Friday, September 4, 2009

Godey's 1865 Fichu or Necktie

This cute little tie appeared in Godey's in June 1865. It looked simple and different, two things I like. It is quite simple to knit up. It is however kind of wonky to wear. Knit by the direction's row count I came up with a tie just long enough to wrap around my neck and either cross the ends flat or do just a little half knot. It's cute but just doesn't look right for the 60's. It seems to be an accessory before it's time, presaging the higher, frilly and fussy neck adornments of the 70's. It is a great example of how warm lace is if you make it from wool. Somewhat skeptical of how to wear it I crossed the ends and put my brooch on and ventured out for a very cold Candlelight Evening at Old Bethpage Village last December. It was cold enough to flash freeze inches deep mud from the previous day's storm but my neck was toasty, definitely better than a cotton collar that night.

The center ground was knit up in fingering weight wool and size 4 needles and the edge in "scraps" of some lace weight and 0 needles. The stitches are simple, this would make a good introduction to basic lace stitches.
From Mostly pointless drivel
From Mostly pointless drivel

3 comments:

  1. This is a beautiful version of the fichu! And much more faithful to the colors suggested in the pattern. I look forward very much to seeing more of your knitting.

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  2. I have been doing research for days and days looking for this pattern when I stumbled across your site. May I ask where I can find this pattern? cmwestbroek@aol.com

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  3. The pattern was published on pg 545 of the June 1865 issue. When I made this I believe I got it from a copy digitized by Accessible Archives, http://www.accessible.com . It is now available from Hathi Trust, http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015004111103?urlappend=%3Bseq=555 . If you're looking for 19th century fashion magazines I have a fairly extensive list of titles available for free at https://www.zotero.org/groups/19th_century_fashion_magazines/items

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