H. P. Ryder’s booklet teaches how to knit knickerbocker stockings for cycling and shooting, with both plain and fancy turnover tops. It offers detailed directions for producing the sturdy, fashionable stockings worn with the knickerbockers favored for active outdoor pursuits.
The guide captures the late Victorian and Edwardian enthusiasm for cycling and sport, and the specialized dress these pastimes demanded. Ryder’s patterns preserve a niche of practical fashion handcraft. A specialized vintage knitting guide, it is available here as a free EPUB download. For historians of sport and dress alike, it preserves the practical handcraft behind a distinctive corner of late-Victorian active wear.