Netted Border with Fringe from The Priscilla Netting Book; mesh stick sizes; netting needle sizes; and The Lost Art of Netting

I was delighted to see that there were mesh-stick sizes given in the Netted Border with Fringe from The Priscilla Netting Book by Belle Robinson, editor, (published in 1914). An illustration is found on page 29, and the instructions are found starting at the bottom of page 31. The pattern specified a "small (5/8-inch) mesh-stick" and a "large (7/8-inch) mesh-stick."  That seemed rather large to me, but I made it.

 My sample measured about 10 inches square. 

Then someone in our knitting group (yes, I was netting at the local library's knitting group) pointed out that the fringe was supposed to be wound over a "2-inch measure." Then she asked, "Does that mean the mesh stick was not measured the same way as the fringe?" Her question made me think; I remembered that somewhere I had seen mesh stick sizes measured by the circumference of the mesh stick, not the width of the mesh stick. We decided to experiment.

Since I did not have a flexible tape measure, I marked a piece of thread with a knot 7/8" from the end and tried different size mesh sticks (flat and round) to see which one the thread would wrap around.  The 3/8" flat mesh was the closest.  So that became my large mesh.  I did the same thing with a 5/8"- long piece of thread.  The #5 knitting needle was the closest fit.  That became my new small mesh.

Repeating the instructions again with the smaller mesh sticks, I made the edge again.  It was much closer to my idea of the size a netted edging should be.

My smaller sample measured about 3.75 inches wide by 5 inches long.

Gauge can be so important.  In netting, gauge is determined by the size mesh stick used. To give you an idea of the size difference between the two samples, I'll show them here in the same photo.

I should have looked in the front of the book before starting any patterns contained in it, especially since it is an entire book about netting instead of just a couple of patterns. When I did, I found some important information.  Here is what was said about mesh sticks:

• Mesh-sticks are numbered by the actual measure around the stick, as 3/8-inch, 5/8-inch, 7/8-inch, or 1 inch. The 7/8-inch corresponds very well with the "lead pencil" one often finds in directions. The 1-inch mesh-stick makes a mesh one-half inch square, and the same proportion is true of any other size.

There was also some interesting information about metal netting needles:

• Netting-needles are offered in six sizes: Nos. 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, and 22, No. 22 being the finest. It is somewhat longer, but in width is the same size as illustrated at Fig. 1. Any of the needles can be used with mesh-sticks 5/8 inch or larger; No. 16 needle is the largest that can be used with 3/8-inch mesh-stick.

It would be nice to have that variety in metal mesh sticks today.  

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This month continues to be exciting for me.  On July 3, 2014, I published my first book: The Lost Art of Netting: A How-To Book with Pictures and Patterns for the Beginning Netter (Volume 1). This week it appeared on Amazon.