Saturday 7 September 2013

Who is Cornelia Mee?

Dear Cornelia,

I know it is a bit weird writing to you, after all your book was published in MDCCCXLVI (1846 by my reckoning) but I just had to let you know how much I'm enjoying 'Exercises in Knitting'. I downloaded it onto my kindle from Project Gutenburg and when I'm feeling like a bit on inspiration, I just take a little look.

I am intrigued by who you are....you're not on Wikipedia!, but you are on Ravelry. Despite some intriguing references, I can't find out any more. There are other books, it says so on the front plate. Titles like 'A Manual of Knitting' and 'Crochet Explained' are just a couple of the intriguing titles. Have they been completely lost? Who knows?

Actually, found a wonderful resource from the University of Southhampton The Richard Rutt Collection at Winchester School of Art. Lots more to look at.

I digress. What caught my eye this time is your description of Twisted knitting:

Cast on 12 stitches, knit and seam (purl) alternate rows for 8 rows; the 3 first and last stitches of each row are always knit.
Ninth row - Knit 3 stitches, take a third pin (needle) and knit 3 more, knit the remainder of the stitches with the first pin.
Tenth row - Knit 3 stitches, seam the 3 stitches on the third pin, seam the other 23, knit the 3 edge stitches. This completes 1 twist, and is repeated after every 8 rows.

Now it seems to be cable but with a little twist. Will it make any difference? Just had to know, so I made a little sample.

A regular cable is on the left and your 'twisted' knit is on the right. It does lie flatter and does suggest further variations.

Thankyou so much for the inspiration.

Cheers, Teresa

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