Knit two...

While the first hat dried, I began HatTwo, as a surprise gift for a friend, who is recreating the life of a sailor in Elizabethan times. When I found the photo below, I was VERY excited.

I've done a bit more reading in the mean time. I'm going to ensure the hat doesn't extend so far over the brim, as the extant examples I've viewed (unless they are split and have ear or neck flaps) don't appear to extend quite so far. This means I'll just remove one 'set' of 5 rows - and see how that looks. Interestingly, the Gagiana Barett, from which my pattern is derived, is one of the few where the crown actually does extend over the brim.



I'm also not going to do the Purl row for edge definition, and just allow the hat to softly curl where it wants. I can press it flat, if it requires it, for shape.



At this stage, I'm debating a lining - it seems that most of the hats were, whether or not the lining has survived to modern times. This will be added last, so I have some time to choose.

I'm knitting it on circular needles because it's faster and easier. Sssh. I've done it the 'right' way once ;)

Completed Mary Rose knitted cap

Completed Mary Rose knitted cap

I made modifications to the original pattern, extending the crown only as far as the brim before curving back in towards the centre. This ensured the crown was not wider than the brim, as per these extant hats.

Pre-felted

I hand felted the hat once, but it wasn't quite enough - so I put it in the machine on the shortest wash. It looks good - stitch definition blending and it's lovely and soft. 

Further reading had informed me that most hats discovered on the Mary Rose had a square silk lining.

From 'Before The Mast'

From 'Before The Mast'

I cut out a square of woven silk from my stash, and hand stitched it on the inside. Finished!

I hope it fits the recipient!

Next step will be a further investigation of cappers and knytters.

Knit one, read two...

Inspired by my explorations into a more 'working class' Tudor (especially for camping wear - much easier and less stressful than expensive brocades and full length sweeping gowns) I decided to make a knitted cap, of the kind that sailors or townsfolk would wear.

Searching for patterns, I found Marian McNealy's excellent 'redaction' (knitting is a recipe, right?) for a Barett, or cap, from the wreck of the Venetian ship Gagiana.

"On October 14th, 1583, the merchant ship “Gagiana”, while carrying a load of goods from Venice to the East, hit a reef and sank off the Adriatic coast, near the island of Gnalic and what is now known as Croatia. The wreck lay undisturbed for more than 350 years, until it was rediscovered and the remains of the cargo were recovered by divers in 1967-1968.
Part of the cargo that was recovered from the sea was this iron clad wooden chest, which contained 3 men’s linen shirts, 54 meters of silk damask, and 8 men’s knitted hats. Several years later, these items were sent to the Abegg Foundation for conservation (Flury-Lemberg, M.)"

Some extant knitted caps from shipwreck of the Venetian ship Gagiana

I made one according to the pattern.
http://curiousfrau.com/2009/08/16/recreating-the-gagiana-barett/

A woollen cap with a narrow single continuous brim from the 16th century. It was knitted in the round in stocking stitch on 4 or 5 needles, then fulled (washed, beaten and felted) and napped (raising and trimming the pile) to produce a stiff, hardwearing fabric - See more at: http://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/92084.html#sthash.epChpZQF.dpuf

I let my husband choose the colour (it's his hat) from a choice of known cap colours:
red, brown, black, or ash coloured or liver coloured. He selected a heathery grey (ash). It's 100% merino, and NOT a superwash wool (I need to be able to felt it). The yarn was purchased from Morris & Sons in Sydney. It's lovely and soft to work with, no breakages (and I've only seen one join in 2 balls so far).

Pre-felted hat of very largeness

Pre-felted

The husband demonstrating pre-felted hat.

Notes:
I used ssk rather than k2tog for my decreases.
I knit on five double pointed needles (because I didn't see the Ravelry suggestion to use circulars - ARGH - until it was too late - meaning I dropped a few stitches here and there and had to do repairs on the fly).

I 'joined' the brim using a suggestion from another Ravelry project because I couldn't quite brain the way Marion had described the crochet bind off, and I don't know where my (one and only) crochet hook is. (Closing brim: slip 1 stitch knitwise, pick up one stitch from cast on edge, pass slipped stitch over; repeat around. Then knit a row for Row 35.)

I hand felted as I have a front loading washing machine and just don't trust it (having accidentally felted a mohair blanket while washing it last week).
The first felting loosened up the individual stitch definition.

First felting. Stitch definition starting to loosen - you can still see the individual stitches but the yarn is starting to 'bloom'.

The second felting was hotter, and I used a wooden spoon to really agitate the hat. It looks FAB, if I say so myself.

Whilst it looks good, and the second hand felting worked well, I caved and decided to felt the hat in my washing machine - I have a short wash (18 mins) at 30 degrees. Perfect!

