A Knitting-Book of Counterpanes

The Knitting Collections held by the University of Southampton Library has a treasure trove of digitized 19th century knitting manuals. Among the selections that have been put online is A Knitting-Book of Counterpanes**.

image courtesy
University of Southhampton Library Digitization Unit

Finding this was the perfect opportunity to use a vintage pattern and reproduce a knitted piece for a counterpane like the ones I wrote about in Anne of Green Gables - Cotton Warp Quilts.

I purchased a tube of white Maysville 8/4 cotton warp. It is the kind of cotton warp yarn that would have been available when A Knitting-Book of Counterpanes was published as well as the Anne of Green Gables stories.

The book has patterns for square, triangle and stripe pieces and some of the square patterns were knit on the bias (knitting on the bias involves starting with one stitch and evenly increasing each row until the desired square size is reached and then evenly decreasing back down to one stitch). I chose a bias knit square called The Cable Square Pattern (page 8) and got started.

I began knitting with size 3 needles but that gauge was too loose. I restarted two more times before being happy with the result from size 1 needles. The terms used were different from current terminology but explained well enough that I was able to match them up. For example, plain=knit, pearl=purl, M=knit in the front and back and T=knit two together. The pattern was remarkably easy to follow. When finished the piece looked more like a parallelogram than a square! However, it did block into a very nice 6"x6" square.

There are a couple of considerations when knitting a square on the bias:

Knitting on the bias does not initially produce a square. The piece has to be blocked into a square shape. Did 19th century women block individual pieces before stitching them together into a counterpane? It wasn't difficult or time consuming to block one square but it takes dozens of squares to make a blanket and that seems like a bit too much work.

Symmetry of design. Increase and decrease stitches do not look the same and when the shape or design is mirrored by using them the look is different and slightly off. On this square you can see it in the middle with the chevron design and along the edges.

Ravelry Project Page - The Cable Square Pattern
Final Thoughts: I initially thought I would like to make a vintage counterpane but it would take a lot of time and work so now I don't think so! However, I did very much enjoy working this piece and might work more samples from the book just for fun.

**As of 10/3/2015 this book is no longer included in their collection. At some point, the University of Southampton revamped how their digital collection is displayed. Hopefully, they will have it back soon.