King Charles
| Posted by Megan Goodacre on Apr 1, 2011 |
King Charles I by Van Dyck
Image by Barcroft Media. See more images at Getty
Henrietta Maria by Van Dyck
There seems to be a British theme this week, what with Knit Your Own Dog and Knit Your Own Royal Wedding, and now, a little tidbit about knitting and King Charles. King Charles Brocade stitch that is, not Charles MDH, however kingly he might be.
I was writing a little article about simple knit-purl combinations, and their usefulness, and wanted to include King Charles Brocade. King Charles Brocade stitch is a very attractive stitch of interlocking stocking stitch diamonds bordered by seed stitch. In her first Treasury, Barbara Walker notes that this stitch is so named because it was used in the vest (waistcoat) worn by King Charles I on his execution day in 1649. The garment is in the Museum of London collection.
The chart for the King Charles stitch makes it seem simple enough, but have a look at the actual garment, knit out of blue silk. The brocade stitch is just one stitch, used in the yoke of the garment. For fun, I have charted the border stitch that you can see below the button band, and called it the King Charles Brocade Border. If any tricksy knitter is up to the challenge of figuring out the main pattern on the skirt of the vest, I would love to add that to the stitch library.
I love the ornateness and excess of courtly fashion from this period, and the way portrait painters captured the qualities of silk, brocade, and lace. Here's an image if King Charles I's queen, Henrietta Maria.
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| Charles 1 Knitted Silk Blue Vest | Posted by Guest on Jun 19, 2011 |
| The charts for the pattern can be found in Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns (1943, reprinted 1972). She notes that the yoke is knit in a Double Diamond Pattern while the narrow border beneath of Diamonds and Crosses is enclosed between a Double Welt. The Double Diamond Pattern is repeated at the cuff and the hem. The body of the vest is knit in the Borcade Motif, repeated some 80 odd times on the front only, not to mention the sleeves and the back, and without a single mistake! | |
