Traditional Knitting Patterns: from Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Italy and Other European Countries

by James Norbury

Overview

In this book you will find 263 different patterns and designs, the best traditional knitting material from the Arabic, Spanish, Italian, French, German, Austrian, Dutch, Scandinavian, Shetland, English, Scottish, and Irish knitting traditions. All are presented clearly so you can use them immediately in your own work, or use them for learning how knitting developed the world over.
In an easy-to-use format, the patterns and designs are first presented according to country. Then, after a short introduction discussing characteristic patterns, backgrounds, and influences, the author presents groupings of folk designs and traditional patterns. Each pattern and design is accompanied by a photograph of the completed work and either a chart or carefully written out instructions showing how to work the patterns. Since designs and patterns are given for characteristic units that can be repeated, you can use these patterns for projects of all sizes and shapes as well as for individual motifs. With a little planning these patterns can be used successfully for a wide range of knitting needs.
Knitters can use this book for learning exciting knitting traditions and for picking up new motifs and designs. In looking through the patterns and designs you will see how new ideas sprang up and how others were carried from culture to culture. But most importantly you will have on hand 256 different patterns, some of the most powerful folk material the knitter can have. The author's clear instructions can be followed by anyone who practices basic knitting.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486316901
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	06/26/2013
Series:	Dover Crafts: Knitting
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	558,946
File size:	30 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

Read an Excerpt

Traditional Knitting Patterns

from Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, Italy and other European Countries

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By James Norbury

Dover Publications, Inc.

Copyright © 1973 Dover Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-31690-1

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CHAPTER 1

Arabic Knitting

Arabic Knitting is a generic term. It covers the earliest known types of knitting that were carried out by Nomadic people living in the desert places of North Africa who were, as far as we are aware, the first knitters and are probably the antecedents of the Arabs of the present time.

The earliest known specimens of this type of knitting were all worked on frames. The frames were either circular or narrow oblong ones; the circular frames being used mainly for knitting sandal socks, the narrow oblong ones for carpets, tent flaps and possibly articles of clothing that were worn by the Tribal Leaders.

The knitting action was similar to the 'Bobbin Work' that many older readers will remember doing in the days of their own childhood. Four nails were inserted round the hole at the top of a bobbin and a cord produced by making loops on the four nails and then passing the loops singly over a length of wool that had been wound round the inside of each nail. The wool was wound round in an anti- clockwise direction producing a twisted loop, and it was from this twisted action that 'Crossed Stocking Stitch' was formed that is the basic texture of all Arabic Knitting.

When working on the frame a hook would be used to lift the loop over the twisted loop that had been placed on the peg, working in a circular motion on the round frame and in a backwards and forwards motion on the narrow oblong frame.

We do not know at what stage in the development of the craft of knitting the frames were dispensed with and the work done directly on hooked knitting needles. We do know that up to the middle of the nineteenth century hooked needles were still used in many parts of Europe and that 'Crossed Stocking Stitch' was then known as 'Continental Stocking Stitch'.

Another interesting point is seen in the difference between the English and the Continental method of knitting. In Continental Knitting the action is much more like a crochet action than a knitting one and produces a twisted stitch on the knit row but a straight stitch on the purl row, so that whereas in Arabic Knitting every pattern stitch on every row was twisted, in Continental Knitting the stitches are twisted on the knit row only.

There is one other point of historical interest that is worthy of note. In knitted fabrics produced by a method known as Peruvian Needle Knitting, we find a similarity in design to Arabic Knitting. This is probably due to the fact that knitting was taken to Spain from Africa by the early traders and from Spain to South America at the time of the conquest of Mexico and Peru. Hence we find that early Spanish Knitting and pre-Columbian Knitting in South America bear a marked similarity in design to Arabic Knitting.

CHAPTER 2

Spanish Knitting

Although we have no exact knowledge as to when knitting arrived in Spain from North Africa, we do know that by the ninth century it was a flourishing craft in that country.

In the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford there is a wonderful example of a Spanish Altar Glove knitted in the ninth century. At a first glance this glove appears to have been made from a piece of magnificent brocade but when we examine it carefully we find that it has been knitted in 'Crossed Stocking Stitch', thus following the Arabic tradition, and is in fine silks of many colours with gold and silver threads introduced into the knitting.

It is highly probable that most of the knitting done in Spain during the early centuries of the Christian era, was carried out in the service of the Catholic Church. The Altar Gloves referred to are a perfect example of this and in several places in Spain there are wonderful examples of knitted Altar Frontals.

It is also possible that we owe the origin of Lace Knitting to the Spanish tradition. The names of some of the patterns themselves are evidence of this fact.

CHAPTER 3

Italian and French Knitting

We have no evidence as to the period at which Spanish Knitting moved from the sacred to the secular; that is when it ceased to be a craft carried on in the service of the Church and became one associated with the Secular fashions of the period. There seems to be no doubt, however, that the visits of Spanish nobles to Italy, particularly to Rome and Florence, were to have a decisive influence on Italian Knitting.

