1850s Child's Jacket by Annette Knights

1850s Child's Jacket

Crochet
August 2020
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
18 stitches and 17 rows = 4 inches
4.0 mm (G)
5.0 mm (H)
219 - 547 yards (200 - 500 m)
Toddler (L), Doll (M), Doll (S)
English
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download

ERRATA: Aug21 version Page 3, First Sleeve Foundation, line 1. Changed ch 15 (9, 6) to Ch 25 (15, 10). Revised pdf. Aug26, 2020.
Page 5, Back Panel Rows 11-34 stitch count corrected to subtract 10sts. Revised pdf. Oct15, 2020.
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This pattern was written with Sue Perez, MrsMicawber.

The first published pattern to be named as being worked in Tunisian (‘Tunisk’) Crochet is in the Dec 1857 issue of the Swedish journal ‘Penelope’, according to Cary Karp’s research. This is a pattern for a child’s ‘Tröja’ or top that is back-opening.

The construction is interesting for such an early work, using a ‘join-as-you-go’ method with simple panels, and worked sideways across the body. A lace edging is attached, shown with ribbon threading to pull in the neck and sleeve cuffs. Cotton yarn is specified. As size and gauge were not originally provided, we have proposed these. We use the original stitch and row counts, plus two scaled-down sizes.

The original instructions, as translated by Cary Karp, rely on the reader’s knowledge or ingenuity for methods like working a new foundation or making a join. In our version we fill such gaps and include other details to make the pattern accessible to modern TC’ers. No essential changes have been made to the design or construction. A schematic, a key stitch diagram and stitching photos are included.

A working knowledge of Tunisian Crochet is assumed.

Annette and Sue.