The first three rows of a knit silk stocking in red yarn with several stitch markers showing. The knitting is sitting on a purple blanket with the cone of silk yarn visible in a zip-closure plastic bag in the background.
And so it begins.. #EleonoraStockings 🧶 #MySCA
Several packages of HiyaHiya fixed circular knitting needles in US 4-0 and US 5-0 fanned out like a hand of cards.
They arrived!! I am worried I'll bend or break them over time, so have three each of US 4-0 (1.2 mm) and US 5-0 (1.0 mm) in two different cable and needle lengths (not all are shown because I already had them). Once I finish the teal stockings with clocks, I'm all set for the silk #EleonoraStockings
The back seams of two red knit stockings with cuffs. The cuffs are mostly indistinct but several inches of knitting. The main stocking pattern is paneled and the stockings decrease at the back seams in a way that makes the panels "melt" together. The completed stocking is on the left; the in-progress stocking is on the right. The completed stocking is folded so only the portion that's complete on the in-progress stocking is showing. The pattern panels alternate between a two row garter pattern and a two row seed stitch with an interstitial panel of stockinette with a single stitch in garter down the center. The completed stocking shows the interstitial panel with stockinette showing; the in-progress stocking shows the interstitial panel in reverse stockinette.
Yea! #ShowMeYourKnits is WIPs this week! These are my test knit of the #EleonoraStockings, the stockings Eleonora di Toledo was buried in. These are at a much larger gauge and thigh high so I can learn how the pattern works. They are also intentionally inside out from each other. 🧶 🧵 #MySCA
The cuff of a red knit stocking and the top of the thigh decreases shown with a chain of six stitch markers chained together. The first and fourth are jeweled stitch markers, the second and sixth are silver, and the third and fifth are black. The jeweled markers indicate decrease rounds; the black indicate the first row of the two row pattern; and the silver indicate the second row of the two row pattern.
Some moons ago, I saw an ad for a stitch counter that was a stitch marker rings chained together. I never followed up on it but it's stuck with me as an elegant solution. The #EleonoraStockings have a 2-row pattern and decreases every 3rd row, & I needed a way to track both, so I made my own. 🧶
Cropped photo of a photo from Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked showing the toe of one of the stockings Eleonora di Toledo was buried in. The photo is grainy and the stocking is missing the bottom portion of the fabric. At least two, plus a possible third, band of interstitial stitches appear to continue in pattern from the foot, with the pattern panels becoming indistinct, though noticeably decreasing in width closer to the end of the toe.
Let's talk about toes. #EleonoraStockings
Again, the photos I have are not nearly detailed enough to tell with any certainty how the toe is formed. But, based on what I *can* tell, it looks like the interstitial panels continue and the toe decreases rather abruptly.
🧶🧵
A knit gauge swatch in natural / off-white silk knit in the round over 54 total stitches with a sewing tape measure laying on top of the swatch held in place by the photographer's left hand, the thumb and two fingers of which are visible. The sewing tape is showing the 4 and 5 inch marks. The total swatch is about an inch and two thirds. In the upper right are two black US 0000 /1.25 mm knitting needles.
Huh. So that's pr'bly 14.5 sts/inch. KnitPicks Luminance silk on US 0000 / 1.25 mm needles. That might be close enough if I tweak the pattern to make the interstitial panels slightly narrower (as shown in the swatch), but I'll have to do more math to be sure. 🧶 #EleonoraStockings
Cropped photo of the heel of the Eleonora stockings from Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlocked.
Photo of a possible recreation of the heel of the Eleonora stockings, knit in larger gauge and wool/silk yarn instead of silk.
#EleonoraStockings heel comparison. 🧶 #MySCA
When looking at the photo, I initially thought the gusset was worked the wrong way, but then realized that if the side of the heel flap was worked in reverse stockingnette & the gusset worked in stockinette, the rows might look lined up as in the photo.
Photo of a red knit stocking on red cabled circs with a red ring stitch marker (go me for unhelpful color coordination *sigh*). There's a lifeline run through the next to last knit row.. and through the stitch marker. For those who don't knit, the white yarn is a lifeline - it's worked through a row of active stitches as a sort of save point in case I screw up and need to unravel back to before I did the stupid thing. Except I ran it through the stitch marker, which is a solid ring that is supposed to stay on the needles. With the lifeline run through the stitch marker, it's effectively now locked into place in the stocking. It will be fine - lifelines get pulled out and when I do that, the rings will all fall out, too. I just need to slip them off the needles and replace them with new ones to keep working. It's just a rookie mistake and I should know better. Fortunately, I have plenty of stitch markers, including some the intended recipient of these stockings gave me last week!
Well, fuq. 🧶 #EleonoraStockings
(Explanation in the alt text.)
