Thursday, 18 April 2013

1930s Chunky Knits

We were sorting more Patons patterns from the 1960s and 1970s this week, at Lee Mills, including patterns for a thick yarn called Totem.   Someone pointed these out, as a post-war innovation.  But although we think of thick yarn as new in the 1950s, it was only 'new' compared to what was available during the war.  Patons & Baldwins had had a Totem yarn in the 1930s, that was at least as thick as the 1950s version.  Here are two of the 1930s Totem patterns to prove it.  
Helps to Knitters 2164

 The Lady's Jumper pattern is knitted to a tension of 4.5 stitches to the inch (approx. 18 st. to 10 cm.) over stocking stitch with size 4 needles (6mm.).  I imagine, from the cover photo, that that is a reasonable tension for the yarn - not too loose, not too tight.  So that would make Totem somewhere around an Aran or Chunky yarn.

The House Coatee is knitted to a much looser tension - 3 st. to the inch on size E needles (whatever they are).  I'm not sure how well the House Coatee would wear, in practice.  It's knitted loosely but is intended to be close fitting - I think it would pull against the single button and stretch out of shape.  In fact, it already seems to be doing that a little bit in the photo.   Maybe if you were very slim, and didn't move and didn't breathe, that could work.         

Helps to Knitters 2158

  
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6 comments:

  1. Anonymous27 August 2020 at 08:14

    Totem is an 8 ply equivalent(it is a crepe construction) - this has continued to be available in Australia for over 90 years. It has always been an 8 ply/double knitting (although sometimes described as being '6 ply' in one or two early issues of "Woolcraft", as it is usually made of 6 plys). At one time in the late 20th century, 12 ply totem was also available for a few years but that was always labelled/described as being "12 ply Totem" to distinguish it from the original Totem.

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    1. Barbara27 August 2020 at 13:03

      Thanks for the information about the Australian Totem. Interesting that it has continued to be available for such a long time.

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  2. Anonymous2 September 2020 at 04:53

    I strongly suspect that older-style UK Totem and Australian Totems are both double knitting - In my Totem pattern books from 30s-1990s, I see quite a range of needles sizes and tension/gauge counts used for different patterns(even in the same pattern book and/or same issue year. So going by the suggested tension/needle combination in a pattern is not necessarily going to tell you the whether or not vintage UK Totem was aran weight or DK.

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    1. Barbara2 September 2020 at 23:01

      Thank you for the contribution. Was Totem produced in Australia throughout WW2? It disappeared in the UK in the 1940s, because of clothes rationing (including knitting wool) and was only re-introduced in the 1950s.

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  3. Anonymous3 September 2020 at 02:37

    It was in continuous production. As can be confirmed by my aged relatives, and for non-anecdotal sources - such as patterns published by Patons in Australia in war years and by searching for 'totem wool' advertising and articles (numerous articles re rationing, patterns etc) in the Australian National Library Trove database. It was often recommended as suitable for armed forces/Red Cross comforts knitting - eg in Patons Specialty Knitting Book no 104 (some pages reproduced here: https://knitandcrochet.fandom.com); and/wiki/Patons_and_Baldwins%27_Specialty_Knitting_Book_No.104) and another example here: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/216794975).

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