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 create a finished garment or fabric.  This intricate process has created everything from socks (thought to be the oldest knitted item in the world) to hats, baby clothes, sweaters, scarves, dresses, and more.

Woman using two needles and multi-colored yarn to knit fabric.

Yarn is a continuous strand of spun fibers used for knitting, crocheting, weaving, and sewing.  It can be crafted from natural animal coats, plant materials, or synthetic polymers.  Selecting the right yarn involves balancing fiber content, thickness (weight), and structure to match your specific goals.

Knitting originated hundreds of years ago to provide clothing to protect one against the elements.  The earliest use of the word “knit,” noted in the Oxford English Dictionary, dates back to the 15^th century.  It originated from the Old English word cnyttan, which means to tie with a knot. The term is also used in defining the verbs to fuse or to draw together.

Knitting can be accomplished on special machines or by hand, and over knitting’s long history, both methods have been popular at certain times. 

Hand knitting doesn’t require much space since you only need needles and yarn.  Numerous knitting circles and organizations like Makers Mercantile and Ravelry cater to people with ardent passion and enthusiasm for this form of art.

 

Ancient Origins

Knitting is believed to have originated in the Middle East and North Africa between the 5^th and 11^th centuries, evolving from earlier single-needle loop-making techniques. 

The oldest known true knitted items are a pair of 11^th-century white and indigo cotton socks discovered in Egypt.  These rare historical fragments feature intricate geometric patterns, complex colorwork, and heel shaping - indicating that the art of knitting was already highly developed, suggesting the craft actually originated much earlier than the surviving archeological record can prove. 

Earliest known knitted artifact - a sock from 11^th-century Egypt.

Ancient knitted pieces were made of natural fibers like cotton, wool, and silk.  The earliest true knitting needles had hooks on one end and were crafted by hand from materials readily available to artisans, including bone, ivory, wood, and copper wire.

 

Spread to Europe

Knitting was introduced to Europe by Arab conquerors and traders between the 8^th and 13^th centuries, spreading first to the Iberian Peninsula during the Islamic expansion.  From Spain, this intricate craft quickly spread throughout the rest of Europe.  Knitting was embraced as an easier and more portable way to create fabric, unlike weaving which requires large heavy equipment. 

·         Introduction to Spain (11^th- 13^th Centuries): Arab expansion into the Iberian Peninsula brought knitting to what is now Spain and Portugal.  Early Spanish knits were highly sophisticated and crafted by Muslim artisans employed by Spanish Christian royals.  Famous early artifacts include the knitted silk cushion covers and gloves found in the royal tombs at the monastery of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas near Burgos (dating to roughly 1275).

Knitted silk cushion cover found in a Spanish royal tomb, c. 1275.

·         Religious & Royal Use (14^th Century): Before spreading to the general public, knitting was the domain of highly skilled craftsmen, royalty, and the Catholic Church.  It was used to create ornate liturgical garments, often utilizing fine silk, gold, and silver threads.

·         Establishment of Guilds (13^th - 16^th Centuries): Knitting was initially a trade and a pastime reserved for men, requiring years of apprenticeship.  As the technique spread, male-dominated knitting guilds were formed to regulate the trade, control quality, and teach the craft.  Guilds were highly organized, and strictly controlled the production of stockings and religious garments.  The first recorded commercial knitting guild was established in Paris in 1268, followed by guilds in Spain, the Netherlands, and Nuremberg, Germany. These highly skilled and rigorously vetted craftsmen began creating more intricate garments such as liturgical gloves, pillows, and relic purses for the saints.  They also knitted stockings, pouches, sleeves, girdles, and drawstring bags.

·         The Spinning Wheel: For millennia, knitters labored with hand-held drop spindles to draw out and twist fibers.  The spinning wheel emerged in Asia around the 9^th century and made its way to Europe in the 13^th century.  This invention drastically sped up yarn production and made it much more accessible.

·         The "Knitting Madonnas" (14^th - 15^th Centuries): The craft's arrival in mainland Europe is famously documented in European art.  Italian and German artwork depicted the Virgin Mary knitting in a style known as the "Knitting Madonna<” proving the technique had successfully spread from Spain to Italy, Germany, and France.

A Knitting Madonna painting by German artist Bertram of Minden (circa 1400-1410).

