Historical Knitting Facts

Mneerah ALKhalil
3 min readSep 2, 2016

--

Knitting like everything else has an interesting, surprising, and some strange historical facts. Here are 10 historical knitting facts you should know about your favorite hobby.

Source: http://wifflegif.com/gifs/419425-paul-mcgann-knitting-gif

1- Knitting is ancient

No one knows when exactly knitting started, knitting is considered one of the oldest crafts in the world. Yarn is estimated to be as old as 20,000 years old!

From The Project Gutenberg EBook of History Of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 1 (of 12), by G. Maspero

The ancient Egyptians indulged in some knitting (formed on two sticks by pulling loops through loops) using cotton.

2- Spindles

In 5000 BC spindles were invented. Spindles at that time were very simple a straight stick used to spin yarn.

Woman Spinning ca. 490 BC. Photo © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons

That was 1000 years before the invention on the wheel.

3- Knitting origins

Knitting originated from the Arab world middle-east to be precise, and was brought to Spain by the crusaders in 1400's.

Image from “A History of Hand Knitting” by Richard Rutt, p 30.
Fragment currently at Yale University.

4- Men only!

In the 16th century France, knitting was a male only occupation.

Shepherds knitted while standing on stilts to avoid snakes and prevent trench http://www.france.com/general/real-men-knit-stilts/

5- The machine

In 1589 the knitting machine was invented by William Lee during Queen Elizabeth’s rule. After that knitting became an in home leisure activity.

Queen Elizabeth I’s knitted lace silk stockings at Hatfield House. Image from QunoSpotter, via Flickr.

6- Knitting with silk and cotton

Wool wasn't the first preferable choice for knitting. Knitting with Silk and cotton were more popular.

Source: https://stockinette.wordpress.com/tag/aimee/

7- WWI

In World War 1 women were assigned to knit socks, scarves, and caps for soldiers fighting in the battlefield and soldiers stationed in cold regions.

World War I Red Cross poster encouraging knitting, ca. 1917
Pupils at Adams Elementary knitting for World War I war effort, Seattle, 1918

8- First knitting pattern book

In 1611 Johann Siebmacher published a book that documented 126 knitting patterns.

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/277956608224494139/

9- Knitting needles

Knitting needles used to be made out of exotic materials such as ivory, tortoise shell or bones.

Mixed LOT Bone Vintage Crochet Hooks Awl Punch Carved Handle Victorian Era https://www.pinterest.com/pin/369928556864352777/

10- Knitting trends

Knitting has gone in and out of fashion in the last 200 years. Knitting decreased in 1980’s and 1990's because of the revolution of cheap industrialized clothing, but made a huge come back in the beginning of this century as a DIY luxury hobby.

http://aminoapps.com/page/crafty/4251095/funny-knitting-gif

Sources:

--

--

Mneerah ALKhalil

IMC St. Bonaventure University grad student. Public Relations for Embraceable Ewe yarn shop, Hamburg, NY.