"London Eyre Shawl"

 

(There may have been two shawls used in the film, as this one looks considerably smaller than the one in the photos below.)

The London Eyre Shawl free pattern by Donna Strom recreates the shawl worn by Mia Wasikowska as the title character in "Jane Eyre" (2011).  Strom notes,

The London Eyre Shawl pattern was created and named solely by me as a replication/copy of a shawl which appears briefly in the 2011 Focus Features film production of "Jane Eyre" -- costume design by Michael O'Connor. According to Focus Features the original shawl was free-knitted by the owner of a company near London, England which produces custom pieces for period films. The name of the pattern is my way of paying tribute to the talented original knitter -- whose name is not known to me. To the best of my knowledge, no written pattern exists for the original shawl.

Note that Charlotte Brontë's novel was published in 1847, though is set somewhat earlier. Most film adaptations tend to use fashions of the 1840s for the main part of the story.

Short rows contribute to much of the shaping in this shawl.

Ladies' travelling cap (1847)

This pattern for a ladies' cap appeared on pages 25-30 of Miss Lambert's My Knitting Book, Second Series (1847). The transcription below is from the Gutenberg.org edition.

For those knitters with less time on their hands in which to work from early knitting instructions (!), Franklin Habit gives an updated version of this pretty cap in the Deep Fall 2010 issue of Knitty, as part of his "Stitches in Time" series.

A Travelling Cap.

This cap may be knitted with double German wool, in five shades of any light colour, and white.—Needles, No. 8.

Cast on one hundred and two stitches, with the darkest shade of colour.—Knit one plain row to form an edge. Then, commence the pattern (formed of four rows) as follows.

N.B. The first stitch of each row is always to be knitted.

First row—knit two together.

Second row—make one between each stitch, by taking up the wool between the stitches of the preceding row;—except between the two last stitches.

Third row—plain knitting.

Fourth row—pearl knitting.—The change of shade is always to be made in this row.

Repeat the above, four times, taking a lighter shade of wool for each pattern. Then work one pattern in white,—and repeat the five coloured patterns, reversing the shades, by commencing with the lightest. The fourth row of the eleventh pattern is to be omitted, in place of which one row must be pearled in white,—in order to bring the knitting on the outer side of the cap.

The front, or roll part, is now completed, which, when the cap is finished, should be turned over from the centre pattern of white.

Knit one pattern in white, leaving twenty stitches unknit, at the end of the fourth row.—Knit a second pattern, the same, leaving twenty stitches unknit, at the end of the first row; and, in the succeeding rows, making a stitch between the last two stitches; also, at the end of the second row, leaving twenty-two stitches unknit; and, at the ends of the third, and fourth, rows, leaving twenty-six stitches unknit.

Knit a third pattern in white, leaving twenty-six stitches unknit at the end of the first three rows; but, in the fourth row, pearl all the stitches to the end of the needle.

Knit a fourth pattern in white;—in the first row of this, knit all the stitches to the other end of the needle; but, at the end of the third row, leave twenty stitches unknit. Pearl the fourth row, with the third shade of the coloured wool, leaving twenty stitches unknit, at the end.

Knit three more patterns in colours,—(the centre being darker than the other two) leaving one stitch more unknit, at the end of each row. The fourth row of the third pattern is to be pearled in white.

Knit seven patterns in white, leaving one stitch unknit at the end of each row; and also, omitting to make a stitch between the first two, and last two, stitches of the second row.

When the seventh pattern is completed, there should be only eight stitches on the needle: with these eight, knit one pattern; and, at the end of the pearled row, pass the last stitch, before knitting, on to the other needle; then knit it, together with two of those before left unknit,—three in one.

Proceed in the like manner, at the end of the next, or double stitch row, and continue the same, until seven patterns are finished, from the above eight stitches.

Before commencing the last pearled row, fasten on the third shade of coloured wool, and pearl to the end of the row. Then, knit the last stitch, together with three of the unknit stitches,—four in one. Repeat the same, at the end of the next row.

In the next pearled row, knit again four together, as above, and three single stitches beyond, at the end of the double stitch row: also, knit four together, and one single, and two double beyond.

When two patterns, in the third shade, are completed, fasten on the white wool, and pearl a row;—at the end of this, knit three single stitches of the unknit beyond. In the next row,—knit, alternately, a double and a single stitch, throughout the row;—knitting the last stitch, together with one row of the unknit, and two single ones beyond.

In the next row, make a stitch between each, as usual; and, at the end of the next pearled row, knit three single stitches beyond. Work the three next rows as follows:

First—three double, and one single stitch, alternately:—the last must be a double stitch, and a single stitch beyond.

Second—a stitch between each, and three single stitches beyond.

Third—plain knitting, and three single stitches beyond.

Before commencing the next pearled row, fasten on the darkest coloured wool; knit a pattern quite to the end of each needle, and fasten off,—omitting the pearled row.

The cord for tieing this cap may be made by plaiting one light-coloured, and two dark-coloured, threads of wool together; each thread consisting of four plies of German wool. One cord passes across the front of the cap, under the chin, and another round the caul, with a bow at the side: the ends finishing with a tassel of white wool.—Ribands, which are prettier, may be substituted.

How old is the "classic" fluted tea cosy pattern?

Bestway 1220.

1930s, perhaps?

Madame Weigel Cosies Book 1.

Both of these 1940s?