 

References:
http://curiousfrau.com/2009/08/16/knitted-mans-hat-from-the-ship-qgagianaq/
http://curiousfrau.com/2009/08/16/recreating-the-gagiana-barett/
http://www.chesholme.com/wfiles/2-4-16th-Century-Knitted-Flat-Cap.pdf
http://knittinghistory.co.uk/resources/he-is-of-no-account-if-he-have-not-a-velvet-or-taffeta-hat-a-survey-of-sixteenth-century-knitted-caps/
http://www.larsdatter.com/knit.htm (many photographic examples of extant caps)

• http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O119614/cap-unknown/
• http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/107278
• http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=48705&partId=1
• http://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/90562.html
• http://collections.museumoflondon.org.uk/online/object/92084.html

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/HistoricKnit/files
http://knittinghistory.co.uk/resources/knitting-history-links/

Arnold, Janet. Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe Unlocked. Leeds: Maney, 1988.
Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women C. 1560-1620. London: MacMillan London Ltd., 1985 
Gardiner, Julie (editor). Before the Mast: Life and Death Aboard the Mary Rose (Archaeology of the Mary Rose). Mary Rose Trust, London 2006.
Mikhaila, Ninya and Malcolm-Davies, Jane. The Tudor Tailor. Batsford, London, 2006.

Coat of much coatiness...

I blame Giles.

At festival I was admiring his coats. He said they were easy.

'But I don't have a pattern', I wibbled.

'That's okay. You've got this. You know how to do it.'

That stayed with me. This week, home sick, we decided to attend a feast in Canberra in the middle of winter. Mr had no coat....

Better - the wool was from my stash that I've had about ten years. The faux fur came from my old v- neck Burgundian and was set aside for reuse. I had thread.

Cost: stash busting :)

It's unlined. I may go back and split the sleeves later if I find more fur.

Thanks Giles. You're right and your faith in my mad skillz kept me going this week.

Rosewater, take two...

Pariya rosewater arrived!

300ml light cream

200ml full cream milk 

2tsp gelatin

About 50g white sugar

About 2tbsp rosewater 

Microwaved gently - I was in a hurry and the kitchen is a pit.

And now, I wait. Is it set yet?

...

Too much gelatin, it's a bit firm.

But.

DELICIOUS.

Rosewater milk pudding

Rosewater. Check.

Gelatin and milk. Check.

Decide to play, as I've never used gelatin before. Read the rosewater label. Find out the lovely organic stuff my beloved purchased, that the health store person told him was food grade, is in fact for topical use only. Swear.

Okay, so vanilla bean milk pudding then.

500ml milk. 2tsp gelatin. 'Some' castor sugar. 'Some' (maybe 2-3tsp) vanilla bean paste.

Heat until it just starts to boil. Pour into tea cups.

It was set in about two hours. Firm. Err...gelatinous. Not particularly silky, but as I didn't use cream I was expecting that. Delicious. Too sweet, but delicious.

Next step: actual rosewater pudding.

A recipt.

There's a feast on this weekend.

We're going off-board, as we often to, to meet dietary requirements. Also, it's in my home town - so it's a perfect time for some experimenting.

I found this recipe and knew that both milk jellies and rosewater were period, so wanted to see if I could document something very close:

http://modestmunchies.com/rose-halwa/

It turns out it was easier than I thought.

I had only seen 'Snowe' served with egg whites before, and not the non-egg version:http://www.godecookery.com/engrec/engrec21.html

Perfect. Cream, sugar and rosewater in one place.

This one, a white leach, is closer to what we know as a panna cotta:Thomas Dawson (1597) has a recipe for a white leach which is very similar to panna cotta: a white leach.Take a quart of newe milke, and three ounces weight of Isinglasse, halfe a pounde of beaten suger, and stirre them together, and let it boile half a quarter of an hower till it be thicke, stirring them all the while: then straine it with three spoonfull of Rosewater, thē put it into a platter and let it coole, and cut it in squares. Lay it fair in dishes, and lay golde vpon it. It is very sweet.


And it's in our time 'period' of pre-16thC, by a whisker.

It's been noted that I need to ensure my cream doesn't contain any additives, and I will likely use gelatin instead of agar or isinglass, due to ease of being able to buy it.

Next stop: testing the recipe!

Musings

In which I attempt to start a new blog and actually track thoughts and creations and musing and inspiration.

I decided to abandon my old LiveJournal - it's five years since I last updated and doesn't really have much substance beyond a few links, which I can just as easily reproduce over here.

So, for my reference:
- frock blog posts - from idea to creation, inside and out, underthings to top layer bling.
- recipe thoughts and redactions and notes and shopping lists

And occasionally, updates of knitting or regular sewing or machine embroidery, because I can.