#history of knitting

[lightlyknitted]

My favorite nonfiction fiber arts books

The last post focused on reference books you can use to build your home library. The list is a mix of memoirs, novels and nonfiction books I’ve been reading about fashion and knitting.

[handmadehistorypodcast]

We are working on a fun deep dive into early New England broom making (by Native/indigenous people and later by white farmers), but in the meantime, here’s our last episode on nalbinding.

[cindycintn]

Knitting Together Faith, History, and Community: The Prayer Shawl Chronicles Series

Knitting is much more than crafting a beautiful piece of fabric. It’s about weaving together threads that form something full of meaning and purpose. That’s exactly how I view my series, The Prayer Shawl Chronicles.

Knitting is much more than crafting a beautiful piece of fabric. It’s about weaving together threads that, on their own, may seem ordinary, but when intertwined, form something greater—something full of meaning and purpose. That’s exactly how I view my series, The Prayer Shawl Chronicles. While each book stands alone, much like individual strands of yarn, together they create a rich,…

[letissierdesigns]

A Shetland Lace Project

Looking to create a new piece! Want to watch the process?

It is no secret that I love to knit lace, the more complex the better. I love to design the lace first and then dive in and explore what I think the design should do. I have knitterly friends who love to aid me in my process. Anne is one of those friends. We really got to know one another about 10 years ago at one of Mad About Ewe’s Retreats and have talked a few times over the years. She came…

[worm-generator]

man. the secret history has become so synonymous with dark academia that when u look through the tag its just knit sweaters and latte art. like please show me a text post about how fucking unhinged richard was for staying in a room with a Literal hole in the wall during the dead of winter and almost dying of hypothermia.

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Child's Sock from Egypt, c.250-350 CE: this colorful sock is nearly 1,700 years old

This sock was discovered during excavations in the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus. It was likely created for a child during the late Roman period, c.250-350 CE.

Similar-looking socks from late antiquity and the early Byzantine period have also been found at several other sites throughout Egypt; these socks often have colorful, striped patterns with divided toes, and they were crafted out of wool using a technique known as nålbinding.

Above: a similar child's sock from Antinoöpolis, c.250-350 CE

The sock depicted above was created during the same period, and it was found in a midden heap (an ancient rubbish pit) in the city of Antinoöpolis. A multispectral imaging analysis of this sock yielded some interesting results back in 2018, as this article explains:

... analysis revealed that the sock contained seven hues of wool yarn woven together in a meticulous, stripy pattern. Just three natural, plant-based dyes—madder roots for red, woad leaves for blue and weld flowers for yellow—were used to create the different color combinations featured on the sock, according to Joanne Dyer, lead author of the study.

In the paper, she and her co-authors explain that the imaging technique also revealed how the colors were mixed to create hues of green, purple and orange: In some cases, fibers of different colors were spun together; in others, individual yarns went through multiple dye baths.

Such intricacy is pretty impressive, considering that the ancient sock is both “tiny” and “fragile."

Given its size and orientation, the researchers believe it may have been worn on a child’s left foot.

Above: another child's sock from Al Fayyum, c.300-500 CE

The ancient Egyptians employed a single-needle looping technique, often referred to as nålbindning, to create their socks. Notably, the approach could be used to separate the big toe and four other toes in the sock—which just may have given life to the ever-controversial socks-and-sandals trend.

Sources & More Info:

Manchester Museum: Child's Sock from Oxyrhynchus

British Museum: Sock from Antinoupolis

Royal Ontario Museum: Sock from Al Fayyum

Smithsonian Magazine: 1,700-Year-Old Sock Spins Yarn About Ancient Egyptian Fashion

The Guardian: Imaging Tool Unravels Secrets of Child's Sock from Ancient Egypt

PLOS ONE Journal: A Multispectral Imaging Approach Integrated into the Study of Late Antique Textiles from Egypt

National Museums Scotland: The Lost Sock

[fashionsfromhistory]

Parasol

c.1805

Europe

LACMA (Accession Number: M.67.8.123)

[vintage-norway]

Traditional Norwegian mittens

These are some traditional Norwegian mittens. The photos include geopraphical area aswell as as time period.

[historical-fashion-polls]

submitted by @r0ttedg1rl 🤍❤️💚

[thelittlecellwhocould]

15+ hours of crocheting/knitting in the last 3 days but I gotta say I'm extremely proud of how this last minute present turned out 🤩

(is it really last minute if I've had at least 3 rows crocheted for the last 2 years though??)

the inspiration

[knithacker]

“Are you crazy? Shall we sing about some old ladies going to Stockholm selling cardigans? What is this for a story?”

If you can get past the lazy headline - hard to do, I know, especially considering the article's subject matter - you'll find that this piece perfectly illustrates the challenges storytellers can face when trying to bring women's stories to light. I'm glad that historian Eva Sjöstrand persisted, because this story has everything a good story should, and I hope it inspires creatives and storytellers to continue pushing past society's cultural gatekeepers. ❤️

[holoship]

[cindycintn]

How Did Knitting Become A Worldwide Craft? Quick and Fun History Lessons on How We All Learned to Knit

Quickie History Lessons on How We All Learned to Knit! The Surprising Origins of Knitting in Warm Places

When you think of where knitting originated, you might guess the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland, or some other cold place. But Spain and Egypt? Really??? Where did the beloved craft of knitting get started? When I first picked up a history of knitting, I imagined knitting began somewhere around the North Atlantic, like the Scandinavian countries. The word “knitting” comes from the Old English…

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 50: Early Modernish and Earlier 4

These Questions are the result of suggestions a the previous iteration.This category may include suggestions made too late to fall into the correct earlier time grouping. In some cases a culture lasted a really long time and I grouped them by whether it was likely the later or earlier grouping made the most sense with the information I had. (Invention ofs tend to fall in an earlier grouping if it's still open. Ones that imply height of or just before something tend to get grouped later, but not always. Sometimes I'll split two different things from the same culture into different polls because they involve separate research goals or the like).

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration. All cultures and time periods welcome.

[estroge-nt]

Knitting my take on this sweater from the terror! Its my first sweater and I'm quite happy so far

[ochipi]

First time knitting with my own spun and plied yarn (undyed merino). I’m so happy with the results!

1) drop sindled single ply yarn

2) test knit with single ply yarn

3) double plied yarn by drop spindle

4) test knit with double plied yarn