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The Process of Knitting the Traditional Doukhobor Heel

INTRODUCTION: Edna Saprikin's testimonial
A wool fleece with long fibres was selected for spinning fine yarn. A special technique was used to start and continue the spinning. The tip of the wool would first be rolled between the fingers for several inches until a thread was formed. The yarn was then spun onto spools with a treadle spinning wheel.

 

In the early pioneer years, stockings, mittens, toques, etc. were knitted from this fine wool. Stockings and mittens, being the most popular, were made on four knitting needles which, more often than not, were spokes from a bicycle wheel.

 

My grandmother did not know how to read but she knew how many stitches to cast on for the correct size of sock, regardless of the thickness of the yarn.

 

Knitting was usually done in the evenings by lamplight. As a child, in the 1940s, I remember the comforting clicking sound of grandmother's knitting needles lulling me to sleep. But before I would fall asleep, grandmother made sure that I memorized and recited many Doukhobor Russian psalms and hymns.

 

PROJECT
During the pioneer years, written instructions and patterns for knitting did not exist and young women learned the traditional knitting skills through practice taught by mothers and grandmothers. In 1955, Mary Zaitsoff (nee Kazakoff) lived in Shoreacres, a small Doukhobor community in B. C. At 18 years of age, this young wife learned the technique of knitting a Doukhobor sock, with the traditional heel, from her mother Masha Kazakoff (nee Arishenkoff) and her mother-in-law Masha Makortoff (nee Koochin). Her husband Bill found Mary's hand-knitted stockings very comfortable and encouraged her craft. Mary spun her own wool for the stockings and also used wool spun by her mother and mother-in-law.

 

In 2012, Mary agreed to share her skill with Edna, who then compiled the instructions into a documented pattern. The CIS is proud to share this document with our readers in hopes of passing on a Doukhobor tradition to future generations. The knitted heel pattern was brought to Canada in 1899 by our ancestors from the Georgian area of the Caucasus Mountains. This heel style, still practiced by the women in that area, was seen by members of a Doukhobor tour group who visited that region in 1999.

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOUKHOBOR HEEL

Instructions are for an adult size, a total of 48 stitches

Knit favorite pattern for leg portion of sock. On completion of the pattern of the last row, TURN and start shaping the heel onto the 2 previous worked needles.

To shape a traditional Doukhobor heel with 48 stitches (12 sts on each of 4 needles):
Fewer than 12 stitches on each needle makes the heel more shallow thus the sock would have a tendency to slip off the heel.

With wrong side facing:
1st row – PURL 12 sts on first needle and PURL 11 sts on second needle leaving one st. at end unworked. TURN.

2nd row – KNIT 11 sts off first needle and 11 sts off second needle leaving one st. unworked. TURN.

3rd row – PURL 11 sts off first needle and 10 sts off second needle leaving 2 sts unworked. TURN.

4th row – KNIT 10 sts off first needle and 10 sts off second needle leaving 2 sts unworked. TURN.

5th row - PURL 10 sts off first needle and 9 sts off second needle leaving 3 sts unworked.
TURN.

6th row - KNIT 9 sts off first needle and 9 sts off second needle leaving 3 sts unworked.
TURN.

CONTINUE in this pattern until there are 4 sts left on each needle plus the 8 unworked sts. (The fewer the sts on the needles, the sharper the heel).

Now, PURL the 4 sts off the first needle and 5 sts off the second needle. TURN.

KNIT 5 sts off the first needle and 5 sts off the second needle. TURN.

PURL 5 sts off first needle and 5 sts off second needle picking up a st from the previous row and placing it on left needle, PURL 2 together. (This extra stitch fills in the space at the turning point). TURN.

KNIT 6 sts off first needle and 6 sts off second needle picking up st from previous row and placing it on left needle, KNIT 2 together. (Again, this extra stitch fills in the space at the turning point.) TURN.

CONTINUE shaping in this manner until all 12 sts on each needle are worked ending with KNIT row.

KNIT off the 12 sts on first and second needles and pick up and KNIT a st between the 2nd and 3rd needle. There will be 13 sts on the 2nd needle. This is to avoid a large hole at the ankle corner of the sock. KNIT stitches 12 and 13 together.

KNIT sts off 3rd and 4th needles and again pick up and KNIT a st between 4th and 1st needles. There will be 13 sts on the 4th needle. KNIT stitches 12 and 13 together.

CONTINUE knitting rounds of for length of sock before decreasing for toe.

Note: For children's sock size, adjustment for 40 stitches - heel would be 3 worked stitches and 7 unworked stitches.

Good luck!

 

 

 

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