Jane Austen, Knitting, Herstory and Vintage Clothing

Well, obviously, I didn't meet my goal. I fell down for a couple of days and liked it down there so I didn't get back up.

Now that we've got that cleared up.

Are you a Jane Austen fan? What about knitting, do you like to knit? Or perhaps you love early nineteenth century history. I know, it's the vintage clothing that you love.

Well, I made a discovery that I want to share.

That's right, it's a knitting magazine.

But before you even get to the beautiful projects you can read "Tea With Jane", "Women's Work in Jane Austen's Persuasion", "Coverture: When the Covered Woman Wasn't", and the history of "Dorset Buttons".

But it is the projects that are the star. Completely wearable although some do take a certain style to pull off.

My favorites:

These gorgeous Damask Mittens. I don't wear mittens, but I want a pair of these. They look challenging too, and you have to get your gauge right because apparently you can't add or subtract stitches from the project. The design demands that it be exact. The only way you can change sizes is to change needles.

Georgiana Darcy's Fancy Shawl

This picture doesn't do it justice. There are other pictures in the magazine that show it off better. It's a beautiful lace shawl. Lots of lacy pattern with pointed tips.

Again, this picture does not do this Northanger Pelisse justice. The other pictures are much better. I love dusters. I have a couple, but it would be nice to knit one sometime.

These Brighton Mitts are beautiful. They are actually fingerless gloves which are all the rage right now. Although you can't see it in this picture these mitts have a lovely pattern.





And now for the pieces that I love but I don't believe I could get away with wearing...

This is the Oval Pelisse. Lots of lace, lots of circles and you either love it or hate it. It looks like it would be interesting to knit with lots of shaping and fancy stitches. Probably not for the beginner.

A Most Sensible Bonnet

You can get away with this in England. They wear crazy hats there and this one is positively chaste. In Canada you get the choice of a toque, a baseball cap, or a cowboy hat but the latter only during the Calgary Stampede and you have to be in Calgary. Anything else is daring. Make sure when you wear this that you're in an outfit to match, like the above pelisse. Somehow I don't see this working with jeans and a t-shirt.

Regency Riding Hat

Okay, drop the cowboy hat and wear this instead! It's much more elegant and I can see it being worn with just about anything - if you've got the style to pull it off.




Now these are not the only beautiful patterns in the magazine and there were several others that I liked as well. Plus at the end there's an article called "Cents and Sensibility" about putting Jane Austen's face on English 10 pound bank notes in 2017.

I picked this up on the news stand a few months ago, but you can still get copies. Not only that, but there's back issues as well. I thought this one was a stand alone, but nope, they put these out a couple of times a year.

Jane Austen Knitting

So happy knitting and happy reading.