HISTORY147 - Knitting: Better Late than Never
I can’t believe it. I’ve lived with Pat, a credentialed master knitter, for more than 20 years, but have not yet explored the history of knitting. A quick look recently told me that there was much for me to learn; hence this blog. After a short introduction, I will discuss the history of knitting in successive historical eras, including its origin in ancient times, knitting’s spread to Medieval Europe, the Industrial Revolution, the modern era in Europe, and finally knitting in America. The story will also include the history of knitting needles and yarn. I will finish with a look at the future of knitting. I will not talk about knitting techniques or about how to knit. Those subjects are way beyond the scope of this article. As usual, I will list my principal sources at the end. Introduction Knitting is the process of using two or more knitting needles to pull and loop yarn into a series of interconnected loops in order to...