Mitts, Cuffs and Muffatees, Oh My!

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 in the past few years. Various knit hand warming devices have been around for a long, long time. Their existence long predates my era of study. The first print instructions I know of appear in the 1838 Workwoman's Guide, http://books.google.com/books?id=8OcDAAAAQAAJ. WWG offered patterns for muffatees, mittens, andt mitts, in all 10 patterns, out numbered only by foot coverings. It tells you something about the life of our ancestors before central heat, staying warm was a struggle. WWG offered plain and utilitarian styles, but that was the gist of the whole book. Like all clothing items (at least it seems all) they transcended simple form and joined the ranks of fashion items. Many of the knitting books published in the next few decades offered more fanciful versions - fancy stitches, lacework, multicolored, anything to make the common item pretty. They persist in some form from one end of the Victorian era to the other. Which was favored - mitt versus cuff and so on - varied from era to era but they all had two things in common. They were knit on small needles (00-2) and they were knit on fine yarn (almost always) modern fingering weight . This is where they diverge from the modern versions. Modern knitters make them from heavy and chunky wools assuming that will keep them warm. But then modern people wear them to wander a chilly street while shopping not to try to run a household. The finer historic version lets the wearer layer, a muffatee could be slipped on over a thin glove to extra warmth without hampering hand use as a heavy item would and they can be worn for housework without destroying dexterity. Most stitches used provide some stretch and flexibility allowing for a snug fit, a loose and floppy will make them cumbersome to wear if you try to do any real work. 

They are small and knit up quickly, a great way to use up scraps of yarn, and a nice project which can let a newer knitter produce a finished project (relatively) quickly.  As a very visible costume item they also get noticed and are good conversation starter leading to conversations about not just knitting but the difficulties in keeping a house warm and trying to keep oneself warn while working outdoors. One word of caution if you want to knit some - many of the patterns end up rather small so swatch the pattern stitch and adjust the stitch count accordingly. You can try going up or down one needle size but unless your knitting is extremely tight or loose changing needle size more than that will alter the texture of the knitting too  much. Below are some pictured of some styles ranging through the Victorian era. All were knit for a knitting workshop I recently taught at the national ALHFAM conference.

 Knit Muffatee, Workwoman's Guide, 1838

Corkscrew Muffatee, Exercises in knitting, 1846 

Feather Mits, The ladies’ self instructor in millinery and mantua making, 1853

Winter Cuffs in Double Knitting, Godey’s Lady’s Book and Magazine, February 1861

 

 Muffatee, The Ladies’ Friend, V. 7 no.2, February1870 

Lady's  Mitten with Thumb, Weldon’s Practical Knitter, First Series. 188x

Knitted Cuffs, The art of knitting, 1991

 

Laurel Leaves of the wooly sort

A note...

There seems to be some growing confusion in some groups about who wrote this pattern. So, to clarify – this pattern, and the entirety of this blog, was written by Beth Chamberlain, you can see my bio on the side.

This pattern is my own interpretation of an 1840s pattern, which did not work as published. I first used this as an exercise for a workshop on working with Victorian era knitting patterns. When I shared it here I never imagine how much interest there could be and that I would start something of a fad in some reenacting circles. I appreciate the interest, I appreciate the sharing of links to the blog, I would also appreciate being credited for my work.

As long as I am adding this note I would also like to draw attention to the note which was already at the bottom “Pattern published for personal, non-commercial use only.” It’s a fairly standard concept in pattern publishing and use, you can use the pattern as many times as you want for yourself but as a soon as you start selling items from it it’s commercial production, I am not granting that right. If you’re thinking I won’t hire a lawyer to enforce it you’re right that I would have a hard time justifying that cost. If that thought came to mind, for this or any other published pattern, I urge you to reexamine your personal ethics. If someone would like to license the pattern to use it for commercial production contact me and I will consider it.

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 using her own shorthand, and the seeming complete lack of proof reading and 19th century instructions can be more a puzzle than anything else. I like puzzles so every now and then I set down and try to figure out one of the mystery patterns. Sometimes it's just because I'm curious, sometimes because someone else has run into a problem. Instead of cramming my notes into my bookshelf where they help no one besides myself I'm going to try posting them in hopes of saving someone else from counting stitches and scratching her head. 

The first installment is the Laurel Leaf from Elizabeth Jackson's The practical companion to the work table, containing selections for knitting, netting and crochet work, published in 1845. In this case the Laurel Leaf was intended for a half square shawl but other versions of it show up routinely in 19th century (as well as 20th) for various other items. It's a nice simple, slightly open pattern, perfect for a newer knitter or for working in slightly dim light. Elizabeth Jackson was nice enough to provide an illustration of the beginning of a shawl. Sometimes illustrations bear no resemblance to the  pattern, sometimes the pattern bears no resemblance to the illustration. The later is the case here. The image looks like a leaf, her instructions don't.

In fact, her instructions just don't work. Her original instructions can be found at the link above, in the interest of saving space I won't repeat what doesn't work. The problems start with the very first row, the pattern requires an odd number of stitches, she started off right but then blew it in the increases on the first row. The shawl starts at the bottom corner with just three stitches. Increases are worked along each edge at every pattern row and rows 6 and 16 have a spare set of increases (one at each end) to accommodate the pattern. My interpretation:

Work a Purl row after each pattern row

Cast on 3

1.   s1 yo k1 yo k1

2.   s1 yo k3 yo k1

3.   s1 yo k5 yo k1

4.   s1 yo k7 yo k1

5.   s1 yo k9 yo k1

6.   s1 yo k5 yo k1 yo k5 yo k1

7.   s1 yo k1 k2tog k3 yo k3 yo k3 k2tog k1 yo k1

8.   s1 yo k2 k2tog k2 yo k5 yo k2 k2tog k2 yo k1

9.   s1 yo k3 k2tog k1 yo k7 yo k1 k2tog k3 yo k1

10. s1 yo k4 k2tog yo k9 yo ok2tog k4 yo k1

11. s1 yo k5 yo k1 yo k4 k2tog k2tog k3 yo k1 yo k5 yo K1

12. s1 yo k1 k2tog k3 yo k3 yo k3 k2tog k2tog k2 yo k3 yo k3 k2tog k1 yo k1

13.  s1 yo k2  k2tog k2 *yo k5 yo k2 k2tog k2tog k1* repeat to 12 from end, finish:yo k5 yo k2 k2tog k2 yo k1

14.  s1 yo k3 k2tog k1 * yo k7 yo k1 k2tog k2tog * repeat to 14 from end, finish: yo k7 yo k1 k2tog k3 yo k1

15.  s1 yo k4 k2tog * yo k9 yo k3tog* repeat to 16 from end, finish: yo k9 yo k2tog k4 yo k1

16.  s1 yo k5 yo k1 *yo k4 k2tog k2tog k3 yo k1* repeat to 6 from end, finish: yo k5 yo k1

17.  sl yo k1 k2tog k3 * yo k3 yo k3 k2tog k2tog k2*  repeat to 10 from end, finish: yo k3 yo k3 k2tog k1 yo k1

Repeat rows 13-17

If using this for a shawl I strongly suggest slipping the first purl stitch to give a nicer edge and balance the slipped stitch in the knit rows. Below are images of samples worked by my interpretation. They are worked in a lace weight wool (akin to the Shetland recommended in the pattern) and size 3 (modern) needles.

Pattern published for personal, non-commercial use only.