wristlets
In By the Shores of Silver Lake, Chapter 21, Mr. Boast receives the present of wristlets, knitted in stripes of red and gray. "They fitted him perfectly. They were the wristlets that Ma had knitted for Pa. But she could knit some more for Pa..."

I've been knitting on a sock this afternoon, but my mind kept wandering to the basket of yarn at my feet, which contained leftovers of red and gray wool that's been dying to be knitted into a pair of miniature wristlets (ornament-sized). But what did Mr. Boasts's wristlets look like? Since they "fit", was there something to the sizing of them?

Now, I don't know much about 1870s' knitwear, but it seems to me that the wristlets I'm reading about "in the old days" had an opening for the thumb and covered from below the fingers to about halfway to the elbow. They weren't small like tennis sweat-bands or bulky like printers' sleeves. Ribbing seems to be mentioned frequently. -- The idea was that if you kept the pulse points of the body warm, you'd be warm. As it was -29 here this week, I probably could have used some wristlets of my own.

As soon as I get the last sock toe finished, it's on to wristlets!
- posted by pioneergirl at 6:04 PM