I have been an avid knitter for years. I usually have at least two items on the go at any one time. One is usually simple and needs very little thought whilst the other is more complicated. Thus I can pick up either as my mood and time dictates. My most pleasing knitting was making a christening gown for my niece; using 2 ply wool and size 14 knitting wires I designed the gown which had 'leg o mutton' sleeves with 'V' shaped cuffs. The bodice was high necked and the skirt knitted in a Shetland 'crest of the wave' pattern. My most challenging piece of knitting was a tunic copied from an old Icelandic design and using 14 different coloured wools.
I have just retired from a University post where I ran a course which I developed which is a mater's degree course in entrepreneurship specifically for women who want to set up or further develop their own businesses. Previous to this work over the past 10 years I ran my own business. Now that I have the time, I am combining my interests in knitting, women's studies and entrepreneurship.
I am searching for information about hand knitting.
What is it's history? Why is it more prevalent in some cultures than others? Why have knitting tools changed over time?
What is the relationship between gender and knitting and how has it changed over time?
Why have different patterns and types of product become more prevalent in certain global regions?
What resources are available to find such knowledge?
Is there anybody else interested in this?
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2 comments:
Hello Dr Liz
I came to your site thru ukhandknitting.com. Yes, someone else IS interested in the socio-economics of handknitting, you are not alone! I'm fascinated by much the same questions as you pose, and over the years have acquired a few books and a glimmering of understanding, maybe.
Forgive me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs (not that you're my Gran, anyway!), but there's also loads of lovely information on the web. (I'm thinking of sites such as http://www.knittingbeyondthehebrides.org/lace/index.html , where I found some interesting info on all sorts of lace knitting in Northern Europe.)
I think climate must have had a huge impact on who knitted what and where. I'm puzzled as to why/how the Merino managed to develop in Spain, a hot country, but generally the need to keep warm and the availability of sheep (or other fibre-bearing animals) adapted to the same climate as the humans, must have played a major role. I'm no historian, but I'm inclined to believe that knitting was independently "discovered" in several different areas of the world, back in the mists of pre-history; I'd be very surprised indeed to be presented with evidence of it being dispersed by travellers, even though I know that Iron Age people, for instance, did travel great distances. From what I've read, knitting was already established as a means of making fabrics a very long time ago (perhaps 1-2000 B.C., but as I said, I'm not an historian so I could well have got this wrong). Fragments of what may have been knitting have been discovered in Egypt, where the hot, dry conditions favour the preservation of such things; it's been difficult to establish a provenance for knitting in the cold, damp areas of the world, where it was/is most needed and used, as the fabrics rot away relatively quickly.
Have you come across naal-binding, also known as sprang? It is a form of weaving but it produces a fabric which appears extremely similar to knitting; apparently one can only tell the difference by taking the fabric to pieces, which is not exactly desirable for archaeological treasures such as a fabric remnant that has survived the ravages of hundreds, if not thousands, of years!
The history of knitting can't help but be closely related to the history of fibre-production, whether from animal or plant sources, and other techniques using yarns (spinning, weaving, netting, basketry and so on). We live in such a different age now, here in the west, that I think it's hard for us to appreciate just how important growing wool, spinning, weaving, knitting and the like, were to the people who came before us. Possessing and using these skills really was a matter of survival, firstly against the elements, then also economically, up until the Industrial Revolution, and to a lesser extent, beyond it. Our language reflects this as well ("rich tapestry of life", "lost my thread" if you forget what you were going to say, and a hundred other examples!). Today so many people knit and weave and dye and spin etc. because there is a fundamental human drive to create, to use our hands, I believe, and we get so little chance to use our hands in today's culture and society. Some of us, like me, would lose our sanity if we couldn't MAKE things, as you'll be well aware, looking into knitting as therapy.
So yes, I'm interested in knitting in a much wider context than just keeping my hands occupied of an evening, valuable though that is. I know I am also a part of a very long, very earthy (as in "rooted", necessary, part of the fabric of life), living tradition, and like other knitters, I aim to pass it on to my children, too.
Hope I haven't rambled on too much...
Happy knitting!
Kafrin
Good to know that there are other passionate knitsters out there. Thanks for your references, I'll follow those up. I don't have time at the moment - just off to a museum to look at their wool section - but you hsve brought up so many interesting comments that I will reply later.
Where in the world are you?
Thanks
Liz
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