Feature: Our Knitting Roots: a study of the contributions immigrants have made to North American knitting, by Donna Druchunas

INTRODUCTION

Our Knitting Roots

by Donna Druchunas

It may be difficult to look at a sock or mitten that you've made with your own hands and feel a connection to a group of people who seem strange or foreign to you. But as knitters and as humans, we owe it to ourselves and to each other to forge these unlikely connections. Making things by hand, after all, is an intimate human endeavor and we should use it not only to knit strings into socks or sweaters or shawls, but also to knit person to person, strangers into friends.

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling wrote, "There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them."

Knitting is another.

This issue: Miss Potter, Mrs. Heelis

I love reading biographies and history books to learn about the past and the lives of women who lived differently than I have. When I was in grade school, reading the biography of Annie Sullivan (Helen Keller’s teacher), I got bored after Annie grew up and went to teach Helen. I suppose I wasn’t alone, because in literature, many popular books—including fiction, biography, and memoir—are what are known as “coming of age” stories, exploring the years from late childhood, through puberty, and into early adulthood. But now that I’m 57, it’s beginning of biographies that often bore me, and I get more interested when I get to the subject’s middle-age years.

On the odd chance that there is anyone reading this who doesn’t know the story of Beatrix Potter, author of the world-famous Peter Rabbit children’s books, the 2006 movie Miss Potter starring Renée Zellweger tells the story of lonely childhood with only animals for friends, her overbearing overly class-conscious Victorian parents, her education as an artist, her interest in science, her career in as a children’s book author, and her doomed romance with her publisher, Norman Warne, who died shortly after they became engaged.

Miss Beatrix Potter, famous for her series of little books about Peter Rabbit and his friends, is less well known for what she did in her later life as Mrs. Helen Beatrix Heelis, farmer, countrywoman, and conservationist.

Hi. My name is Herdie Heelis. I'm going to tell you about when Beatrix Potter bought a farm, married William Heelis, and raised sheep.

My 30x-great grandmother was Water Lily, an award-winning Herdwick sheep in Mrs. Heelis' flock.

When Mrs. Heelis was still Miss Beatrix Potter who wrote little books about Peter Rabbit, she lived in London.

She called London her "unloved birthplace," but she always had animal friends and her imagination to make her happy.

Beatrix preferred the beautiful countryside in the North of England where her family was from and where they spent summer holidays.

When she was in her 30s, she bought Hill Top Farm with the money she made from her Peter Rabbit books.

Beatrix was a spinster and it was her duty to take care of her parents in London...so she hired a tenant farmer to raise sheep and other animals on her farm.

After she met William Heelis and they married when Beatrix was 47, Mr and Mrs Heelis spent all of their time in the Lake District where Beatrix bought several more farms and hired more help.

Eventually she owned over 1000 sheep and was teh first woman elected to be president of the Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association.

In the end, Mrs Heelis left 14 farms with over 4000 acres (and sheep!) to the British National Trust to preserve the rural landscape and lifestyle she loved.
Looking back, it’s hard to say whether Beatrix Potter’s biggest legacy is the ongoing popularity of her little Peter Rabbit picture books, or her work as a conservationist saving traditional English farming methods and donating so much land to the National Trust.

Although Miss Potter grew up in London and was expected to live and act a certain way as an unmarried Victorian woman in an urban home, as Mrs. Heelis she found her way back to her roots in the countryside.

Mrs. Rabbit's Muffatees, a free knitting pattern from Knitty.com. Free knitting pattern for a DETAILS HERE.

INTRODUCTION

Mrs. Rabbit's Muffatees

beauty shot by Donna Druchunas

Tangy

What's a "muffatee" you may ask. And I would like to give you a simple answer. But there is none. The word muffatee was frequently used in Victorian knitting patterns, but exactly what one was is not always clear. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary a muffetee (note the slight difference in spelling) is either a scarf or muffler worn around the neck or a wristlet, which could be a wrist warmer or the cuff on a mitten or glove.