·         Everyday European Craft: Originally used primarily for decorative accessories, the craft evolved as it moved to colder regions like the British Isles and Scandinavia, where wool became the standard for practical, warm weather garments.  Archaeological finds from Medieval cities all over Europe, as well as tax lists, prove the spread of knitted goods for everyday use from the 14^th century onward.  During this era the manufacture of stockings was of vast importance, people knitted with fine wool and exported their wares.  Knitting schools were established as a way of providing an income to the poor. The fashion of the period, requiring men to wear short trunks, made fitted stockings a fashion necessity.  Sweaters were developed on the Channel Islands and in the harsh climates of the North Atlantic.  Fishermen and shepherds wore thick, oiled wool sweaters because they provided vital insulation against freezing ocean spray.

Hand-knitted cap from the England, circa 1500 1550.

·         Smooth Needles:  Starting around the 15^th century, the hooked ends of knitting needles were replaced by smooth, tapered points, allowing for faster stitch manipulation.

Beginning in the 15^th century, smooth tapered points replaced hooked ends on knitting needles.

 

·         Transition to a Female-Dominated Craft: The transition happened gradually, with a definitive shift taking place in the late 16^th and 17^th centuries.  Women working in homes - often the wives and daughters of guild members - began to knit, but initially faced strict guild pushback and legal limitations on selling their goods.   Women were not generally able to freely sell their knitted goods until the late 18^th to mid-19^th centuries, during the Industrial Revolution when the Guilds ended (see below).

Hand-knitted jacket from Italy, circa 1600 - 1620.

 

The Industrial Revolution in Europe and Machine Knitting

·         The Stocking Frame:  In 1589, English clergyman William Lee invented the "stocking frame," the first manual machine designed for mass-producing knitted items.  Using a series of hooked needles, it mimicked hand-knitting movements to produce flat-knitted fabric much faster.  The original frame had eight needles to the inch, which produced only coarse fabric.  Lee later improved the mechanism with 20 needles to the inch. By the late 1590s, he was able to knit stockings from silk, as well as wool.

 

After receiving a pair of black stockings from Lee, Queen Elizabeth I ultimately declined to grant him a patent for his invention out of profound concern for the working class.  She feared that mechanizing textile production would trigger mass unemployment, depriving her subjects of their livelihood and plunging them into poverty.

 

However, France's King Henri IV saw the opportunity Lee’s invention provided and offered him financial support.  Before long, the French spread the knitting loom throughout Europe.  When the device came back to Great Britain, the Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters was incorporated in 1657 in London. 

Stocking frame from the mid-19^thcentury.

The late 18^th century transformed yarn production completely.  In 1765, English weaver, carpenter, and inventor James Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny, which allowed a single machine to spin multiple threads at once.

Over the next 200 years, the use of knitting frames in Europe grew steadily, particularly with the invention of portable circular knitting machines in the 1800s.  Machines could be rented and worked from home rather than relying on a large stocking frame or much slower hand knitting. 

·         Shift to Factory Knitting: By the middle of the 19^th century, the knitting industry had still not made the transition to factories.  Framework knitting was predominantly performed at home, often with the entire family participating.  With the improvement of steam-powered knitting machines in the mid-19^th century, machine knitting increasingly shifted to factories to accommodate the larger machines.  Power looms and water- or steam-powered spinning machines quickly took over, moving yarn production out of the home and into massive textile factories.  Knitted garments went into mass production. 

·         Close of Knitting Guilds: As the textile industry entered an era of unprecedented efficiency and production, skilled artisans of knitting were no longer able to keep up with the pace of the factories who continued to invest in innovative machinery.  European knitting guilds were phased out between the late 18^th and mid-19^th centuries. 

·         Hand Knitting as a Hobby: Though hand knitting was declining as part of the knitting industry, it was increasing as a hobby.  Printed knitting patterns and yarn were produced for leisure as well as for industrial uses.

Hand-knitted cotton baby’s dress by Englishwoman Sarah Ann Cunliffe, 1851.

 Modern Era in Europe (20^th - 21^st Century)

During the 20^th and 21^st centuries, European knitting transformed from a critical wartime necessity into a highly mechanized industry, suffered a major mid-century decline, and ultimately reemerged as a digitally connected global subculture and high-fashion medium.

·        Wartime mobilization: Civilian populations across Europe were mobilized to "knit for victory" during World War I and World War II.   Government initiatives distributed official patterns to hand-knit millions of socks, balaclavas, and mittens to protect soldiers from trench foot and extreme cold.  The French Resistance and intelligence networks even utilized knitting patterns to transmit military codes.

