Monday, April 25, 2011

..modify them so that they can be worn



I accidentially found this book from 1985 browsing the internet for "old knittin´"  85 pair of socks from Danish museums, from all regions in Denmark have been examined and the beautiful purl patterns thoroughly written down.
I was extremely thrilled when I found out that a pattern was located to my village. And I immediately knew that I would work a pair of socks for Gete, who has been dancing and teaching folk dance most of her life. This Spring she celebrates her 25 anniversary as a chairwoman of my local church choir.
 Here she is in the church looking for music.

I wanted to make Gete a pair of snug socks she can wear a chilly summer night on her terrace. The original sock is thigh-high, the wool is 2 ply with no reinforcing, the needles very thin. To modify an old pattern so that the socks can actually be worn causes a lot of questions. I wanted to use reinforced sock yarn, not thinner needles than size 2 mm. For the purl stitches to show the thread must not split. Lorna´s Laces Shepherd Sock yarn has those qualities.

I wanted to use as many of the original details as possible.
The border with decreases.
 This is called [Svikkel], in English [Clock]

I did not like the original heel because it had a seam so I made this in stead.

 The toe is from the original pattern.

This photo is taken from Den Gamle By´s Museum through glass in a very dark room, just to give an impression what the old socks looked like.
And yes, Gete was pleased with her socks. And I had a very good time knitting.

7 comments:

  1. I like those socks! Are you going to post a pattern for them? (I'm not talented enough to figure out patterns from pictures.)

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  2. What? Not thigh-high? What a wonderful gift for a folk dancer friend.

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  3. en dejlig gave til en der vaerdsaetter det store arbejde du har lagt i den :-)

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  4. Underbara strumpor och snygg häl. Vilket jobb du gör när du letar upp gamla mönster och stickar upp dom igen. Tack för att du delar med dig.

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  5. I have just discovered your wonderful blog ... as a fellow lover of all things related to knitting from the past I'm sure I'll now be a regular reader :)
    I notice you link to a site here in the UK for the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn, and here I am busy trying to buy yarn from Denmark. What a wonderfully borderless pastime knitting has become.

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  6. You knit beautifully, Gete is lucky to receive such lovely socks! You are an artist in wool!

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  7. Gorgeous socks - so simple but oh, so elegant!

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