Although Beatrix Potter did knit, these muffatees are inspired by the knitting of Old Mrs. Rabbit.

"Old Mrs. Rabbit was a widow; she earned her living by knitting rabbit-wool mittens and muffatees (I once bought a pair at a bazaar). She also sold herbs, and rosemary tea, and rabbit-tobacco (which is what we call lavender)."

Since the narrator of The Tale of Benjamin Bunny mentions a pair of muffatees, I assume she was talking about wrist warmers or fingerless gloves.

Even so, I decided not to take a chance at getting the word wrong, so I've designed a trio of muffatees—one for your neck, and one for each hand.

spacer model: Donna Druchunas

spacer photos: Dominic Cotignola

SIZE

Cowl: One size
Mitts: Adult S[M, L]

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

Cowl: 17 inches/43cm long, 42 inches /107cm around
Mitts: 8 inches/21cm long, 8[9, 10] inches / 20[23, 25] cm around palm below thumb

MATERIALS

Yarn
Valley Yarns Northampton, (100% wool, 247yd/226m per 100g ball)
[A] #26 Raspberry Heather, 2 balls
[B] #29 Midnight Heather, 2 balls
Note: This amount is enough to make both the cowl and the fingerless gloves

Recommended needle size
[always use a needle size that gives you the gauge listed below - every knitter's gauge is unique]
Cowl: US #7/4.5mm needles for working in the round: approx 24 in/60cm long circular
Fingerless gloves: US #7/4.5mm and US 5/3.75mm needles for small circumference in the round

Notions
stitch markers
tapestry needle

GAUGE

20 sts and 28 rnds = 4 inches /10 cm over Stockinette Stitch in the round with larger needles
22 sts and 28 rnds = 4 inches /10 cm over Diagonal Texture Pattern in the round with larger needles

PATTERN NOTES

[Knitty's list of standard abbreviations and techniques can be found here.]

These muffatees are made with interesting stitch patterns that use slipped stitches to create textured designs. The only hard part of this project is remembering whether to hold the yarn in front or back when slipping the stitches in each section. These directions are noted in each section.

All slipped stitches are slipped purlwise.

Slip Stitch Ribbing
Note: In this section, slip sts with yarn in back.

Rnd 1: (K3, p2) around.
Rnd 2: (K1, sl1 wyib, k1, p2) around.
Rep Rounds 1 and 2 for patt.

CHARTS

charts

Zigzag Jacquard Pattern:
In this patt, slip sts with yarn in front.
Do not cut the yarn for each strip. Carry the unused yarn up in the back of the work.

Diagonal Texture Pattern:
In this patt, slip sts with yarn in back.

DIRECTIONS: Mrs. Rabbit's Neck Muffatee (Cowl)

Beginning Ribbing
Reminder: In this pat, slip sts with yarn in back.
With A, CO 150 sts. Place marker and join to work in the round being careful not to twist.

Rnd 1: Work Slip Stitch Ribbing around.
Work Slip Stitch Ribbing around until you have worked 19 rnds total, ending with Rnd 1.

Inc rnd: *K1, m1, (k2, m1) twice; rep from * around—240 sts.

Zigzag Jacquard Pattern 1
Reminder: In this pat, slip sts with yarn in front. Join B at the start of chart rnd 1 and leave both colors attached.

Next rnd: Work Zigzag Jacquard setup rnd around. Work as set until you have completed rnd 12 of Zigzag Jacquard pattern, and work rnds 1-12 once more.
With B, knit 1 rnd.

Diagonal Texture Pattern
Reminder: In this pat, slip sts with yarn in front.
Change to color B, work even in Diagonal Texture pattern for 3.5 inches/9 cm.
Change to color A and work even in Diagonal Texture pattern 3.5 inches/9 cm.

Zigzag Jacquard Pattern 2
Reminder: In this patt, slip sts with yarn in front. Do not cut the yarn for each strip. Carry the unused yarn up in the back of the work.