·        Machine Knitting: Machine knitting evolved from localized industrial manufacturing to domestic "kitchen-table" production, and finally to modern computer-aided textile fabrication.  Europe was the central theater for these paradigm shifts.

In the early to mid-20^th century, flatbed and circular knitting machines were vital for manufacturing affordable socks and hosiery, bringing cheaper knitwear to the masses.  After World War II, European companies engineered highly sophisticated, heavy-duty double-bed knitting machines, featuring two separate, opposing rows of needles that allowed knitting of complex, reversible fabrics.

In the 1970s - 1980s, some domestic knitting machines transformed spare bedrooms and kitchens into profitable micro-businesses.

Domestic knitting machines rapidly evolved from manual operation to 24-stitch punchcard readers.  By the 1980s, electronic domestic models hit the European market, allowing hobbyists to program intricate patterns using Mylar sheets and early computer disks.

In the 21^st century, European centers transitioned to high-tech digital design, utilizing massive, computer-controlled flat knitting machines to produce both tubular fabrics and complex 3D fashion objects.  Industrial innovators revolutionized manufacturing by developing machinery capable of knitting a 3D, fully finished garment in one continuous process, eliminating the need for sewing, cutting, or post-production labor.

The 21^st century sparked a push for localized, independent manufacturing.  European innovators developed compact, programmable, and automated desktop knitting devices aimed at letting designers create custom garments on-demand, reducing waste and returning to small-batch, individual craftsmanship.

·         Post-War Fashion Boom and Industrialization (1950s - 1970s): The 1950s saw massive luxury breakthroughs, such as Coco Chanel introducing the iconic knitted suit to mainstream high fashion.  Commercial knitting mills and industrial circular looms began heavily producing affordable sportswear and outerwear. 

·         Synthetic Yarns: The late 1940s and 1950s brought the introduction of synthetic yarns like nylon, polyester, and acrylic.  These materials lowered fabric production costs and introduced "stretchier," brighter, and easier-to-wash consumer clothing.  Magazines, mail-order patterns, and brightly dyed commercial yarn skeins turned home knitting into a major domestic hobby across Western Europe throughout the 1970s.

·         Hand Knitting Decline (1980s - 1990s): Cheap mass production made buying ready-to-wear clothing far more affordable than buying raw wool to hand-craft a sweater.  Hand-knitting was largely dropped by younger generations who viewed it as an outdated domestic chore rather than a creative hobby.  Thousands of local yarn shops across Europe shut down during this period, and the commercial hand-knitting market shrank to a niche fraction of its former size.

·         The 21^st Century Renaissance and Digital Subculture (2000s - Present): The early 2000s saw a massive social revival.  Hand knitting groups formed in urban coffee shops and bars across Europe, transforming the craft into a visible, social, and feminist-friendly activity.  Platforms like Ravelry, launched in 2007, allowed European independent designers to sell digital patterns globally overnight.  

·         Knitting in Elementary Schools: While knitting largely vanished from mainstream British and Western European public schools by the late 20^th century due to cheap, mass-manufactured clothing, it remains protected in specific systems:  Some German and Nordic schools still require both boys and girls to learn hand-knitting.  The practice is utilized specifically to synchronize the left and right hemispheres of the brain, develop spatial intelligence, and teach problem-solving through fixing dropped stitches.  Finnish children routinely learn to knit socks or beanies as part of a national tradition that treats handcrafting as essential to emotional well-being and life-skill independence.

Living in Germany at the time with her military father, Pat was frustrated by her school’s right-handed-knitting approach (Pat is left-handed) and taught herself to knit from books.

 

Knitting in America

Knitting arrived in America in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, brought by European explorers and colonists as a vital survival skill to combat harsh winters.  Over the centuries, it evolved from an essential domestic chore into a tool for political rebellion, an industrialized process for mass production, a wartime necessity, and eventually a modern creative craft.

Colonial Era & The American Revolution:

·         Survival Essential: Colonists depended entirely on hand-knitted stockings, mittens, and caps to endure the freezing weather, as British law strictly banned the export of mechanized knitting machines to the colonies.

·         Political Resistance: In the 1760s and 1770s, as a defiant response to British taxation, colonial women banded together in "spinning bees" to produce homespun yarn and boycott British fabrics.

Hand-knitted stockings from Philadelphia, 1782.