In Italy the craft became more self-conscious and more sophisticated. The designs lost something of their primitive origins and started to reflect the aesthetic movement that was to dominate Florence in particular, and was to reach its culmination in the Italian Renaissance.

We can still see outstanding examples of Italian fashion knitwear of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in the Florentine Coats and Jerkins that are to be found in many museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Here ornateness runs riot. Bright-coloured silk, silver and gold threads, even semi-precious stones are all at times used in the creation of floral and symbolic patternings that in many respects resembled the woven brocades of the same period.

It is also interesting to note that even in this later period of Italian knitting we still find traces of the Arabic influence in the self-coloured Dice and Diamond patterned designs that are found on the borders of most of these garments.

The Italians undoubtedly used hooked needles; in fact in common with the French, who use the word 'tricot' for either crochet or knitting, the same word is used in Italian for both crafts.

Although we can trace no historical continuity in the Italian story, the revival of Italian knitwear at the present time has placed them to the forefront of knitwear fashion. Even in our own age they are still using brocaded effects for some of the suits and dresses that form part of the haute couture of the Italian knitwear collections, and probably the influence of hooked knitting is still to be found in the crochet-knit fabrics that are tending more and more to dominate the Italian fashion story.

In France we find in the knitter's craft the marriage of the Spanish and Italian traditions. Spain had started to develop lace knitting as early as the twelfth century and we still find wonderful examples in Spanish lace, particularly in babies' wear, in Southern Spain at the present time.

The French specialised in the knitting of stockings whose elaborate lace patternings made them one of the marvels of Europe. Henry VIII had several pairs of French knitted hosiery and in Hatfield House you can still see in the museum there, a pair of lace stockings copied from a French design reputed to have been made by a Mrs. Montague, who was a Lady of the Chamber to Queen Elizabeth.

We can find little trace of colour knitting in France until just prior to the French Revolution, but today the tradition has been revived and we find Jacquard sweaters and jackets very popular in France at the present time.

CHAPTER 4

German and Austrian knitting

Traditional knitting patterns in Germany and Austria illustrate to perfection a different phase in the development of the craft from those we have seen in the earlier chapters of this book. We must remember that today we see Germany and Austria as two large countries almost covering the centre of the European Continent.

It is interesting to remember that prior to the twentieth century both these countries had quite a different geographical background to the one we know today. The unification of the Austro-German Empire had certainly welded together the group of states that formed these two countries, but had not been able to stamp out the local traditions and regional habits that one still finds in both these countries.

Pause for a moment to consider that in southern Austria the local patois is sprinkled with Italian phrases; as one moves eastward one discovers the southern language; that again is distinct from German although both German and Austrian have a common derivation, is definitely influenced by Russian; move westwards where Germany borders on France and you will discover border towns and villages where both languages are spoken quite fluently.

It is only when we recognise these regional developments that took place in middle Europe from the ninth century onwards, that we can understand the wide diversity to be found in the knitting patterns common and local to these areas.

The gaiety of Vienna is captured in the cobweb-like lace for which she is world-famous. The knitting of this was taught originally in the convents, but today in the art schools in Vienna there are special classes that have maintained and preserved this ancient legacy. Move into the Austrian Tyrol and there you have the rural robustness of a Morris Dance. The patterns themselves are simple shapes copying leaves and flowers, the fabric itself being liberally sprinkled with touches of light coloured embroidery reminiscent of the floral splendour of the mountainsides of the Tyrol in late spring.

Pause for a moment to think of the Bavarian influence. Here in the heavy wooded forests that surround towns and villages, that were completely isolated from the rest of the community until means of modern transport were available, we find heavy fabrics full of cables, twists and knots reminiscent of the gnarled branches of the old trees that can still be seen in woodland places.

North Germany tells still a different story. Here the influence of the Puritan Revolt that swept Europe during the Reformation, has left a mark of austerity on knitted fabrics. They are as simple and as delightful as the quaint customs of the early Quakers who witnessed to simplicity in their way of life and the clothes they wore.

Even today we find this diversity has been preserved and modern means of communication, the moving of peoples from one section of Germany and Austria to another, the influence of industrial developments in both countries, have all to a certain extent unified the approach to the knitter's craft. The regional influences are still very strong.

You can still buy a knitted peasant-coat in the villages of the Tyrol, the pattern of which can be traced back for at least two or three hundred years. You can still see the exquisite laces in Vienna that graced the tables and probably the underclothes of the Court of Maria Theresa. You can still buy in the village shops in Bavaria, heavy jerseys the patterning on which is again at least a hundred to a hundred and fifty years old. No matter how much modern developments may destroy regional boundaries, regional customs and traditions are still well preserved.

CHAPTER 5

Dutch Knitting

Although Holland borders on both Germany and France there is little sign of the knitting in either of these countries having influenced Dutch traditional patterns. These are, in essence, simple and austere, reflecting the living background of the Dutch household.