Next rnd: Work Zigzag Jacquard setup rnd around.
 Work as set until you have completed rnd 12 of Zigzag Jacquard pattern.
NOTE: In this spot, you are starting a new round after slipping sts and before slipping sts. To lock the yarn in place at the end of the round, after last st of rnd 12 chart, k1, return this st to left needle. You are not moving the marker. Just anchoring the yarn in place.

Work rnds 1-12 of Zigzag Jacquard pattern once more.
Cut A.

Ending Ribbing
Reminder: In this pat, slip sts with yarn in back.
With B, knit 1 rnd.
Dec rnd: *K2tog, (k1, k2tog) twice; rep from * around—150 sts.
Work in Slip Stitch Ribbing for 19 rounds, beginning and ending with Rnd 1.
BO loosely in pattern.

FINISHING

Steam or wash and dry flat to block.

DIRECTIONS: Mrs. Rabbit's Wrister Muffatees (Fingerless Gloves)

With A and smaller needles for small circumference in the round, CO 30[35, 40] sts. Distribute sts across needles as you prefer and join for working in the round. Mark start of round.

Beginning Ribbing
Rnd 1: Work Slip Stitch Ribbing around.
Work Slip Stitch Ribbing around until you have worked 19 rnds total, ending with Rnd 1.

Inc rnd: *K1, m1, (k2, m1) twice; rep from * around— 48[56, 64] sts.
Change to larger needles for small circumference in the round.

Zigzag Jacquard Pattern
Reminder: In this pat, slip sts with yarn in front. Join B at the start of chart rnd 1 and leave both colors attached.

Next rnd: Work Zigzag Jacquard setup rnd around.  Work as set until you have completed rnd 12 of Zigzag Jacquard pattern.
NOTE: In this spot, you are starting a new round after slipping sts and before slipping sts. To lock the yarn in place at the end of the round, after last st of rnd 12 chart, k1, return this st to left needle. You are not moving the marker, just anchoring the yarn in place.

Work rnds 1-12 of Zigzag Jacquard pattern once more.
Cut A.

Hand
Change to smaller needles.
With B, work in St st until piece measures 2 inches / 5cm or until mitten reaches the point where your thumb separates from your hand.

Thumb
Thumb is worked back and forth using the first 9[11, 13] sts on the left ndl.
Row 1: With backwards loop method, CO 1 st onto left ndl, p1, (k1, p1) 4[5, 6] times, k1; turn— 10[12, 14] sts in thumb.
Row 2: With backwards loop method, CO 1 st onto left ndl, k1, (p1, k1) to end; turn— 11[13, 15] sts in thumb.
Work back and forth in ribbing as set over thumb sts for another 6[6, 8] rows.
Next row: BO in patt. Do not remove ndl from final loop to fasten off.
Fold thumb in half with RS facing out.

Close thumb seam: *With ndl in last thumb st, pick up and knit 1 st in the next edge st on the side of the thumb, inserting ndl through both layers of knitting. Pass the 2nd st on the right ndl over the 1st st to BO. Continue from * until all thumb rows are joined, and thumb is fully seamed. Leave final st on ndl. You should be positioned at the start of the held hand sts.

Top of Hand
Return to working in the rnd. 40[46, 52] sts, including the one left over from the thumb seam.
Rnd 1: Knit.
Rnd 2: K2tog, knit to last 2 sts of rnd, ssk. 38[44, 50] sts.
Rnd 3: [K1, p1] around.
Work ribbing as set for .5 inch (1 cm) or for desired length.
BO in patt.

FINISHING

Wash to block, and weave in all ends.

ABOUT THE DESIGNER

designername Donna Druchunas is obsessed with family history and the history of knitting. Like Beatrix Potter, Donna always wanted to live in the country but didn't get to move to Vermont until she was almost 50. Her newest project is running a small local yarn shop with her husband, Dominic, which has online shopping. Donna and Dom also hold annual knitting retreats in the Vermont countryside.

You can learn more about Beatrix Potter and Herdwick sheep in Donna's ebook, The Peter Rabbit Collection, available in her Ravelry store.