Civil War Recipes for September

Now that it is getting cold, I can't wait to watch the leaves change and smell the smoky, cool breezes at night. Woolly sweaters and camaraderie around fires, hot chocolate and crisp ripe apples will soon be a reality. Autumn is my favorite season.

Now that it is getting cooler, I will start cooking good warm food. We've been avoiding using the stove and oven so we don't make the house unnecessarily hot. I have been itching to cook.  







 Here are some Civil War Era Receipts from Cookery for English Households written in England in 1864:

 *The broth should be beef broth. 

Yum, vegetable soup with rice. That is going to be delicious. For more period receipts, please visit my post from last year, Civil War Receipts for the Fall. Those recipes are from Godey's Lady's Book. Enjoy!

Civil War Sontag Update

I've come to the point where I have pretty much run out of yarn and need to order more. So for next week I think I will be experimenting with different border options.

I really thought it was going to be too small but I can see now, that once I add the border, it should fit nice and snug. If I ever make another one, I'd make the back part about 3 blocks or so longer. I can probably stretch it out a bit when I block it so it will work out.

Would you believe I've never actually blocked anything I've knitted before? I always mean to and end up wearing it before I get a chance. So I am not even exactly sure how to block I was told to wet whatever I was working on and safety pin it to a towel in the shape I want. Is that the best way? Is there other ways to block knitting?

Here is a knitting pattern from 1840 for a "Bosom Friend," it is similar to a sontag. Before I start knitting, I draw out a projection of how the knitted piece should look. Having a "map" helps me see any mistake I make a lot quicker. Sometimes my projections aren't perfect but they normally are close in shape if not in exact proportions.  

It looks a little sailor-like to me but I can see how it would be cute over a dress from the 1840s.  It would just cover the parts of the neck that was left bare at that time.

It looks like it would be a slightly easier thing to knit than a sontag. It would probably be a very cute item for a child.

I hope you are all knitting away and not at a stop in your sontags like I am. Has anyone practiced any interesting border patterns?

Re-embracing Simplicity

I am constantly struggling with simplifying my life. I tend to keep the house neat and my bedroom full of “creative chaos.”  I think that bedrooms shouldn’t be held to the same standard as the rest of the house because they are very personal spaces. Your bedroom is your cocoon from the world so most of the clean house rules just don’t apply.

I unconsciously pile things up, books, laundry, school things, and projects are all in piles on my desk and floor. I don’t have any entirely empty surface space in my room which I like to have on my computer desk so I can type while still having a few books opened on it. I am not really fond of clutter but I know that it is necessary sometimes and that it accumulates often. I have a theory that the thing that is so relaxing about going on vacation is the fact that there is barely anything in your hotel room. The minute you walk in, the only thing in your hotel room is a Bible. 

I tend to have to have a bunch of things out at once. I always have some kind of sewing, knitting, drawing, writing, musical and reading things around. If I put them away, I will never work on them. However; about twice a year, my room becomes so cluttered that even the scatter-brained me can’t think in there and I need to weed out the cluttering items. My big plan is to eventually just have a place for everything and for all of the piles to be slightly smaller.  

My “Rules” on Clutter (of which I am constantly reminding myself.)

• An object can do you no good if you cannot find it when you need it. If your books are boxed up and it would take you a few months to find the book you need, they aren’t worth keeping around, write down their titles and donate them. I always keep books I use all of the time out where I can access them easily.
• Do not keep any object that you do not think you will not use within the next three years—(I think one year is really short because one year I might be really into gardening and the next year, sewing, but I will probably cycle back to gardening in a year or two.) Exceptions to this rule are expensive items which you will likely use in the future such as computer equipment or hobby equipment (fishing rods, picnic baskets, paints.) 
• It is selfish to keep an item that you have no use for when someone else can be using and enjoying it. For example: There is clothing from high school that I’d like to keep because I think it is pretty, but I don’t wear it now and it just hangs in the closet. I’d much rather see my younger sister and other people wear and enjoy it rather than keeping squirreled away. Exceptions are things that have sentimental value; I still have the skirt that I wore when I met Andy, even though I’d never wear it today.
• Is the cost of an item worth more than the stress it takes to keep and maintain it? Sometimes I find myself constantly tripping over an item or moving it back and fourth in a room because it has no place to go. I have to ask myself if those items are really that important. If I can’t find a place for them it is just extra stress to clean around those items and the clutter just adds to mental stress.
• Don’t keep anything that is beyond repair. I have very relaxed views on what beyond repair is. If something is repairable, I will repair it—Andy can attest to the various surgeries we have performed on his ipod. I need to remind myself that things that can’t be repaired or would not be cost efficient to repair need to be thrown out. Sometimes things are broken for long enough that I realize that I have found a viable substitute for it anyway.      

