"Fitting a 1940s pullover"

For tips on how to adjust and fit a vintage (specifically 1940s) knitting pattern, read the series by vintage-clothing doyenne Tasha of "By Gum, By Golly" here.

"The School-Girl's Hymn" (1859)

"The School-Girl's Hymn" by William Holman Hunt (1859). 

"The School-Girl's Hymn" by the Pre-Raphaelite painter William Holman Hunt, described as a "pot-boiler" by the Ashmolean (presumably on Holman Hunt's authority!), shows "'a girl going to school in a smiling summer Sunday morning, singing her hymn as she walks along'. The model was Miriam Wilkinson, a labourer's daughter Hunt met while staying with Thomas Combe at a farmhouse near Hastings in Kent in 1858."  It is rather unusual in clearly showing the sitter wearing a knitted garment -- two in this case, as she has a knitted muffler as well.

Since a significant characteristic of the Pre-Raphaelites was an intense realism, it comes as no surprise that the stitch used in the girl's jacket is meticulously depicted, almost certainly brioche stitch. A similar jacket pattern is the one below, from The New Guide to Knitting & Crochet by Marie Jane Cooper (Cooper, 1847).

Note that the number of stitches to cast on should be 225, not 25.

A POLKA COAT, FOR A CHILD.

Cast on twenty-five [sic, 225] stitches, which will make seventy-five ribs, in the Brioche stitch, which is done by bringing the wool forward, slipping a stitch the purl way, and knit two together; bring the wool forward, knit twenty-four rows, or twelve turns of white; then commence the scarlet, by leaving eighteen stitches on each side, knit twenty-four rows, or twelve turns of scarlet; then begin to take in, which is done by knitting the first thirty on each side, without decreasing; then bring the wool forward, slip one stitch, and knit five together; repeat this till within thirty on the other side, which, knit without decreasing, until you have only forty ribs, or one hundred and twenty stitches; knit forty-eight rows, or twenty-four turns, in this manner, still leaving the white on each side; put thirty stitches on another needle for the front, knit those backwards and forwards for thirty-six rows, or eighteen turns; then knit all the stitches but one rib, turn back, and finish the row, and so on, leaving one rib more each time, till it is the proper length for the shoulder. Cast off, but be particular that the slanting side is not in front; finish the other side in the same way, then take up the stitches for the back; knit thirty-six rows, to correspond with the fronts for the arm-hole; then knit backwards and forwards, leaving one rib each way, until it is the same length as the slanting part in front, which are to be joined together; cast off; now take up the white stitches on each side, and knit till it is long enough to go up the sides; for the sleeves; cast on seventy-two stitches, knit thirty rows, then twelve more, leaving one rib on the one side to form the wide part; for the collar; cast on seventy-six stitches, and knit twelve rows, leaving one rib on each side; then sixteen rows of white; cast off; cast on eighteen stitches for the cuff, and knit till it is long enough to go round the bottom of the sleeve; twist a cord of the same coloured wool, and put in the waist behind, with a tassel at the ends; the same under the collar. These may be done in four-thread fleecy, but they look much better in double Berlin wool, No. 9 pins, by the Eagle gauge. For a lady's, you must cast on stitches in proportion, and larger pins.

Another online version of Cooper's book is available through Google Books.

"Meg's Hug-Me-Tight"

In a deft little touch by the filmmakers of "Little Women" (1994), some of the clothes are worn by one sister in an early scene and then handed-down to a younger one later, surely just what would have happened in a not-very-well-off family in any period, and even more so in wartime when clothing was scarce.  Meg and Amy each wear a gray hug-me-tight with black or dark-brown trim, though I'm not quite sure if it's the same one or if both have their own version of this useful garment.

 Note also the piece of crocheted lace tacked onto the edge of the shelf!

There isn't (yet!) a known historical source for this particular garment, though as far as I know no one has yet asked the film's costume designer, Colleen Atwood. That said, it is clearly well-rooted in period garments -- only a short step from the V-shaped sontag, with a side piece added to fully enclose the wearer's torso -- and we might even say, "If it isn't a period garment, it should be!"

Inspired by the garment, Michele DuNaier developed a pattern for it, now available for purchase via Ravelry.

(DuNaier wonders aloud, "Was it a shrug? A pelerine? A fichu? Or perhaps a sontag (AKA 'Bosom Buddy')? We finally called it a 'Hug-Me-Tight,' defined by Merriam-Webster as 'a woman’s short usually knitted sleeveless close-fitting jacket -- first known use 1860', which fits right in with the Civil War era Little Women.")

"Polka Jacket Trimmed with Imitation Ermine" (1856)

The term "polka jacket" is rarely defined in period sources, but derives not from the dance but from the military jacket of the same name.

