Mrs Beeton

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Although not widely known outside of Britain, Mrs. Isabelle Beeton can best be described as Victorian England’s equivalent to Martha Stewart.

Mrs. Beeton’s massive Book of Household Management, published in 1861, offered its readers no-nonsense, practical advice on all aspects of housekeeping, cooking, child care, dealing with one’s servants, managing one’s poultry, and the ins and outs of properly addressing dinner invitations. Of paramount importance in learning to run one’s Victorian home like a well-oiled machine, and second only to the Virtues of Cleanliness and Rising Early, were the twin Virtues of Economy and Frugality.

In these beaded Victorian-styled gauntlets, Mrs. Beeton’s twin Virtues come fully into play. While they can be knit with just two small balls of purchased yarn (Economy), they are really designed to utilize those tiny little bits of leftover project yarn that invariably collect in a knitter’s stash (Frugality). They are especially suited to little scraps – 4 to 18 yards – of luxury yarns that are too small for most projects, too dear to just toss away.

First published in Knitty.com, these little wrist warmers are the essence of romance, with soft ruffles that look ever-so charming under a jacket sleeve, and beads that catch the light and sparkle at your wrists. In the spirit of Mrs Beeton, they are quick to knit, make great low-cost gifts and, as they cover a pulse point on your wrist, they actually do keep you warm. Pretty. Practical. Frugal. Economical. Oh, how Mrs. Beeton would have smiled at that.

SIZE
One

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Length: 5 inches
Wrist circumference: 6-7 inches

MATERIALS
[MC] Rowan Cashsoft DK [57% extra fine merino/33% microfibre/10% cashmere; 142yd/130m per 50g skein]; color: Opulance (#SH521); 1 skein
[CC] Rowan Kidsilk Spray [70% Super Kid Mohair/30% Silk; 229yd/210m per 25g skein]; color: Vino (#576); 1 skein

1 set US #7/4.5mm double-point needles
1 set US #6/4mm double-point needle
Notions
108 Japanese seed beads, size 11/0
18 Czech glass beads, size 8/0

GAUGE
21 sts/30 rows = 4″ in stockinette stitch using DK weight yarn and size 4.5mm needles

21sts/30 rows = 4” in stockinette stitch using fingering weight yarn and size 4mm needles

PATTERN NOTES
Threading beads: Beads must be threaded onto the working yarn before you knit. Since it is not always possible to find a threading needle small enough to go through beads, and large enough to accommodate yarn, you will probably need to use a loop of auxiliary thread through a beading needle. The yarn is then passed through the loop of thread, and folded, allowing you to pass the bead over the needle, down the auxiliary loop, and onto the working yarn.

Abbreviations: PB = Place bead by sliding it up the yarn until it sits snuggly against the needle.

Knitting from Stash: To knit Mrs. Beeton from your own stash yarn, follow the yardage chart below. Amounts given are for a single gauntlet. If you want to knit two exactly the same, you will need to double the amounts given.

To knit Mrs Beeton from odd balls, use the following measurements to determine if you have enough:

Beaded Cast-On: 4 yards Fingering weight
Bottom Bell Edging: 18 yards DK weight
Top Bell edging: 18 yards Fingering weight
Wrist ribbing: 16 yards DK and fingering weight (each)
Picot bind-off: 3 yards DK weight

PATTERN

Beaded Cast-On
Thread 54 size 11/0 Japanese seed beads onto [CC] (or fingering weight yarn from stash) and push them along, about three yards or so, leaving enough free yarn for a long tail CO. Using larger needles and long tail method, CO 108 sts evenly over three needles as follows: Place slip knot over first needle, and place the first bead (PB) by sliding it up the yarn until it sits snuggly against the needle. [CO2, PB] repeat 53 times until all beads have been placed. Taking care not to twist sts, join and work Set Up Round.

Set Up Round – *[p3, k9] rep from * to end of round.

Bottom Bell Edging
With [MC] (or DK weight yarn from stash) join and knit the following rounds:

Round 1 and 2 – [p3, k9] rep to end of round
Round 3 – [p3, SSK, k5, k2tog] rep
Round 4 – [p3, k7] rep
Round 5 – [p3, SSK, k3, k2tog] rep
Round 6 – [p3, k5] rep
Round 7 – [p3, SSK, k1, k2tog] rep
Round 8 – [p3, k3] rep
Round 9 – [p3, slp, k2tog, psso]
Rounds 10 and 11 – [p3, k1] rep

Do not break off yarn. Set bottom bell edging aside.

Top Bell Edging
Thread 9 size 8/0 Czech glass beads onto [CC] (or lace weight yarn from stash). Using smaller needles CO 108 sts evenly over three needles, join and work Bell Edging rounds 2 through 9.

To place beads, work to the stitch you wish to bead, and then slide a bead all the way up the yarn, until it sits snuggly against the needle. Insert the needle as if to knit, and wrap the yarn around it. Push the bead along the yarn, to the front of the stitch on the left needle and complete the stitch.

Round 10 – *[p3, pb] rep from * to end.
Round 11 – p all sts, centering beads on their purl stitches as you go.

Do not break off yarn.

Join Bell Edgings
The technique known as the three-needle bind off is normally used to join two edges that have the same number of stitches. The technique used to join the Bell Edgings is similar. It differs only in that you will not actually be binding off stitches, just knitting two stitches together off two different needles.

How to set up: Begin by centering the stitches of the Top Bell Edging along the needles, and spreading them out to create as large an opening through the needles as possible. Do the reverse to the stitches of the Bottom Bell Edging – center them on the needles, and squish them together, as far as they will go. You will be passing the bottom bell edging through the needles of the top bell edging, so you want to compact the bottom bell edging and make it as small as possible.

Next, making sure that the working yarn, and beginning of the rounds of both bell edgings are lined up, pass the bottom bell edging down through the opening between the needles of the top bell edging. Line up each needle of the bottom bell edging with its corresponding needle from the top bell edging. When they are properly aligned, each larger needle from the bottom bell edging will sit directly behind a smaller needle from the top bell edging.

How to knit: Working with just one set of large and small Bell Edging needles at a time, held parallel together, you will use a separate right needle in the larger size to work the stitches. Using strands from both [MC] and [CC] held together, insert the tip of the right needle into the first stitch on each of the left needles, and wrap both strands of the yarn around the needle. Complete the stitch by knitting these two stitches together, slipping them off the left needles, onto the right. Repeat until you have knit all the stitches on the first set of left needles together, in pairs. Proceed to the next set of parallel needles, and repeat the process, making sure to again use a larger size needle to knit the stitches together. Repeat a third time for the last set of needles.

Wrist Ribbing
Using [MC] and [CC] held together (or DK and lace weight yarn from stash), begin ribbing pattern, as follows:

Round 1 – k1 *[p1, k3] rep from *, ending with k2
Next round and all following rounds – continue in ribbing pattern until 20 rounds have been worked. Break off [CC] yarn.

Picot Bind-Off
Using [MC] only, bind off one stitch. Turn the work and, using the cable cast-on method, cast on two additional stitches. *Turn the work. Bind off all but one of the cast on stitches by passing the second stitch over the first, and the third over the first. One stitch remains on the right needle. Bind off two more stitches, and repeat from * to end of round. Break off yarn.

FINISHING
Darn or weave in all ends, and your Mrs. Beeton’s are ready to wear. Blocking is not required, although a careful, gentle steam with an iron will help relax the ruffles a bit. Be sure to keep the iron well away from the glass beads, as they will crack if they get too hot.