·         Creative Espionage: Women also used the craft to support the Revolution.  For instance, Molly "Old Mom" Rinker - a tavern owner in Philadelphia - reportedly hid intelligence on British troop movements in balls of yarn, dropping them to General Washington's forces while pretending to knit.

The 19^th Century and Industrialization:

·         Industrial Revolution: As the Industrial Revolution took hold, circular knitting machines and factories began mass-producing stockings and garments.  (See previous section).  Hand-knitting transitioned from a daily survival necessity into an elegant hobby for wealthy women.

·         Steel Needles: As finer yarns and lace became highly sought after, knitters shifted from wooden to very fine steel needles.  While home-crafted wooden and bone pins remained common for thicker, utilitarian wools, imported steel wire needles became the standard for delicate, intricate garments.

·         Indigenous Adaptations: As Spanish colonists brought Churro sheep and knitting knowledge to the American Southwest, knitting merged with the traditional weaving of indigenous communities, leading to unique regional textiles.

Early 20^th Century: Fashion, Sportswear, and Economic Depression:

·         Circular Needles: The first United States patent for a circular needle was issued in 1918.  Circular knitting results in seamless tubes of knitted fabric.  They eventually evolved into the fixed and interchangeable cables and tips used by modern hand knitters globally.

 

Circular knitting needle.

·         The Rise of Sportswear: In the 1920s, knitwear pivoted to high fashion, leisure, and athletic sportswear.  Sweaters, pullovers, and intricate patterns became symbols of modern personal style.

·         Great Depression Survival: The 1930s forced a return to necessity.  Making garments from scratch was far cheaper than retail, sparking a boom in garment alterations, unravelling old knits for yarn thrift, and home production.

World War I and World War II:

·         National Campaigns: During the World Wars, the American Red Cross spearheaded massive, standardized nationwide knitting drives.  Millions of volunteers, including children and soldiers, knitted hats, socks, scarves, gloves, and sweaters.

·         Standardization: The Red Cross distributed informational pamphlets, carefully dictating color (e.g., khaki for the Army, dark blue for the Navy), wool quality, and needle sizes to ensure consistent troop garments.

Hand-knitted socks for WWII Army soldiers.

 

Post World War II: Synthetics and Commercial Boom:

·         The Introduction of Synthetics: In the 1950s, the chemical industry introduced commercial synthetic fibers.  This made yarn incredibly durable, affordable, elastic, moth-proof, machine-washable, and brought new "solution dyeing" processes that allowed dyes to be impregnated directly into liquid fibers.

·         Needle Material Diversity: Wood, bone, and steel were eventually joined by lightweight aluminum in the mid-20^th century.  Today, modern engineering provides knitters with plastic, sleek carbon fiber, polished resins, and ergonomic cuboid-shaped needles designed to reduce hand fatigue.

·         The 1980s Commercial Boom: The market was flooded with affordable, mass-produced synthetic patterns and vibrant novelty "fun furs."

·        Knitting Machines: At the start of the 20^th century, machines were widely used in homes, primarily to fulfill mass production demands.  Circular sock machines were widely used to rapidly produce footwear.  Large manufacturing operations supplied commercial full-fashioned knitting machines to the booming American textile and medical needle industries.  Following WWII, domestic flatbed knitting machines surged in popularity across the U.S., allowing home hobbyists and seamstresses to produce garments in a fraction of the time.  The 1980s and 1990s introduced major technological leaps.  Mechanical punch cards were replaced by microprocessors and software.  Knitters could hook machines directly to computers to automatically track rows and input intricate, multi-colored stitch patterns.  By the 2010s, domestic home knitting machines largely ceased production.  However, the industrial sector exploded with on-demand 3D knitting.

Popular domestic home knitting machine, 2017.

 

1990s: Hand Knitting Decline: By the late 1990s, hand knitting hit a historic low in the United States.

·         Fast Fashion Dominance: Globalization made cheap, machine-knit garments widely accessible

·         Demographic Stagnation: The craft was stereotyped as an archaic, isolated pastime reserved strictly for older generations.  Widespread commercial yarn shops rapidly closed down across the country.

2000 - Present: The "Stitch 'n Bitch" Renaissance and the Modern Revival: The turn of the 21^st century sparked an unprecedented global explosion often called the "New Wave" of knitting.

With perfect timing, in 1998 Pat and her husband bought a knitting and yarn ship in Mesa, Arizona.  The shop grew into the largest knitting shop in the southwest and was very successful.

