A SHORT HISTORY OF KNITTING
Historians uncovered that the art of knitting commenced over 3000 years ago in Arabic parts of the world where men in the nomadic tribes would ‘knit’ garments using the wool scraps from their goats and sheep. They developed a method of stringing and knotting the wool together to make clothing items and from that rudimentary process, knitting commenced. The women had the responsibility of gathering and spinning the wool and only the men would knit. As the traders expanded their horizons and travelled the world, the knitting skills they had developed and honed were shared with other travelers and the art of knitting expanded across to Europe. Knitting immediately grew in popularity and what can be described as the ‘Golden age of Knitting’ spanned the 1400’s to the late 1600’s with knitting guilds all over Europe founded and managed to maintain the high standards of excellence that had been developed over the centuries. Master knitting was a man’s trade and the standards established by the guilds were very exacting. Young boys wanting to aspire to be a Master Knitter had to serve a six year apprenticeship and to create a number of specific knitted garments and items to achieve their goal. Women were not encouraged to knit and their role was to clean and spin the wool for the men to use. Women were not allowed to join the guilds and the only exception to this very strict rule was that a widow of a Master Knitter could be asked to join a guild if she could demonstrate the knitting skill of her deceased husband and was able to produce the garments similar to that of the apprentices! Women however, did learn to knit and tended to knit in the privacy of their own homes. Over the ensuing years, the skill of being able to knit and to make clothing became a prized trait when young women were being wooed by potential husbands. In the 19th century, the industrial revolution introduced knitting machines and the art of hand knitting faltered. In the United Kingdom in the later 1800’s, the loss of knowledge became dire and knitting classes become mandatory for university students so that the art of knitting would not be lost! We have a come a long way since then and now knitting is enjoyed by so many around the world. Knitting is not only practical in producing creative garments, it provides great pleasure to those who knit and to those, who are the lucky recipient of a handcrafted garment. Knitting may well be the most perfect creative endeavour! Not only do beautiful garments and gifts result, it is also very relaxing and can be a wonderful stress reducing exercise for busy people.
. After shopping with us they had lunched at Salt Hill Pub on Main St. and someone (that would be Mom) left her phone there. Poor Susan had to drive back to Newport today and since she was in town, and had not purchased yarn since the day before, before she needed a trip to the shop to get more.
