Nancy Bush teaches knitting workshops nationwide and owns the Wooly West, a mail-order source for knitters. She is the author of numerous books, including PieceWork’s Vintage Socks to Knit eBook.
These party socks were inspired by a number of historic socks Nancy Bush has been fortunate to see in various museums over the last ten years.
This pattern for spiral-ribbed socks, from Weldon’s Practical Needlework, Volume 30, dates from 1914.
This project was adapted from Nancy Bush’s Folk Socks: The History & Techniques of Handknitted Footwear. In addition to the Egyptian Socks, there were patterns for seventeen other designs, all inspired by traditional, historic references.
The pattern for this square scarf comes from Linda Elgas’s book Haapsalu rätikud [Haapsalu Scarves] published in 2001 with support from the Haapsalu Handicraft Society in Haapsalu, Estonia.
Enjoy this excerpt from “Ladies Useful Stockings to Knit,” an adaptation from Weldon’s Practical Needlework featured in PieceWork March/April 2010.
