The D.E. Stevenson group is reading the "Mrs. Tim" series, interspersed with related DES titles, and we have just finished Mrs. Tim Carries On (1941) and started Spring Magic (1942). Being wartime, of course there is knitting for one's menfolk and others in the armed forces sprinkled throughout, especially in Mrs. Tim Carries On, but since there are so very many patterns available for "soldiers' comforts" and really, how many variations can there be on plain, dark socks, I chose for my virtual "Knitting with D.E. Stevenson" project the girl's socks in this late-1930s/early-1940s Bairnswear leaflet available in reproduction from The Vintage Knitting Lady. The photo reminds me not a little of Hester's young daughter Betty who likes dolls and girlish things, to be sure, but doesn't stick at climbing trees as well. As a knitter, I like how these particular socks have different kinds of heels, too -- I know it's comfortable to knit something that one is familiar with, but it's also pleasing to have different options.
Thanks to the wonderful folks at Dean Street Press -- especially Scott of Furrowed Middlebrow, whose Furrowed Middlebrow colophon debuted there a few years ago and specializes in "works by lesser-known British women novelists and memoirists" -- three of the four Mrs. Tim books are now available in e-book format (the first was reprinted some years ago by the Bloomsbury Group), as well as Spring Magic and 1935's Smouldering Fire, of which more in another post. I have been very much looking forward to the group read of Spring Magic, as it is one of my favorites. We've only just started, and already have had interesting discussions about books a sheltered child might have read (a child such as Frances, though she is now at 25 not sheltered so much as trapped), the idiom "doing the messages" (which may or may not involve actual messages, depending on whether one is north or south of Hadrian's Wall ...), horsehair mattresses (and sofas), the Pioneer Corps, and potential inspirations for the setting's Scottish fishing village -- not to mention sidetracks like April Fool pranks and plagiarism.
But knitting, that's what I was talking about. In one scene in the book, during a rather terrifying air raid -- this isn't London, mind you, it's a fishing village on the west coast of Scotland -- the ladies of the inn where Frances is staying are knitting -- who could sleep? -- and Annie offers to share a knitting pattern. "It's quite an easy pattern," she says, "you slip one and knit one and pass the slipped stitch over. I'll give you the pattern tomorrow if you would like it --" In searching the internet hopefully for "lacy knitting pattern 1940s", I came across this one --
which is available free from the V&A (here's the Ravelry link) as part of a page about 1940s knitting patterns (huzzah!). The lace stitch is a simple two-row one with a familiar "sl1, K1, psso" maneuver that combined with K2tog and judicious yarn-overs produces the pretty scallop effect, here in patriotic red, white, and blue -- so it seems particularly appropriate for my Spring Magic choice! I've used the Ravelry link instead of going straight to the pattern itself so that you can see some examples of how changing the colors or simply changing the number of rows of red, white, or blue can vary the effect of the jumper.
Ohhhhh that knitting - those patterns.... adorable I am totally smitten. I am liking the sound of the books too - it reminds me of Persephone Press a little, they are a small indy publisher in London that specialise mainly in lesser known 20th century women writers, I found a very hard to get NZ classic (the godwits fly) which is too exciting for words and they are so beautiful - they have grey dust covers and a lovely 20th century fabric print inside - quite delicious. http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/ if that interests you - I'd highly recommend just about anything they have on catalogue especially the letters to my children from Germany 1940-1946, extraordinary
Posted by: juliet brown | April 14, 2019 at 07:34 AM