Maureen has asked me to enquire about "French Knitting" or "French Darning". Apparently this is done with an old-fashioned wooden cotton reel into which 4 nails or pins are inserted. It's mentioned in one of Maureen's old WI books and although it sounds familiar she cannot recollect the details of what it is/was.
AS they say "deja vu all over again". This was discussed a couple of years back, probably before your welcome arrival on the group.
I go back to Maureen's books. I remember WI; all the old ladies ( above age 40) seemed to belong to it.!LOL
There were no rules, and back in WW2, we used an old cotton reel ( probably a museum piece now) and put four nails in and made yards of a skinny tube.
The younger folk (I am 70) remember plastic kits to do this. All I ever used mine for was Teddy's scarf, or coil them, sew them and make doileys, hot pads whatever.
Gillian
Bruce ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with
We used to call that a Knitting Nancy, sometimes instead of a wooden cotton reel, it was a doll, rather like an old clothes pin.
Four nails and one wound the wool round once, then went round with a hair pin, hooking the stitch on the nail over it. The 'work' went down the middle and out through the hole like a round, knitted worm. I remember making yards and yards of it, but rarely stitching it into anything.
In Brooklyn, NY when I was young it was called a horse rein. It was 4 nails in a wooden thread bobbin.
I don't remember ever doing anything useful with the resulting "worm."
Does anyone remember doing anything wonderful with it?
Lucille
I may be mistaken, but I think those knitting boards or knitting rakes, that seem to have become quite popular, use the same principle. They come in various sizes, with varying numbers of pins, so you're not confined to making a worm. I've never seen one, only photos on the internet, but you seem to be able to make hats and afghans, and things like that, both tubular and flat.
John
I came home to my apartment building in Brooklyn, NY tonight, and I noticed in one of the ground floor windows a box labelled French Knitting. I think the older little girl who lives there must be trying it!
Alison
Alison ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with
Well they say around here 'the more things change, the more they stay the same' - guess little girls don't change that much lol
It is HUGE these days, called "frame knitting" and there are pricey frames for sale in all the crafty stores. If you go over to rec.crafts.textiles.yarn and mention it, you will be flooded with more info than you ever wanted.
Olwyn Mary in New Orleans.
The instructions that came with mine said to coil it into a table mat. Don't recall ever seeing it in use, though, once I gave it as a gift.
Frame knitting has a Renaisance like every other knitting related technique , Frame knitting has been known in former centuries. it was and can be used to knit round [as a pipe] or interlock knitted scarves , You can knit it on a knitting Spool ,=knitting Jenny, and when more than 4 nails it is called knitting plank . mirjam
ps you can get the `same effect knitting an Idiot cord on 2 dp needles.
mirjam
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pot holders for the kitchen , doll clothes , a tiny hat , mittens , make 3 smae length and sew a hair band , a belt . Fold and knot into Dolls ,, and much more. mirjam
Have a look here what one can make with a knitting spool
Maureen sends her thanks to all those who so kindly responded to her enquiry. Must dash now (1030 am Sunday), we're off to church then a drive around the island to see how the lambing is going.
Oh, I used to do that when I was a kid! You made a loop which went round the "nails" (Panel pins, as I recall) then another loop above that and lifted the bottom loop over the top by each nail and you ended up with a nice long "rat`s tail". I used to stitch these round in circles/ovals to make mats for my dollshouse! I`m not quite sure of you started with one loop round all the nails or did an individual loop for each nail. The main problem these days is to find wooden cotton reels, but I`m pretty sure that it`s possibly to find purposely made wooden "French knitting" gadgets somewhere if you can`t find the reels.
You could make table mats too, of course.
It`s a good way to use up odds and ends of wool.
I had a "Horse Rein" or as you call it a "Knitting Jenny" when I was very little so I guess my imagination never went as far as Noreen's did on this delightful website.
Lucille
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I think I would prefer to do idiot cord. At least wih that it doesn't require the same kind of concentration and you can do it without looking so closely.
LWhen I was a little girl....more years ago than I care to remember.....I remember "corking". It sounds exactly the same. Wow, I made miles of that stuff, with every scrap piece of yarn available. Talk about a blast from the past! LOL!
It's called I-cord and people use it for closures, skinny sashes, edging, ties at the neck, etc.
Elizabeth
"Dr. Brat" ,in rec.crafts.textiles.needleworkwrote: and entertained us with
Hush up there Brat, you are too young, hear that ? Too young to remember when it was first around and AFAIK nobody made anything much with it.
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