Hi Mia,
Ok, since you mention Cowpens, I'm guessing you're doing Rev War?
Hey Carol K, e-friend and sock guru, thanks for all the info on
machine/frame knit sock (what is the correct term, or are all the
terms correct, but for different techniques?)
Framework knitting, stocking looms, stocking frames - there are
a number of terms. The confusion comes in because peg frame
enthusiasts also call them knitting frames. Sigh, terminology...
The spousal unit (Corporal Dappert) bought a pair or the machine
knit Civil war socks. in coton. they look good (to me, but I only
know enought to be dangerous), they are in natural color cotton,
and have no elastic. and very little give. They are supremely hard
to get on and off.. I'll have to dig them out and look at the heel
to see what kind of heel was put in.
Are you talking about antique 19th century stockings or repros
that are made for Civil War reenactors?
Besides the ever-popular cotton/nylon stockings we have for
reenactment, I've also found a thinner cotton stocking through an
Amish source. Sorry, it was 15 years ago and I don't remember the
source exactly!
real period socks and stocking can be a challenge for those of us
in the reecacting world.....Which is why I went to not-so-authentic,
but faster to produce cut from whole cloth stockings. The have that
clock, which is missing from so many commerically availble socks.
I think you mean they have that gusset or gore. Clocking or
chevening is the decoration on the stocking, either knit in or
embroidered or both.
And cut & sewn from woven cloth is authentic. But by the Rev
War era they seem to be a coarse option, and are you portraying a
coarse person? (Some do the army & camp life, some do gentry and
manor life.)
I'm still experimenting with different fabrics for the stiffness
factor. I have a piece of wool jersey that has been washed and
fulled up nicely, AND is a bit stiffer. Do you know what the
frequency is of stockings done in wool, but not knitted (Just
general is good...)
Wouldn't that be nice - a statistic for each decade on cut &
sewn from woven cloth, hand knit at home, hand knit and purchased,
frame knit, silk, wool, cotton, thread....
People like to speculate on this, and I think it was the
18cWoman list where Paul Dickfoss mentioned whether frame knit or
hand knit was used more.
Certainly hand knit was seen in the actual 18th Century more
than we see it among reenactors. :-)
What it comes down to, is what seems the most likely for the
role you are playing in reenactment? The thread was started by
Bjarne looking for "gentleman's" stockings (although I still don't
know what decade and what purpose).
As a campfollower (I'm assuming again!) who were you before the
army? (I'm sure you've gone through that already...)
Until I get a stocking frame up & running, the only absolute
authentic stockings for Rev War reenactment are hand knit and cut &
sewn from woven cloth. But there are plenty of compromises out
there, and the plain cotton/nylon are good in the sense that they do
not draw attention to themselves. And Colleen Humphries often
advocates the theatrical solution of black shoes and black stockings,
which "disappear" and compromises are not obvious.
There are some clocked stockings out there sold by suppliers,
which are attention-getting and I have not yet seen a pair done
correctly. (And those are machine embroidered on a typical
cotton/nylon stocking, no gusset.) Remember that clocking is done on
BOTH SIDES of period stockings. Many of those offered for sale are
clocked on only one side. Also the motifs are sometimes placed in
the wrong place on the ankle, or out of proportion to the original.
And they are patterned after originals that are from the first half
of the century and would have been out of style by the Rev War.
Ok, with all that info have I managed to completely avoid your
exact question?
Also for everyone interested in stockings I recommend the
Historicknit list, a Yahoo group, where we discuss knitting of all
time periods.
-Carol
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