·         The Independent Movement: Gen X and Millennial crafters reclaimed hand knitting.  Books like Debbie Stoller’s Stitch 'n Bitch redefined knitting groups as highly social, feminist safe spaces.

·         Digital Platforms: In 2005, the video sharing platform You Tube was launched, and completely revolutionized the global craft industry, providing a place where independent knitters can share detailed video content about their knitting craft and even how to knit tips.  The launch of Ravelry in 2007 provided a massive open-source database for independent designers to self-publish patterns and form micro-communities.

·         The COVID-19 Boom: The pandemic lockdowns triggered a massive resurgence in knitting as a vital tool for anxiety relief, mindfulness, and sensory satisfaction.

During the pandemic, former First Lady Michelle Obama taught herself to knit, and has since turned into a good knitter.

·         Yarn Hobbyists: Today, while mass-produced and synthetic yarns dominate the fast fashion industry, there remains a robust community of hobbyists who spin, dye, and craft their own unique yarns, keeping this very old tradition alive.

·         Expanded Yarn Fibers: Natural fibers from animals, such as alpaca, angora and merino, and plant fibers, chiefly cotton, have, become easier and less costly to collect and process and therefore more widely available.  Exotic fibers such as silk, bamboo, yak and Arctic muskox are growing in popularity as well.  The yarn industry has started to make novelty yarns, which produce stunning results without years of knitting experience.  Designers have begun to create patterns which work up quickly on large needles, a phenomenon known as instant-gratification knitting.

·         Knitting Guilds: Modern knitting guilds are community hubs that bring together thousands of crafters to share patterns, improve skills through education, and give back via charity.  Today's guilds function both globally and locally - combining active in-person gatherings with virtual spaces, certification courses, online contests, and charity knitting.

·         Knitting for the Military: Knitting Guilds now partner with church youth groups, Boys/Girl Scouts and other organizations to send personal items and cards of support to our troops serving overseas, plus knitted scarves and hats.  

·         Contemporary Resurgence: Today, knitting in America is a multi-billion-dollar industry, fueled by online communities (such as Ravelry), independent yarn dyers, and a growing appreciation for sustainable handmade goods and slow fashion, a mindful, ethical approach to clothing that champions quality over quantity.

·     Here is a collage of some of Pat’s knitted items.  The pieces in the lower right-hand corner are “knitted knockers.”  Pat knit these and others for cancer patients who have lost breasts due to mastectomies.  Not shown are examples of the numerous sweaters and vests that Pat has crafted for me.

Future of Knitting

The future of knitting is defined by two converging paths: tech-driven automation (zero-waste 3D knitting and smart wearables) and a resurgence of hand-crafting driven by slow fashion.  Industrial production is turning to computerized machine knitting for hyper-customized, seamless garments, while individuals embrace the meditative art of handmade pieces.

Industrial & Technological Innovations:

·         3D "Whole Garment" Knitting: Automated computer-programmed machines knit entire garments (from shoes to sportswear) in a single piece, eliminating seams and reducing fabric waste by up to 30%.

·         Generative Software: Platforms like Loop allow designers to turn any complex 3D shape into a computational canvas, infusing functional, targeted mechanical properties (such as varying compression zones) directly into a knit.

·         Smart Textiles: Knitting acts as a medium for wearable tech, embedding sensors for health tracking or creating temperature-regulating fabrics.

Hand-Knitting & "Slow Fashion:"

·         AI-Generated Patterns: Artificial intelligence is entering the pattern-writing space, serving as a tool to rapidly draft and check pattern math, though it sparks ongoing community debates over authenticity and design trust.

·         The "Flow State" & Wellness: Hand knitting continues to grow as a hobby due to its proven neurological benefits.  The repetitive motions trigger meditative brain waves that reduce stress.

·         Sustainable Yarns: Eco-conscious crafters and brands are driving demand for recycled materials, locally-sourced fibers, and zero-waste, surplus-yarn projects.

 

Sources

My principal sources include: “History of Knitting,” Wikipedia.com; “The history of hand-knitting,” vam.ac.uk; “Unravelling the Past: A Brief History of Knitting,” johnmedley.com; “History of Knitting - A Resource Demystifying the Origins of Knitting,” makersmercantile.com; “A Brief History of Knitting,” motherknitter.com; “Crafting In History: The History of Knitting,” darngoodyarn.com; plus, numerous other online sources, including answers to many queries using Google in AI-Mode.