The General Regulations for the Military Forces of the State of New York (1870) describes their version, one of the two "Uniform Coat[s] for the Non-Commissioned Officers, Musicians and Privates of the National Guard Infantry" as "differing from the chasseur jacket [described meticulously in the article's previous paragraph], in being without skirt, but extending without seam five inches below the hip; without opening or buttons behind, and round edge in front" (p.252).  Women's knitted polka jackets seem to be fairly consistent in their details -- a single-breasted close-fitting jacket, usually collarless, with long sleeves and smooth skirt with rounded fronts, often trimmed, as this one is, in faux ermine, and apparently always worked in brioche stitch, possibly because brioche's inherent stretchiness made it easier to fit smoothly.

Here is the full pattern from the January-June 1856 issue of "Godey's Lady's Magazine" --

 A similar polka jacket from an 1849 issue of "Family Friend" was transcribed by Carol Rhodes and appears in modern-pattern format in Helen Bonney's article in the January/February 2013 issue of "PieceWork" magazine.

"What Katy Did" (1872)

Two of the Workwoman's Guide muffatees (1840), patterns available in an earlier post here.

In the children's story What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge (1872), set in the 1860s, twelve-year-old Katy, at this point in the story an invalid after a bad fall, has knitted a pair of muffatees for her father and a pair of leading reins for her four-year-old brother at Christmas-time.

"I wish I had something pretty to put into everybody's stocking," she went on, wistfully; "but I've only got the muffatees for Papa, and these reins for Phil." She took them from under her pillow as she spoke – gay worsted affairs, with bells sewed on here and there. She had knit them herself, a very little bit at a time.

The two Workwoman's Guide muffatees in the illustration above are rather plain, certainly compared to the more elaborate ones in the book, which would make them likely candidates for Katy's pair, and why she doesn't think them very "pretty"! 

Miss Loch's The book of "hows" or what may be done with wools in every home (Baldwin & Walker, 1900) has a pattern for leading reins -- yes, with bells! -- which parental necessity has obviously been around for quite a long time.

Franklin Habit has adapted a different pattern for leading reins from Weldon's.

Double-twist loop cast-on (1917)

This cast-on method can be found in The Priscilla Sweater Book by Elsa Barsaloux et al. (Priscilla, 1917).  Going by the objective in the picture for Step 7, it is clearly what we know now as "double-twist loop cast-on". I confess that I couldn't "get" Mrs. Barsaloux's instructions after Step 4, but the following two videos (and I'm sure there are other descriptions both in print and on the internet that are equally worthy!) are obviously using the same maneuvers --

Yarmouth ear warmers and Fair Isle watch cap

"Yarmouth (Maine) Historical Society is pleased to offer knitters the chance to knit some Yarmouth history this winter. We have reproduced patterns for two original winter accessories, an ear-warming headband and a Fair Isle watch cap, that were crafted for North Yarmouth Academy students by a local knitter during the 1950s and later.

"This pattern is for headband-style ear warmers that tie under the chin. Strands of contrast color are woven through eyelets to create stripes. Several strands braided together form the ties." The watch cap is knitted in two colors, with a ribbed, folded brim.

These patterns are available for free via Ravelry -- earwarmers and watch cap -- and from the Yarmouth Historical Society.

"Knitted Legging for Children from One to Two Years"

"Knitted Legging for Children from One to Two Years" from Babyhood : the mother's nursery guide, ed. by Marion Harland and Leroy Milton Yale, v.3 (1886-87), p.99.

"Mittens Knitted on Two Needles" (1876)

"Mittens Knitted on Two Needles" in Regia 4-fädig in color 1991 (grey heather) and Paton's Kroy in "Muslin" (cream). The crochet edging was improvised. A handsome and comfortable fingerless mitt. Photos from A Bluestocking Knits.

The terms "mitts" and "mittens," though today we usually use to refer to, respectively, fingerless-but-thumbed gloves and those with one fully-enclosed space each for thumb and all of the fingers together, seem to have been used fairly interchangeably in the early days of published knitting patterns, as here in the "Mittens Knitted on Two Needles" by Miss H.P. Ryder, in her Winter Comforts and How to Knit Them (1876). The Misses Ryder, sisters Elizabeth and Henrietta, were both writers of knitting "receipts" during the middle and later parts of the Victorian period; they were from Richmond, in Yorkshire.

The thumb is shaped with short rows. Note, too, this early use of the slipped-stitch selvage.

Uploaded to Archive.org courtesy the Richard Rutt Collection at the University of Southampton.

See also the article "The Richmond Glove and its Creator, Henrietta Pulleine Ryder" by Lesley O'Connell Edwards in the March/April 2018 issue of Piecework (Ravelry link here) which has background information on the Ryder sisters and an updated pattern for Miss Henrietta's Richmond Glove, which is a layered duo -- knitted in one piece -- of glove and fingerless mitt.

A blog post by Ann Kingstone about the Ryder sisters and the Richmond Glove is here.

The original ribbed top edge of the Mitten Knitted on Two Needles, before sewing up the side seam or edging the thumb.