It is not known when knitting started to be practised in Holland. We do know the Dutch people were famous for their quilting, the use of fine lines of stitching to create embossed shapes, and patterns on fabric. The quilting patterns certainly influenced the development of knitting patterns and we find that most of the traditional stitches try to copy the same principles in design as Dutch quilting.

In many of the historical examples of quilted bedspreads we find that when the quilting was completed the centre of the squares, diamonds and other shapes that form the basic design were then embroidered with birds and flowers, the embroidery being padded to give an embossed effect to the finished design.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Dutch specialised in embossed knitting, the patterns being in twisted stocking-stitch on a reverse stocking- stitch ground. A very fine example of this type of knitting, in the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, consists of a knitted cotton petticoat that is literally covered with embossed birds, beasts, flowers and trees, and at first sight looks much more like a piece of woven and embroidered fabric than a specimen of hand knitting.

CHAPTER 6

Scandinavian Knitting

Knitting was undoubtedly practised in Norway as early as the ninth century, as the early immigrants, who travelled from Norway to the Faroes and the Shetlands, took knitting with them as one of their established crafts. In Norway for centuries they have specialised in coloured knitting, using navy, dull red and dark green on a white ground, and these colours are still used in the sweaters in the shops in Oslo at the present time.

The Swedish tradition was undoubtedly developed from the Norwegian knitters' craft, but here the coloured designs become more varied and more sophisticated than the simple patterns one finds in Norwegian designs. There appears to be no native tradition for self-coloured knitting patterns, but one does find variations of patterns from Germany and Holland worked in self colour in various parts of Scandinavia.

In Denmark knitting was unknown until the fifteenth century, when a group of stocking knitters from Holland were invited to settle outside Copenhagen to produce hosiery for the members of the Danish Court. It was these knitters who taught the Danes the craft and even today we find a very strong Dutch influence in Danish knitting.

CHAPTER 7

Fair Isle and Shetland Knitting

Fair Isle knitting is certainly one of the most interesting examples of the craft in Europe today. It has certain characteristics that are peculiar to itself and although there is a tendency to call all forms of colour knitting 'Fair Isle Knitting', to do so is quite fallacious.

True Fair Isle patterns are Spanish in origin and in all of them we find a variation of the Armada Cross. No one knows exactly how these patterns reached Fair Isle from Spain, the current theory being that they were taken to Fair Isle by sailors of the Spanish Armada; or, if you like a more gruesome version of the theory, that the natives of Fair Isle copied the patterns from the clothing worn by the washed-up corpses that lay on the beaches round the island.

Although certain knitters in Shetland copy Fair Isle patterns, Shetland patterns themselves are definitely Norwegian in origin. Genuine Shetland patterning is always done in natural-coloured wools—white, cream, fawn, brown, grey and black. The wool is simply scoured and spun, no dyes of any kind being used. Nowadays Shetland wool can be purchased in the shops that has been dyed to match all the colours of the rainbow, but this is comparatively modern, lacking roots in the traditional story of knitting.

The hand knitters of the small island of Unst, the most northerly in Shetland, are world famous for their lace knitting. Their work is as fine as a cobweb, the wool being spun by hand, and in the most beautiful specimens being as fine as a human hair.

The Shetland lace tradition is not linked in any way with the earlier historical developments of the knitter's craft. Its origins are interesting. In the early years of the nineteenth century a Mrs. Jessie Scanlon visited Shetland, taking with her a collection of hand-made laces she had acquired during the Grand Tour. The Hunter family of Unst, who were very excited about these laces, developed a technique for copying them in hand knitting. The work of this family became world famous, and one of the earliest lace shawls they knitted was presented to Queen Victoria in the early years of her reign. The Hunter family have knitted shawls for the British Royal Family right up to the present time. The last of the Hunter family I met personally died a few years ago at the age of eighty-one, and in the collection of historical knitting owned by Patons & Baldwins Limited is the last shawl that Mrs. Hunter knitted; it is a museum piece, and is valued today at about £200.

Shetland lace patterns have never been written down, but have been handed down from one generation to another in an aural tradition that links these simple island people with the tradition that formed part of the background of craftsmanship before the printed work came into being.

The patterns themselves are built up from a series of simple lace stitches formed into diamonds, hexagonal shapes and lace stripes. The counter-change of patterns has led to an ever-changing variety of designs, so that no two shawls are ever identical, making each one as it is completed a unique contribution to the knitter's craft.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Traditional Knitting Patterns by James Norbury. Copyright © 1973 Dover Publications, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Dover Publications, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Introduction: In Search of Beauty,
Abbreviations,
On Reading Charts,
Special Note on Colour Knitting,
I. ARABIC KNITTING,
II. SPANISH KNITTING,
III. ITALIAN AND FRENCH KNITTING,
IV. GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN KNITTING,
V. DUTCH KNITTING,
VI. SCANDINAVIAN KNITTING,
VII. FAIR ISLE AND SHETLAND KNITTING,
VIII. BRITISH ISLES KNITTING,