In the Kitchen – Petticoat Swish

Mugs for a Child, Staffordshire (Concord Museum)

July 21, 2018

These children’s mugs, originally made in Staffordshire, England, were exhibited at the Concord Museum in Concord, Massachusetts, in 2014. Found on Wikimedia Commons. Collection, Group A Collection, Group B Collection, Group C Present for a Good Girl. For My Dear Girl. For Loving a Book. (My personal favorite.) A Pretty Bird.

In the Kitchen

Food for Invalids: Or, I Just Had My Wisdom Teeth Removed.

July 21, 2018

Today’s obsession is with food for invalids, due to yesterday’s wisdom teeth removal. All four. Blessings upon the head of modern dentistry. I’ve been subsisting on cool to lukewarm water, tea, soups, and mashed potatoes. I’m doing just fine so far — it’s the next two days and more I’m concerned about. To stave off the food monotony, I turned to my reproduction print copy of The Kentucky Housewife by Mrs. Lettice Bryan (1839).

In the Kitchen, Knitting

A Kettle Holder in Double Knitting (The Workwoman’s Guide, 1840)

October 5, 2017

In the Living History Knits (and Crochets!) group on Facebook, there’s a call for a few period-correct patterns friendly to beginning knitters. Though you can’t get any more beginner-friendly than basic garter stitch (what’s known as plain knitting in the mid-19th century), I was asked to translate a kettle holder in double knitting. Happily, double knitting is almost just as easy!