Chatelaine

Last week I had a sudden urge to knit a Chatelaine - and yes, that's perfectly normal. I'd been having fun adding beads and charms to my new stitch-picker-uppers and I think that's what put the idea in my head.

I also made myself some music earrings while I was at it.

A Chatelaine was originally the woman in charge of a household but, over time, the word also became used for the series of chains and links she wore to keep necessary items to hand. In a time when women's clothes didn't have pockets the chatelaine was an essential accessory. Keys and tools would be clipped on to the chatelaine which was then attached to a belt.

This one, from the Victoria & Albert Museum, dates from the mid nineteenth century and has twelve different attachments, all beautifully worked in steel. As you can see, chatelaines quickly became very decorative - almost like jewellery.

Towards the end of the twentieth century chatelaines again became fashionable but this time worn round the neck and invariably used to hold sewing tools. You can find patterns for all sorts of wonderful ones, ranging from simple straps to elaborately decorated creations.

Simple Chatelaine Pattern from Moda

Elizabethan Chatelaine from Australian Needle Arts

Chatelaine by Bonnie Sullivan from All Through the Night

So, back to my idea. I wanted to knit a bright, modern version of a chatelaine to hold knitting or crochet tools. A trip to my local Hobbycraft was called for, where I had a lovely time finding little bits and pieces.

I was especially pleased to find the Yarn Cutter (that's the round thing at the bottom of the picture) as I thought that would be better than hanging scissors from the chatelaine. The lovely colours of the stitch markers from Pony inspired me to search for yarn to match and look what I found.

James C Brett Party Time Chunky

The knitting was super easy and quick to do. I used fabric stitch which gives a lovely thick strap and edged it with a chain selvedge.

The two sides of fabric stitch - bumpy and smooth.

It always takes me a couple of attempts to remember how to do a chain selvedge - slip the first stitch of every row purlwise with the yarn held at the front and knit the last stitch.

Deciding how to attach the tools probably took as long as the knitting. I played around with the idea of pockets or little strips of knitting to clip things to but, in the end, decided on sewing jump rings to the  chatelaine and then clipping the tools to them.

I added jump rings and swivel clips to each of the tools so that they can be taken on and off the chatelaine as needed. 

As you can see, I had to thread the row counter on to a short length of chain before adding the jump ring. The stitch markers are held on the sort of large ring used for keyrings.

This is how they look when clipped on to the chatelaine.

I also added two little knitted patches to the other side of the ends to hold sewing up needles and safety pins.

And there you have it, a quick and easy pattern. Should you want to knit one of these, the free pattern is available from my Ravelry Shop. The chatelaine uses less than half the ball of yarn so you could make one for yourself and another for a friend.