Remember Macrame? Watch-Guard from Peterson's Magazine

 

"Charlotte and Sophia affectionately threw around his neck a watch guard the result of their joint industry..." - A Gift Book of Stories and Poems for Children

Watch-guards were used to keep a pocket watched securely attached to a man. Watches were expensive in the mid 1800s and a big item for pickpockets. When robbing someone, pickpockets could be sure that the victim has at least a watch from seeing a watch chain, but a watch-guard hung the watch around the neck, keeping it more discrete.  

When I was in elementary school, I remember getting a book out of the library that taught macrame, this was the only pattern I learned. I was surprised that when I saw this watch-guard pattern, that I could still do it relatively simply. The instructions recommend securing one end of your word down in front of you and tying a ribbon around your waist to tuck the end strings in. I wish I had thought of that, I always just sit on the ends with makes for some interesting posture while knotting. Modern instructions with good pictures can be found at Handcrafted by Elaine. I was going to post a tutorial but this one is very easy to understand.  Be sure to use the "square knot" instructions.

A watch guard is a good gift for a gentleman, especially if he's a "soldier." At reenactments, the men frequently have to know what time it is but don't want to lose their watches in the field when they will never find them again. Historically, this was a popular gift, it was a chance for a lady to show off her skills while giving a gentlemen something useful which also demonstrated a concern for his safety.  

"Lucy had been sitting up nearly all the night finishing a watch guard for her father." - True Briton

 

Similar to a watch-guard chain, this "fork" or lucet makes an interesting, square-shaped cord. Those of us that are knitting sontags have the option to make their cord on a lucet or by crocheting it, both are historically accurate options. I am thinking of trying to use a lucet as not many people normally have lucet braiding on their clothing. 

There is a good video on how to use a lucet here. It turns out, you don't actually need a lucet to do this, so I plan to try and make one out of cardboard and see if it works. I think I may practice by making a "neck chain" like it says in the instructions. I love hairwork so a chain that looks like hairwork will probably look very pretty. 

Civil War Knitting Update

I haven't gotten much farther, it's been a busy week, lots of homework. I am finished the part where I decreased once every 4 rows, 7 times.

I am on my last ball of yarn and really should order more so it gets here before I need it. I am surprised that the wings are so thick, I didn't expect them to be so wide.

I am glad that I will avoid the "skinny wings" I see on some people that aren't very flattering.  The wider wings will make it look more like a vest and less like a scarf wrapped around me. This particular young lady admitted that this sontag was not made for her but she was borrowing it due to the coldness of the event.

I can't wait to finish this. I think it will look very flattering in the fall over a long flounced skirt and a 3/4 sleeved shirt. I don't think anyone would instantly think "1860" if they looked at it. I do like shawls, but they are kind of impractical and I hardly ever wear them. They also tend to look a little too "granny," and you have to constantly hold on to them. They are very comforting in the winter to curl up in a shawl with a book.

I really would love to learn the pretty crocheting that is used to line the sontag in Piecework Magazine. It is feminine and pretty, practically lace looking. I feel that if I put this much effort in, I might as well take a bit of time to make it really pretty and not just "serviceable," to quote Marilla Cuthbert.      

Here's a pretty jacket from Godey's Lady's Book that I feel could also be worn today with a little bit of alteration. The braiding is really pretty.