Public Domain Knitting
October 4th, 2007
Today’s pictures are not my own, I admitt. However, they’re meant to illustrate some of the work going on over at [LibriVox](http://librivox.org) among the quite large number of knitters over there. Knitting and audiobooks just seem to go perfectly together.
I swear, I’ve been thinking and doing a lot of spinning this week. Somehow it just doesn’t work for me to post every day. I should have known it; I think deep down I kinda knew it. More on the spinning later though.
So, I was writing about LibriVox and knitting, and said they are a perfect pair. Right. A while ago I started a group on [Ravelry](http://ravelry.com) for LibriVoxers on the site, and had this thought that it would be great to do a project inspired by LibriVox. It would somehow use public domain resources/books, enrich the public domain, capture the sense of community and spirit of doing things at LibriVox, and be focused on knitting. It took me until the past week to think of the idea after browsing through the public domain text [Exercises in Knitting by Cornelia Mee](http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/21032). This text, unlike the vast majority of other knitting and craft related texts, had scans of the original photos and drawings in the books. Aha! We could [b]knit[/b] them and share our photos and notes!
So, here’s the project as it has developed from brainstorming with others (namely [Betsie](http://forget-me-nots-and-fireweed.blogspot.com/)). Each project or stitch pattern in the text is broken up into its own section similar to chapters in a book. Each volunteer chooses one or more sections to do the following…
1. Knit the piece following the instructions in the text. Some of the pieces are for chair covers, but are really just multiples of a stitch pattern that can be translated to many things.
2. Post photos of the item to share on the internet (giving them into the public domain) at the [KnitWiki](http://www.knitting-and.com/wiki/Main_Page).
3. Possibly re-write the pattern to make more sense to modern knitters (said instructions also put into the public domain) and posting up to the project’s KnitWiki page.
4. Record the text for the project instructions to complete an audiobook version of Exercises in Knitting. Some have asked others to read their section for them, which totally works!
I’m so excited about this project, and what we will accomplish as a community to enrich the resources around this old knitting book. Some of the stitch patterns we are familiar with, and it will be interesting to see the whole piece projects knit up (shawls, baby bonnets, etc). I’ll share with you some of the contributions we’ve had so far, as the knitting community at LibriVox have really jumped right in and started off quickly.
Gesine’s “Another Leaf Pattern”
Betsie’s “Sugar-Plum Stitch” front and back.
…plus more without pictures over at the KnitWiki [page](http://www.knitting-and.com/wiki/Exercises_in_Knitting).
It’s amazing what a community can get done together, rather than just one person doing everything themselves. That’s one of the awesome things about LibriVox! If you want to help out you can head over to the [LibriVox project thread](http://librivox.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10579) and chime in. It’s a pretty welcoming community, so if you’re not sure just ask where to start!
What a cool idea! I love those first few examples of this, including the one in your next post. I bet you’ll “save” dozens of old stitch patterns this way. You’re absolutely right about the strength and size of the knitting community. (Certainly no one needs to look any further than Ravelry to see that clearly.)
I was also surprised to find that my favorite readers were “Ravelers”–of course, as my dh points out, listening to books and knitting are like peanut butter and jelly.