The Knitting Book

Riego de la Branchardière, EléonoreProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 73K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Knitting Book by Eléonore Riego de la BranchardièreAuthor: Riego de la Branchardière, Eléonore,Language: English, Class: TT: Technology: Handicrafts, Arts and crafts, Release Date: Nov 24, 2018

Editor's review

The Knitting Book is a technique book by the nineteenth-century knitting designer Eléonore Riego de la Branchardière, one of the more representative early works on hand knitting. Its value lies first at the documentary level: it preserves the stitch instructions, pattern styles, and knitting approaches popular at the time, letting readers see how knitting books were expressed before the modern form took shape. For today's readers, it is both a practical reference for patterns and a historical source for understanding how handicraft techniques were written, transmitted, and taught. Reading requires patience: old-style terminology, abbreviations, and layout conventions differ from contemporary charts, and some patterns can only be understood by knitting while reading. It is suitable as extended reading for knitting enthusiasts and as primary material for researchers of craft culture, but not as a beginner's tutorial.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Hobbyists with some experience who want to learn early knitting patterns
Researchers studying nineteenth-century craft texts and knitting history
Readers who enjoy old-style technique books and are willing to test-knit patterns
Readers collecting public-domain craft texts for comparative study

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners needing modern charts and video aids
Knitters seeking current fashion styles and modern sizing standards
Readers who want quick finished projects and dislike deciphering old terminology

Reading tips

Read the stitch instructions first and compile a conversion table between old abbreviations and modern terms.
Choose a simple pattern and knit a swatch to verify your understanding before continuing.
Read alongside a modern knitting basics book and fill gaps with contemporary stitch knowledge.
Treat the book as pattern inspiration and documentary material; read selectively by interest rather than page by page.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can a complete beginner learn knitting directly from this book?

Not really. The book uses old-style terminology and instruction methods and lacks modern charts and step-by-step photos. Beginners should first learn basic stitches from a contemporary primer, then return to this book for patterns and documentary reference.

Can the patterns in the book still be knitted today?

Most basic stitch principles still apply, but yarns, needle sizes, and sizing standards differ from today. Knit a swatch to check gauge first, then adjust needle size for modern yarns; do not copy old dimensions directly.

Is this book better for practice or research?

Both, but with different emphasis. Hobbyists can draw pattern inspiration and test-knit them; researchers can treat it as a nineteenth-century knitting instruction text for studying terminology, layout, and the transmission of techniques.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Riego de la Branchardière, Eléonore Author

Riego de la Branchardière, Eléonore was a nineteenth-century author of works on hand knitting and crochet, though public information about her life is very limited, with no clear record of her birth and death dates or nationality. Judging from the four works held in the collection, her writing focused on teaching the techniques of lace, knitting and netting, including Golden Stars in Tatting and Crochet, The Knitting Book, The Andalusian Knitting and Netting Book and Knitting, Crochet, and Netting, with Twelve Illustrations. These titles show her attention to specific crafts such as tatting, knitting with needles and crochet netting, presented with illustrations alongside instructions in a clear practical-manual style. Such publications offered workable guidance to domestic handicraft enthusiasts of the period and helped record and pass on the related skills. Given the limited sources, her personal biography and the wider influence of her works remain to be further examined.