Therefore, I had high hopes for the knitted stuff in Episode 2. The 1940s-era knits came through for me again. More views of Frank's slipover, and also a lovely cabled one worn by Claire as Frank tells her about wartime interrogation techniques. But alas, something happened in the scenes set two hundred years earlier. It appeared that the knitted costume design had suddenly been thrust into the hands of a group of trendy young Ravelers. Instead of 18th-century hap shawls and kilt hose, we were treated to a weird chunky open "shawlette" on Letitia, a shawl/cape thing (is it felted?) on Geillis, a chunky, funky shrug!!! and loose, rather heavy fingerless mitts on Claire. I don't have the historical expertise of Kate Davies, but I have looked at many, many photos over the years of antique (especially Scandinavian) knits, and what I saw in Episode 2 seemed more appropriate to fantasy than history. It was imaginative and beautiful, but to me felt out of step with the time period Claire is stuck in.
Was this a deliberate design decision, meant to evoke an air of
unreality? If so, it was sadly out of sync with the efforts elsewhere in
costuming the series to achieve reasonable historical accuracy, and honestly, more than a little distracting. I'm still loving the series, but now it's mingled with a wee bit of disappointment in the knitting department.
