Passion Blog

The History of Knitting

Big news: this weekend I started knitting my first sweater! I’m about halfway done with the back of the sweater, so I still have quite a ways to go, but it feels great to have it started at least. It’s a Harry Potter sweater, the sort Mrs. Weasley made. If you remember, these were pretty lumpy misshapen sweaters, which I figured was a good place to start, because I can write off mistakes as intentional character traits and totally get away with it. If you’re interested, this is the pattern: http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/knitting/knit_a_harry_potter_sweater.php

Ordering the yarn was pretty intimidating too. I ordered 12 balls of yarn for the sweater. I’ve used one and a half so far, so it’s definitely going to be a long process, but so far I’m really enjoying it. I’ll post updates here as I go, which should help encourage me as well.

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As I was knitting over the weekend, I was thinking about Mrs. Weasley’s magic knitting, and then I became curious about the history of real knitting sans magic. So naturally, I turned to Wikipedia, the source of all answers, and sure enough knitting has a pretty interesting history.

I’ll begin where Wikipedia begins, with the word “knitting” itself. The word comes from “knot”, which is from an Old English word cnyttan, which means “to knit”. While the word comes from Old English, knitting itself comes from different places around the world including Denmark and Egypt. The Danish Nålebinding is an early form of knitting and crocheting. In Egypt, there are early examples of cotton socks, with almost modern knit patterns. Then, as all things fashionable, knitting found its way to Paris, where it gained popularity with the formation of all male knitting guilds. Gradually as more efficient means of producing fibers emerged, knitting became a leisure activity for the wealthy.

Knitting has gone in and out of popularity throughout time. Different historical events can be seen in these patterns. For example, in the United States, knitting was spread by German immigrants originally. As a result, knitting fell steeply in popularity during World War II due to this association. In the last few years, it is becoming increasingly popular in the US. Groups both real and virtual have formed a growing knitting community. Knitting blogs (just like this!) and podcasts have helped expand the community as well. In real life, there are social knitting groups, sometimes referred to as “Stitch ‘N Bitch” in the US, or “knitting circles” in the UK (clearly some cultural differences here). These groups allow knitters to get together to work on projects, compare patterns, give advice, and generally socialize.

The history of knitting isn’t exactly thrilling, but I’m still glad I took the time to look it up. It’s always nice to know the background of things, especially something like knitting, which goes back thousands of years, and has sustained its popularity all the way through to today.

 

2 thoughts on “The History of Knitting

  1. Amelia June Hare

    Wow! You’re off to a great start!! I can’t wait to see the finished product, you’ll have to wear it to class when you finish. The history of knitting is actually cool. The fact that you included the etymology really appeals to my inner linguistics nerd, and I also think its fascinating that knitting has origins in such different areas of the world.

  2. mwm5431

    That sweater looks really good so far, keep up the good work! I wasn’t a huge Harry Potter fan so I don’t know much about Mrs. Weasley’s magic knitting- is there an actual kind of knitting that is called a Harry Potter sweater? I think the “Stitch N’ Bitch” name is really funny, I can almost picture a group of ladies sitting in a circle while knitting Harry Potter sweaters and gossiping about the latest mishaps in other people’s lives.

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