New thesis: Finery for fashionable ladies
11 May 2021

Two of the Swedish knitting books from the 1840s contain instructions for knitting a child’s hat.
When the first descriptions of knitting and crochet were published in Swedish, in the mid-19th century, such handiwork was described as the finest of all feminine handicrafts, for the benefit and pleasure alike of the trend-conscious, diligent middle- and upper-class woman. Within a few decades, the patterns had moved into fashion journals. A new thesis from Uppsala University examines how these changes affected handicrafts.
These days, in the early 21st century, knitting and crocheting are in fashion. Making things by hand is more popular than ever. In social media groups, patterns are disseminated and images of handicraft projects shared, and ideas for solving problems discussed.” In bookshops, too, there are countless books and magazines containing patterns and instructions both for beginners and for the more experienced.

Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
“All the same, there’s extremely little research on the role played by pattern models in how style trends, practical methods and perceptions of textile handiwork were established, disseminated and changed. The contribution of this thesis to the academic research field is that it begins to fill that knowledge gap,” says Hanna Bäckström, PhD student at the Department of Art History at Uppsala University.
Enjoyable pastimes for the trend-conscious
In her thesis, Bäckström examines how publishing of knitting and crocheting patterns and instructions in books and magazines arose and developed during the first half and middle of the 19th century, when these handicrafts enjoyed a boom in popularity.
In the 1840s, the first knitting and crocheting manuals were published in Swedish, and patterns for these handicrafts also started featuring prominently in the fashion journals of the time. In these media, knitting and crochet were highlighted as beautiful and enjoyable pastimes for the trend-conscious and diligent middle- and upper-class woman. Analysis of attitudes to knitting and crochet expressed in the manuals’ prefaces shows that perceptions of them as feminine occupations grew stronger and were passed on, while the background of knitting as a male-dominated guild craft was ignored.
Mediation of printed patterns for knitting and crochet changed in the mid-19th century, for reasons that may be summarised in the following three factors:
- the scope and limitations of printing technology
- how the sales market for pattern models was organised
- publishers’ perceptions of the target group's handwork skills, habits and tastes.
Large market for patterns
To understand the design of the manuals and fashion journals published in Swedish, Hanna Bäckström compared them with those issued in other countries. Among those interested in the history of knitting and crochet, the emergence of a large market for patterns for these handicrafts in mid-19th century Britain is a well-known fact. On the other hand, the Swedish patterns turn out to have been largely translated from German publications. An extensive search for handicraft publications in bibliographies showed that publication of knitting and crochet patterns in the German-speaking area was also extensive, and began several decades before the genre was established in Britain.
Characterised by innovations and traditions
The thesis covers how pattern design was characterised by innovations and traditions in the art of book printing, and by how the market was organised. Bäckström also studied how the specific terms and systems used in knitting and crocheting developed in the 19th century.
“In the first Swedish crochet manuals, varying and fairly complicated terms were used for chain stitches and trebles, such as ‘uppåt löpande dubbla kedjemaskor’ (rising double chain stitches). By the late 1840s, the terms ‘luftmaskor’ (chain stitches) and ‘stolpar’ (trebles) had become established,” says Hanna Bäckström.
In the course of her work, Bäckström had to work out a new method for handicraft research. By following the instructions herself, she sought to find out what skills and prior knowledge users required to understand the patterns.
“In trying to knit and crochet according to the patterns, I noticed how many printing errors they contain. These errors are hard to avoid, but there are so many of them, and they have a major bearing on whether the patterns can be used at all. They show that rapid publication was more important than quality control.”
Publication:
Thesis: Bäckström H., The Mediation of Patterns for Knitting and Crochet: The Publications, the Market and the Target Group in Sweden in the mid-nineteenth century (in Swedish), Gidlunds förlag, http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-434887
News
-
“Most people can relate to music”
20 juni 2023
Mattias Lundberg’s area of research is liturgical music from the Renaissance. However, as a professor of musicology, he is used to covering the history of music in its entirety, and in recent years he has done precisely this in radio broadcasts fr...
-
Music Professor Mattias Lundberg receives Royal Medal
06 juni 2023
Mattias Lundberg is familiar from several series on Sveriges Radio’s channel P2, most recently “Fråga musikprofessorn” (“Ask the Music Professor”). Now he is being awarded a royal medal. “I’m pleased that musicology and the humanities are receivi...
-
“The public is generally poorly informed”
29 mars 2023
Hello May-Britt Öhman, researcher at the Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies on Racism and expert contributor to the Government's Committee on Reindeer Lands.What is the purpose of this inquiry?
