Twinkle, Twinkle Little Jug

Our own Franklin, knitting humorist and historical interpreter extraordinaire, brings our attention to a truly magnificent piece of knitting art. In the Winter 2008 issue of Knitty, Franklin published an update of "Miss Lambert's" 1840 pattern for a knitted Pence Jug.

Franklin's original

The Pence Jug is an adorable and fascinating little sweet nothing – a historical curiosity with a very interesting construction.

At the Madrona Fiber Festival last year, Franklin met Betsy Hershberg. To call Betsy a bead knitter is to call Monet "a guy who paints". Betsy told Franklin she was interested in the Pence Jug, and would he mind if she had a go at beading it.

Simply stunning.

The most remarkable thing about this "transfiguration" (Franklin's word for it, and we agree, this is a bit more than a simply a new version) of the jug is in how it was worked… In Betsy's words, "it is worked on 0000 double pointed needles with half strands (3 threads) of two colors of DMC metallic embroidery floss and approximately 600 Size 11º Miyuki glass Delica beads. The finished jug is all of 2″ high and 1 1/2″ wide."

Kudos to Franklin for the original pattern, and double kudos for Betsy for her incredible work.

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