craftevolution

Jane Cunningham Croly

I was going through some antique Needlecraft magazines I had received from my grandmother and found a little book called Knitting and Crochet. A Guide to the Use of The Needle and the Hook. It was edited by Jenny June. Curious to find out more about Jenny, I stumbled upon a powerhouse of a role model.

Jenny June was an alias for Jane Cunningham Croly. Born in England in 1829, she was a journalist and probably the first syndicated woman’s columnist with her column “Jennie June.” In 1868, the New York Press Club refused admission to Croly who wanted to attend a dinner featuring Charles Dickens. In response, Croly founded Sorosis a professional women’s association. With Sorosis, Croly sought to create a

club composed of women only that should manage its own affairs, represent as far as possible the active interests of women, and create a bond of fellowship between them..” (J.C. Croly, The History of the Woman’s Club Movement in America (1898), p. 15)

During her long professional career, Croly went on to found the New York Women’s Press Club in 1889, ran the women’s department at New York World, and became the chief staff writer of Demorest’s Monthly Magazine. She also taught journalism and literature at Rutger’s Women’s College.

As a journalist, mother of four, and women’s club leader, I think she would have quite enjoyed this world of blogs and alternative career paths. So here to honor her work is an excerpt out of Knitting and Crochet, edited by Jenny June:

No. 36 Triangular Kilted Pattern

Cast on any number of stitches divisible by nine.

First row.–Purl 8, knit 1; repeat.
Second row.–Purl 2, knit 7; repeat.
Third Row.–Purl 6, knit 3; repeat.
Fourth Row.–Purl 4, knit 5; repeat.
Fifth Row.–Purl 4, knit 5; repeat.
Sixth Row.–Purl 6, knit 3; repeat.
Seventh Row.–Purl 2, knit 7; repeat.
Eighth Row.–Like first row.
Ninth Row.–Like first row.
Repeat from second row.

For the crochet edge: Work one double into the first stitch–that is, knitted throughout–pass over three stitches, three trebles, three double trebles, and three trebles into the next stitch, pass over three stitches and repeat.