nephew of Herbert Wheeler. Richard sent the following information about…
- Historic Textiles in Our Local Museums, Knitting, museum reproduction, Needlework History, Pattern Recreation
The Huron Wristers: a story of connections part 1
The story of the creation of the Huron Wristers is a story of connections: the connection of past to present, of generation to generation. Back in 1972 Pearl Wheeler donated a pair of knitted gloves that once belonged to her husband Herbert to the Huron County Museum and Historic Gaol. The museum’s record notes that at the time the gloves were thought to date from 1870 and were knit by a man. Herbert and Pearl lived in Belgrave, Ontario. Herbert had seven siblings, four brothers and three sisters. His parents were Charles Wheeler and Mary Ann Wilkinson. Herbert was a carpenter and apparently also the local barber. How long the…
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Stitch some history with the Colours of Huron
They are done! My very first knitting kit is all put together and ready to be delivered! The Huron Wrister Kit, inspired by history & featuring the ‘Colours of Huron’, will be able at FACTS in Blyth on Friday for the FACTS Forest Exhibit Opening! And, the Huron County Museum will have a small number available for sale on Saturday. It’s so exciting to be able to work with FACTS and Steele Wool Farm on this creative fibre collaboration and to have the encouragement of the Huron County Museum. Planning the Huron Wrister Kit The origin and inspiration for the Huron Wrister lays with the historic textiles in the collection of the…
- fibre dyeing, Knitting, museum reproduction, Needlework History, Pattern Recreation, vintage reproduction
Huron Wristers and the Colours of Huron
The Blyth History Stitcher is at it again… naturally dyed palette created by FACTS and beautiful wool from Steele Wool Farm, this is definitely a creative fibre collaboration; it’s time for an update on the Huron Wristers. The Huron Wristers Kits are now in production, with the coloured yarn being weighed and divided. The worsted weight wool is from Steele Wool Farm, a Blyth-area fibre producer owned by Margaret Steele. Naturally sourced local dyes, provided by FACTS Blyth, were used to create the palette of the ‘Colours of Huron’. Each kit will have enough wool to knit a pair of medium/large fingerless mitts and will consist of one ball of natural wool (220 yards)…
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The story of blue
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Dress of Many Patterns – lace pattern #1
I thought it was time to write an update on the Dress of Many Patterns and share my own lace sampler swatch in progress. The pattern comes from PieceWork and is a recreation of a piece in a knitted lace sampler book featured in the magazine in 2016. The first row of the eight-row repeat staggers the diagonal of eyelets formed; the pattern is worked in multiples of five stitches and an eight-row repeat. The stitch count remains the same – five stitches per repeat – for each repeat of the pattern throughout. If you’re interesting in trying it yourself, the pattern is below. Gauge: one 5-st repeat and 8…
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The Dress of Many Patterns – a citizen science project
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Researching vintage colourwork
I’ve been doing some research on colourwork patterns and knitting histories and traditions as part of the development of a new pattern, the Huron Wristers. The wristers pattern is based on a pair of lovely knitted gloves in the collection of the Huron County Museum & Historic Gaol located in Goderich, Ontario. The museum’s gloves are approximately 100 years old, are knit with wool and are large enough to fit a man’s hands. The pattern is somewhat similar to Sanquhar and Fair Isle colourwork traditions. I went through many a pattern book and magazine, looking for where the pattern may have originated. I’ve come to think that the knitter (said…
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The Dress of Many Patterns – a citizen science project
Hey, local Huron County stitchers! Would you be interested in a ‘citizen science project’ focusing on needlework history? What would you think of this idea: creating a number of vintage needlework samplers inspired by historic needlework items from the collection of the Huron County Museum in Goderich and then piecing those samplers into a piece of wearable art… a wedding dress?! The wedding dress design will be based on an Edwardian Tea Dress-style dress originally worn by Francis Mason Watson (1890 – 1918) a former resident of Blyth, Ontario. The shawl and dress will be made up of vintage pattern samplers (swatches) based on textile items in the Huron County…
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Dress of Many Patterns – lace pattern #1
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Blyth Knit & Natter
My local yarn shop Stitches with a Twist moved their Knit and Natter night outdoors! The session has changed it’s start time to 6 pm. Bring your project or finished creation and join them evening of stitching and chatting! Visit the Blyth Lions Park on Gypsy Lane at 6 pm on Wed., Aug. 26! Check out their website here: http://stitcheswithatwist.ca/
inspired by vintage needlework