-
From living heritage to zombie churches
22 mars 2023
Churches are preserved by an antiquarian system that risks killing them instead of keeping them alive. The Swedish State and the Church of Sweden therefore need to define new joint visions and goals to enable the ecclesiastical cultural heritage t...
-
Democracy researchers to participate in literature festival
22 mars 2023
War, crime and literature as a path to reconciliation is the theme of the Uppsala International Literature Festival on March 23–25. One of the organisers is the Democracy and Higher Education research programme at Uppsala University. Christina Kul...
-
ERC grant for research into Swedish slavery
03 februari 2023
Fredrik Thomasson, researcher at the Department of History at Uppsala University, has received the ERC Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). This grant relates to a project on Swedish colonial history on the island of Saint ...
-
The names given to the clouds, an important part of the university's history
04 januari 2023
The book “Molnspanare– en meteorologisk historia” (Cloud spotters – a meteorological history) tells of the emergence of meteorology as a scientific subject. Among other things, you can read about how the Latin names and classification of the cloud...
-
The history of Easter Island can teach us about sustainability
08 december 2022
Tourism has exploded on Easter Island over the last twenty years – something that has led to both financial gain and major encroachments on the island's environment. Researchers from Uppsala are now studying how history can teach us to build a mo...
-
Nobel Prize-winning literature often published by small publishing houses
05 december 2022
During the Christmas trade period, books written by the latest Nobel Prize laureate tend to sell at least as well as the more traditional bestsellers. It is very important for publishers to have Nobel Prize winners on their lists, according to res...
-
Conference: 30 years of EU citizenship
21 november 2022
This year marks 30 years since European Union citizenship came into being. It will be highlighted at an international, interdisciplinary conference in Uppsala on 22–23 November. Both researchers and all those interested are welcome to attend.
-
New honorary doctors in the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences
03 november 2022
The faculties at Uppsala University have decided on the award of honorary doctorates for 2022. Among the new honorary doctors at faculties in the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences are researchers in economic geography, family l...
-
The vulnerability of surrogate mothers in a global market
17 oktober 2022
A new dissertation on surrogacy highlights Thai women's experiences of having acted as surrogate mothers. The dissertation shows the women's vulnerability in a global surrogacy industry, but also provides a more nuanced picture of what makes women...
-
Historical discoveries as Linnaeus Garden is excavated
07 oktober 2022
Unique pots, eighteenth-century porcelain and the bones of countless fish and birds: archaeologists who have been excavating part of the Linnaeus Garden have come across a wealth of exciting objects that can tell us more about the people and anima...
-
Popular 18th-century medicine in a new form
05 september 2022
Hello to Nils-Otto Ahnfelt, PhD pharmacist and visiting researcher at the Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences. Together with the historian of science Hjalmar Fors, you have developed a reconstruction of the 300-year-old medicine Hjärnes Testa...
-
Torgny Segerstedt Medal and Geijer Prize winners announced
05 september 2022
This year’s Torgny Segerstedt Medal has been awarded to Mikael Stenmark, professor in philosophy of religion at the Department of Theology. The Geijer Prize goes to Viktor Persarvet and Astrid Wendel-Hansen.
-
Digging from the present down to antiquity
30 augusti 2022
Welcome to the Viking Age! The archaeology students, with their trowels and their scrapers, have dug past the medieval layers and made their way down to the 11th century, approximately 30 centimetres below today's ground level. During the seminar ...
-
The sheep – Gotland’s symbol of sustainability
14 juni 2022
Sheep are the strongest symbol of sustainability on Gotland, according to Gurbet Peker. Not only do real ones graze all over the island, you can even find sheep sculpted in concrete in Visby. Peker researches the day-to-day lives of lamb farmers i...
-
Can democracy solve the climate crisis?
13 juni 2022
Hello Linda Wedlin, organisor and moderator of a panel discussion during Almedalen Week with the theme ‘What knowledge and what kind of democracy is needed for a successful climate transition?’ What are you going to be discussing?
-
Mapping people of the past by means of their bones
09 maj 2022
What is the best way to find out about a human being or animal that has been dead for perhaps several centuries? “Study the bones” is what Sabine Sten, professor of osteoarchaeology, would say. They can reveal an individual's age, body length, DNA...
-
Transforming space and society in Kiruna
24 mars 2022
State and corporate ideas about nature, people and the future played a decisive role in the development of Kiruna as a mining town over a century ago. Since 2004, when 6,000 Kiruna residents were informed that they would have to move because of gr...