The Learning Curve: Looks Aren't Enough

Most people aren't aware of this, but (incredible though it may seem) the Ty Cobb Sweater project had its beginnings in 2011. That raises the obvious question: "What have you been doing for the last seven years?" My answer is, "Trying to get it right."

The original inspiration (discussed in an earlier post) came from my successful reproduction of Eddie Gaedel's stirrup socks for the Hall of Fame's One for the Books exhibit. Senior curator Tom Shieber invited me to go through the museum's vaults, in order to find another knitted garment I could try my hand at. In the end, we decided on Ty Cobb's sweater.

After taking LOTS of pictures and LOTS of notes, I thought I had more than enough information to create a historically-accurate reproduction. After all, I'd made the Eddie Gaedel socks based on a black-and-white picture--and not even a great picture at that--and a color image of the St. Louis Browns logo.

Never again will I make the mistake of such hubris...

"Standard" knitting gauge of 16 stitches by 22 rows

The first thing I discovered was that it seemed impossible to reproduce the gauge (number of stitches/4" x number of rows/4"). Knitting stitches are generally wider than they are tall, usually with a ratio of between 3 stitches/4 rows (0.75) and 4 stitches/5 rows (0.80). In the case of the Ty Cobb Sweater though, the stitches were unusually wide--specifically, 15 stitches to 22 rows (0.68). Now, that difference may not seem like a lot, but I could not find a way to knit that gauge. I got close--16 stitches to 22 rows (0.73)--but even then, the shape of the stitches was wrong. Despite the almost-comparable gauge, the stitches on the original sweater looked wider. I couldn't explain it, and I couldn't reproduce that shape.

Close-up of gauge from the original Ty Cobb Sweater

Another problem was the density of the stitches. As you can see, the stitches on the original sweater seem "thicker" as well as wider. To reproduce that density, I realized I'd have to resort to pretty bulky yarn. The problem is that truly "bulky-weight" yarn is a fairly modern idea, catering to novice knitters who like big stitches so they can finish projects quickly. Back when the Ty Cobb Sweater was made, the weight (i.e. thickness) range of yarn was much more limited, and all of it was thinner.

So, what to do? I had a difficult gauge with stitches of an impossible shape and a yarn weight that was clearly historically inaccurate. How could I fix all that?

In the end, I didn't. I faked it. Yup. It's hard to admit, but I gave up and figured, "Well, at least I can produce a replica that looks reasonable."  I tracked down bulky yarn, threw out the gauge entirely, and decided to at least reproduce the measurements.

I actually got pretty far along, finishing the body and everything. (In short, I got to the same point as in my previous post.)

First (unsuccessful) attempt at the Ty Cobb Sweater

And then I discovered I'd failed to buy enough yarn...

Well, that did it. I ripped the whole thing out and decided to start over. I also decided that another visit to the Hall of Fame was in order; I needed a second look, and I needed more data. If I was going to do this, I was going to do it right, no matter how long it took. (And here we are, seven years later...)