If the end of the 18th Century heralded the decline of the handknitting industry
The 19th century heralded the beginning of the craft of home-knitting for pleasure rather than profit.

This was the time of white cotton work, doilies, chair backs, curtains, shelf edgings etc.
If an article could be knitted, then the Victorian lady knitted it.
By the end of the 19C handknitting had become a very popular artistic pursuit

• By 1835 knitting had become a very fashionable hobby for middle class drawing rooms of England and Scotland
• Between 1835-40, English knitting books appeared in large numbers, these were very popular
• New imported yarns, fine wools and improved quality needles now became available,
  
  
• 1836 is the date of first known pattern publication, this was by Jane Gaugain.
• In 1837, Jane produced a small slim book on family knitting
• In 1840, she published a bookThe Ladies Assistant which included crochet as well as knitting
• between 1852-3, she produced lots of books, they contained patterns for
  caps, counterpanes, purses, baby clothes, shawls, bags, pin cushions, doyleys, cuffs, spencers, blankets,
  muffs, scarfs, mittens, and stockings,
  
  
• It was in about 1837, in Gaitloch, Scotland that the first Argyle or Tartan stockings were produced,
  
  
• Some where between 1838 1nd 1843, a Miss Frances Lambert, a prolific author of knitting books,
  invented a disc shaped gauge punched with holes.
• The holes were sized inline with the British Standard Steel Wire Gauge,
• They went from 1-26, size 26 equaled 0.4mm
• This gauge remained the standard for British needles sizes until 1977
  
  
• Around the mid 1840s Cornelia Mee (1815-1875), an author of books on knitting and crochet,
  claimed she had invented crochet
• At about the same time, Mlle Eleanor Riego de la Branchardiere,
  also claimed herself to be the inventor of crochet
  
  
• By the 1850's knitted lace had become popular,
• Many stitch patterns were based on eyelets or faggoting.
  
  
• The first writer to give attention to tension was Francis Lambert,
  
  
• The Crimean War of 1854-6, provided English women with their first opportunity to knit
  war comforts for their loved ones serving overseas.
  
• They knitted an assortment of items, which included shirts, mittens, scarfs, and hats
  
  
• 1867 saw the first recorded use of the tea cosy,
• The first cosy was like an upside down bag that covered the whole pot
• In 1893 instructions are recorded for the new fashion 'batchelor' cosy,
• This was the first cosy to have holes, one for the handle, one for the spout.
• tea cosies became the 'must have' fashion, and were knitted in all shapes and styles,
  Thatched cottages, crinoline dolls, beehives, etc.
  
• Towards the end of the Century, The Victorians became particularly noted for their
  exquisite beaded knitting.
  Hand-knitting beaded bags being a particularly popular pastime in the USA,
  
  
• In 1868 the word cardigan first appeared in print,
  a year after the Earl of Cardigan died,
  
  
• In 1870 the Education Act was introduced,
• This Act introduced manual skills into the curriculum and education for the working classes,
• Knitting was taught to boys and girls,
• In 1879 a teaching aid, The Standard Guide to Knitting was used in schools.
• Better education meant that more people were now able to read knitting instructions
  and fancy knitting became possible for all, including the working class
• This bought about a change in English publications.
  Many magazines now began to include articles on knitting in their publications.
  
  
• In 1881 the word Balaclava first appeared in print,
  17 years after the the Battle of Balaclava, which took place on October 25th, 1864