tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61992169853030726432011-11-06T22:35:34.869-05:00Bookworm1860http://www.blogger.com/profile/06712441994126245283noreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199216985303072643.post-40819971031017944812011-08-07T22:14:00.001-04:002011-08-07T22:21:27.475-04:00

How often have you stood in a store and wondered "do I already have this book?". Or, had a conversation with someone and wished you could remember the exact title of a book you know they would love to read. Wouldn't be easier if you had a list of all of your books - available on your cell phone (assuming you have a smart phone)? There are a couple of online services that will let you "build"

Bookworm1860http://www.blogger.com/profile/06712441994126245283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199216985303072643.post-9903539795900413432011-07-09T23:12:00.007-04:002011-07-09T23:38:14.587-04:00

Or Everything Old is New Again The past few years there has been a slow but growing trend for various forms of knit handwear, from short little mitts to long gauntlet like mitts, some with partial fingers, some a thumb hole and other just a long shoved down cuff. They are nothing new, I have been quite amused at the several "new and novel" items which have wound their way into "modern" knitting

Bookworm1860http://www.blogger.com/profile/06712441994126245283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199216985303072643.post-75136747423814222642010-08-18T00:30:00.002-04:002010-08-18T00:36:38.742-04:00

Knitting instructions are finicky creations. Proof reading them is like trying to make sense of a random string of letters and numbers.  Today it's not uncommon to find erratas for the patterns published in both books and magazines. In the 19th century they skipped the erratas and left it to the knitter to figure out what the problem was. Combine the barely existing standardization, each author

Bookworm1860http://www.blogger.com/profile/06712441994126245283noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199216985303072643.post-117250119399201382010-02-23T20:51:00.001-05:002010-07-09T14:50:05.705-04:00

Every once and a while I hear an odd story that Victorians were so very modest and prudish that they wouldn’t show their ankles or mention the word “leg” and that they covered piano legs with little drawers so as to not offend. Even as a young teenager I didn’t buy into the Victorian prudery myth. They were still having a lot of kids weren’t they? Victorian fashions, as varied as they were, all

Bookworm1860http://www.blogger.com/profile/06712441994126245283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199216985303072643.post-1865150836429907332009-12-16T19:09:00.002-05:002010-08-17T17:15:28.624-04:00

MyLITV.com - Thanksgving in 1863 Long Islands Best Videos Politics and Local News There is an odd trend in my life - me being photographed or videotaped with a turkey. No, not one of my friends but a Thanksgiving turkey, mid-roast in a tin kitchen. Here is this year's version - more views of me with my backside up in the air, more shots of the part(s) in my hair, and as always, wearing the most

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Every year Old Bethpage Village celebrates Thanksgiving with two weekends of cooking. We do our best to make Sarah Josepha Hale proud. For me this usually means two days in an 1866 house with a cook stove and two days in a 1861 (1820-ish restored to 1861) house with a large hearth. Officially, that means two turkeys and two batches if succotash, unofficially it means turkey, succotash, and

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Some textile crafts have fascinated me since I was a young girl; I got my first sewing machine when I was about 5, my mother began to teach me to knit when I was 8 or 10, various embroidery techniques were interspersed along the way and spinning has fascinated me as long as I can remember. Weaving is a latecomer to the fascination. Last Fall I tried to take a spinning and dyeing class but it fell

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I've received so many questions about this little miser's purse that I thought I would put the instructions and my notes online. Purely self-serving as it means I just need to remember a link instead of hunting through my computer looking for an email to forward. This is "Lady's Purse" from the October 1863 Godey's. So far, this is the only publication where I have seen this purse. The

Bookworm1860http://www.blogger.com/profile/06712441994126245283noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6199216985303072643.post-26724399118116767212009-09-07T12:33:00.002-04:002009-09-08T18:50:42.673-04:00

I think I have convinced myself that I need a ball gown. Not that anyone needs a ball gown. I am however indecisive about fabric. I have miles of this silk organdy. I bought it cheap and thought that I could get away with ivory in something so very shear. Uhm, wrong! I just look jaundiced with this on me. So, either I need to pass is on or change its color. My initial dyeing test was pink and was

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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

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The exploration into double knitting started because of a KAL in the cwneedleworkerskal group. The project in question is "Winter cuffs in double knitting" which showed up in Godey's in 1861 and made appearances in several other publications around the same time, http://books.google.com/books?ei=LRGfSoXRLI7ayASroLDuDg&q=%22winter+cuffs+in+double+knitting%22&btnG=Search+Books. Since 19th century

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Months ago I embarked on a grand scheme to write an article a month for the 119th NYSV's newsletter. My plan was to write on civilian life, not just women's lives but all the things from home that the men would have remembered and missed. Many months later I've only written one article, I need to get back to the plan! My thought right now is to post them online, ultimately fleshing out the online

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Note - I've used two colors to enhance visibility. This is NOT how to do two color double knitting. The mess of ends you see is a result of the two colors, you won't have all of those tails doing one color. Side A From Double Knitting Side B (note the odd green stitch is a mistake) From Double Knitting Cast on the required number of stitches and do any foundation row. You need to have a

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