Okay, here it is. The original instruction from Godey's for the knitted petticoat I've been talking about on Facebook (with my notes in red in parantheses). If you have any questions, please ask here or on FB. Thanks for stopping by!
Even though this is one of the easier period patterns to understand, it can still be confusing if your not familiar with some of the terms they used in the 1860s. I will try and make this pattern easier to understand. Let me know if any of it doesn't make sense and I will try and explain it better.
Things/stitches you need to know:
- Cast on
- Knit
- Purl (the original pattern, it's seam)
- Make 1 - (This is actually a yarn over in this pattern)
- Knit two together
- Pass slip stitch over
- Joining yarn (at beginning or end of row)
- Binding off/Casting off
- Weaving in ends
These are the materials I used to make the petticoat pictured below.
7 skeins of NatureSpun* Sportweight in Scarlet
2 skeins of NatureSpun Sportweight in Natural
(*NatureSpun by Brown Sheep Company)
I used a size 5 circular needle, which I use like two straight needles. If your working on this at a civil war event, I suggest two straight wood or steel knitting needles. You may also want a bunch of stitch markers (I used 13) to help keep track of the repeats in the lace border.
One more note. The original pattern does not give a guage for the petticoat. Mine using NatureSpun Sportweight on #5 US needles was 6 stitches per inch and 7.5 rows per inch. The finished length on the petticoat is 22.5" & each panel is 24" wide. These measurements were taken after blocking.
If you need to make it longer, depending on how much longer, you might want to add more narrow stripes at the top or a large one at the bottom. (If you add a set of 21 scarlet & 1 white to the bottom you would get about 3 more inches in the length)
Here's the pattern. Have fun!
Lady's Knitted Under Petticoat
Godey's Lady's Book & Magazine, December 1864, p.533
Materials: One and a quarter pounds of four-thread scarlet fleecy and quarter pound of white ditto.
We cannot too highly recommend these very warm garments for wearing under crinolines, as they cling so nicely to the figure. Our model is made in scarlet and white wool, those portions of the illustration represented black being knitted in scarlet, and the tiny stripes in white. The petticoat need not be made very long, therefore does not take a great deal of time to knit.
Cast on 141 stitches with scarlet, knit 4 rows. (make sure you cast on fairly loosely)
5th row - Join the white, knit 1, *make 1 (yarn over), knit 3, slip 1, knit 2 together, pass the slipped stitch over, knit 3, make, 1 (yarn over), knit 1, (if your using stitch markers place one now) repeat from*
6th row - Seamed. (purl)
Repeat the 5th and 6th rows till 8 are done.
Join the scarlet and knit 4 rows.
Repeat the 5th and 6th rows till 8 more are done, knit 4 rows of scarlet. (If you used stitch markers, you can remove them as you are purling the 8th row. You won't need them until the next panel.)
29th. - Knit 3 with white, slip 2 stitches, repeat. (it sounds a bit strange but by the end of the row you will have alternating 3 white & 2 red stitches)
30th. - Seam the white stitches, slip the scarlet (purl the white stitches).
31st and 32nd. - The same as 29th and 30th.
33rd and 34th. - Knit plain with scarlet.
35th. - Knit 1 with white. *slip 2, knit 3 with white, repeat. (basically the same thing as row 29, 2 red & 3 white)
36th. - Seam the white stitches, slip the scarlet (again purl the white, slip the red).
37th and 38th. - The same as 35th and 36th. - Knit 2 rows of scarlet.
This completes the border of the petticoat.
For the centre knit and seam (purl) alternate rows of scarlet till 18 are done, knit 1 row of white, seam and knit alternate rows of scarlet till 15 are done, knit 1 row of white, knite a stripe of 13 rows of scarlet, 1 row of white, then a stripe of 11, 9, 7 rows, with 1 row of white between each, knit 6 stripes with 5 rows of scarlet and 1 row of white between each, knit 1 row of scarlet, then knit 24 rows in ribs of 2 and 2, cast off. Three breadths will be required. Join them with single crochet, and add an elastic band (I used 3/4" cotton elastic, also called swimsuit elastic. You will have to hand sew the petticoat to the elastic. I divided the petticoat and the elastic in fourths and pinned it on working one quarter at a time.).
