Audiobook · read by volunteers
Exercises in Knitting
Cornelia Mee (1815–1875)
Read by Sarah Jennings, Karen Savage, Betsie Bush, Kristin LeMoine, Gesine, Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023), Erin Hastings, vickienj, Lizzie Driver, Anne Cheng · 54 chapters · 2 h 53
About the book
Long before patterns came with neat abbreviations, knitters worked from written instructions in plain words, and Cornelia Mee's Exercises in Knitting shows exactly how that was done. This nineteenth-century manual offers practical designs for busy homemakers, from chair covers in German, Viennoise and coral patterns to a nun's pattern in open double knitting that looks alike on both sides. Each piece comes with step-by-step directions, and the names alone, such as Pretty Spider-Net Pattern, with Open Work between, are a pleasure to hear. Whether you knit yourself or simply enjoy the history of domestic crafts, the book offers a glimpse into the everyday work and tastes of Victorian households. Fifty-four short files, shared among several LibriVox volunteers, add up to nearly three hours. It is a gentle and unusual listen, ideal for craft lovers, historians and anyone curious about how things were once made by hand.
Introduction
Cornelia Mee (1815-1875) was an English author of books on needlework and knitting. She and her husband and her sister ran a yarn and needlework import and warehouse business in Bath, and her books grew out of that trade. They contain practical everyday items that knit up quickly, written with the busy homemaker in mind. Exercises in Knitting, published in 1846, is one of the works she is remembered for.
At this period, published knitting instructions, often called receipts, did not use the abbreviations that modern knitters take for granted. They were laborious to follow, and they were famously rich in errors. Mee's books belong to a moment when printed patterns were becoming widely available to middle-class households, and they show what readers were making and what they valued: durable, handsome and useful items for the home, such as the chair covers that open this collection. During the cotton famine of the early 1860s, when the American Civil War cut off supplies of raw cotton and left many mill workers unemployed, many of her knitting books were printed for ladies' charitable societies that used the patterns to clothe the poor.
This LibriVox recording is shared by several volunteers, including Sarah Jennings, Karen Savage and Betsie Bush. It is divided into fifty-four files and lasts a little under three hours. Each file covers a pattern or a section, so it is easy to dip in and out. Titles such as Chair Cover 1, German Pattern of Open Double Knitting, Both Sides Alike, and Chair Cover 2, Nun's Pattern, give a feeling for the language and the style.
Listeners may not be able to knit directly from a recording, but they can enjoy the rhythm and detail of the instructions and learn a little about Victorian domestic life. It is a distinctive piece of social history in audio form.
Public domain
Cornelia Mee died in 1875: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text