Greenock 58.

Sirdar 5578.

Bestway 3913

Copley's 1900

These four and Bellmans 1052 are probably 1960s, certainly pre-decimal currency in Britain, which was introduced in early 1971.

Emu 6196.

Along with Copley Lotus 1023, also 1960s or 1970s?

Tea cozy

The cozy pictured here was knitted to the Paton's pattern with some nods to Keren's (both linked below), in rather un-1930s but extremely well-insulating wool and mohair blends from Brown Sheep Co., Lamb's Pride Worsted and Handpaint Originals for the solid and variegated respectively. Photo from A Bluestocking Knits.

Keren of Tea by the Sea gives a pattern for her granny's tea cosy, adding that the original on which she bases her pattern is at least eighty years old -- let's say 1930s.

Yasmin of Knit, Shear Bliss! has written up a pattern based on her grandmother's very similar tea cosy (with an earlier post about it here, in which she says her pattern is from the 1940s).

Paton's offers a free reprint in PDF format of their classic fluted cozy, though alas with no date. Their version offers three sizes of cozy, to fit your particular pot. 

("Cosy" or "cozy"? The first is British/Commonwealth, the other American.)

"Victory Jumper"

This pattern for "Your Victory Jumper" from the June 2, 1945 issue of the English Home Notes magazine was reprinted by the V&A Museum as part of their "1940s Knitting Patterns" article. The PDF of the pattern itself (retyped) is here. It has certainly proved very popular in its second life, thanks to the 2010s interest in vintage clothing and knitting! and a Google search for "victory jumper" will also show the ways in which changes in colorways will vary the look of the finished garment.

An updated version of the Victory Jumper, renamed "Clara," has been written by Rohn Strong.

Elsa Schappel Barsaloux

 Elsa Barsaloux first appears in print, so far as I can tell, in 1915, with both The Priscilla Baby Book no.1 and Utopia Book of Filet and Venetian Crochet, no.2. A veritable spate of books followed in the next few years, some of crochet but mostly knitting.

She had been born in Germany in 1875, and immigrated with her parents and younger sister in the early 1880s, settling probably in the Bronx, and married David Barsaloux around 1897.  He had been born in Colorado also to immigrant parents -- his father from Canada and his mother from Ireland -- and by the time of the 1900 and 1905 censuses, the young couple was living in the Bronx with Elsa's widowed mother, David working as a cashier in a hotel.  Elsa sold design models to several major department stores, and made her first foray into knitting pattern books in 1915; these first books were mostly published by various yarn companies, but towards the end of the Great War the Barsalouxs had opened their own company and were publishing under their own imprint.  Although 1917 was her glory year -- with at least six pattern books published -- five more were published in the next few years, but sadly Elsa died at the age of 49 in 1924, and David just four years later.

This article from the "Dry Goods Economist" highlights a Barsaloux innovation -- "the newest thing in the way of a retail store ... a shop devoted exclusively to yarns".  As hard to imagine as that is nowadays, in 1917 there was no such thing as a bricks-and-mortar yarn shop!  Mrs. Barsaloux's establishment -- The Yarn Shop, mind you!-- was located at 400 5th Avenue (where the Langham Hotel is now), was tastefully decorated in up-to-the-moment gray and lavender, and included tables and comfortable chairs "for those who are receiving instructions," and, with an admirable knowledge of her prospective clientele, a children's room with child-sized tables and chairs! 

The Yarn Shop, close up.

Pattern books by Elsa Schappel Barsaloux

1915

• The Priscilla baby book no. 1 : a collection of babies' garments in knitting and crochet, with directions for making
• Utopia book of filet and Venetian crochet, no. 2 (Henry E. Frankenberg)
  

1916

• Richardson's cross stitch book and filet crochet no.5 (Richardson Silk Co.)*
• Richardson's silk and cotton crochet book no. 11
• Utopia book of Cluny crochet (Henry E. Frankenberg)
  

*According to Leigh Martin, Richardson's didn't publish the names of the designers, so it's interesting that Barsaloux's is known -- perhaps she insisted on it?

1917

• The Priscilla sweater book, including hats, caps, and other accessories, with directions for working
• The Priscilla war work book, including directions for knitted garments and comfort kits from the American Red Cross, and knitted garments for the Boy Scout
• Good Shepherd fingering yarns and their use: Sweaters (Shepherd Worsted Mills)
• Good Shepherd fingering yarns and their use: Infants' wear (Shepherd Worsted Mills)
• Good Shepherd fingering yarns and their use: The boudoir (Shepherd Worsted Mills)

1918

• The sweater book (The Yarn Shop/David N. Barsaloux)
  

 

1919

• Knit wear de luxe : original model creations and designs (The Yarn Shop) 
• Utopia yarn book : being a practical treatise on knitting and crocheting (Utopia Yarns)
  

1920

• The Priscilla Cluny crochet book

1921

• Sweater styles : original model creations and designs (The Yarn Shop)

Sources

New York, New York City marriage records, 1829-1940 (database).
New York, New York City municipal deaths, 1795-1949 (database).
"Sells yarn exclusively," in Dry Goods Economist, vol.72, no.3836, January 12, 1918, p.59 (bound in issues 3835-3845).

Polk's New York City directory, 1920-1921 ["Barsaloux, Elsa  yarns  500 5th ave" on p.283], 1922-1923
United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (database).

"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.")