Bertha Thompson

“ The stocking cap, Fig. 56, can be made to hang longer on the side of the head by adding a few more rows of knitting to sections A and C, Fig. 55.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] As the knitting proceeds it will be found that a nail at one end or the other is left with only one thread each time the yarn passes over and back. This corresponds to the first “slipped stitch” in knitting with needles.
[2] Care must be taken to do this after each row of stitches has been lifted over the nails. As the knitting grows it can also be gently pulled through from the other side of the rake. ”

“ Make a cord and tassels and fasten under the collar. A very good cord can be knitted on four nails of the rake, two in each row, using single stitch, or a “spool knitter” can be made from a large empty spool with four 1-inch No. 16 wire brads driven in around the opening at one end. The winding of a spool knitter is similar to the winding of the round cap rake, Fig. 3. (See Chapter 3.)
To Knit Collar No. 2. (Fig. 37.)
1. Cast stitches on 40 nails, twenty in each row.
2. Knit double stitch for 7 inches.
3. Cast stitches off 24 nails at one end of knitting to produce M N, Fig. 37. ”

“ Where you added one nail at a time in shaping the first sleeve, cast off one nail at a time in shaping the second sleeve. If you added two nails, cast stitches off two nails at a time, until only 44 nails, 22 in each row, are left. ”

“ Four-fold yarn or silky wool is used for most garments.
Medium and heavy-weight sweater yarns may be used for men’s sweaters.
Two-fold yarn and silky wool is used for light-weight garments.
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Chapter 2.
WINDING A LONG RAKE.
Three different stitches are commonly used in rake knitting.
1. Single or plain stitch—Fig. 7. 2. Double or cross-stitch—Fig. 8. 3. Triple cross-stitch—Fig. 9. To Cast Stitches on a Long Rake.
Take the long rake, shown in Fig. 1, with nails set 1⁄2 inch apart, in rows 3⁄4 inch apart. ”

“ The small double round rake (Fig. 2) is set with 1 inch finishing nails.
The large round rake (Fig. 3) is set with 11⁄2 inch No. 10 wire brads, or with wooden pegs whittled from 3⁄8 inch doweling, leaving a small head to prevent the yarn from slipping off too easily. The pegs should be securely glued into holes drilled just the right size to take them. Many patients prefer the wooden pegs in the round rakes. Such a rake was sold in some stores during the war and used for knitting hospital stockings to cover surgical dressings. ”

“ Our ex-service patients in the army and public health service hospitals have seized upon the principle of this toy, and have applied it in making “rakes” of various sizes on which they have “knitted” a large number of articles, from silk neckties to wool shawls, caps, sweaters and capes. They have found real interest and pleasure in this pastime. ”