a concise history of knitting

8/7/2019 A Concise History of Knitting

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A Concise History of Knitting

It seems that knitting or its early forms has always been with humans. The frailconstitution of man had withstood the rigors of weather and the environment only

through the clever use of indigenous materials available in the surroundings. These

include animal skins, tree barks, grasses, leaves, roots. Oftentimes, he must weave theseto provide suitable cover for the bodies of immediate family members or other use like

home shelter or food storage. Food gathering and catching hunt or fish undoubtedly gave

impetus also.

As civilization advanced so too did the type and quality of the materials and tools used in

this activity. The methods were refined and the procedure became more standardized as

explorations and conquests brought people in contact with each other. Regional diversityinfluenced the craft as races came together.

Evidence brought up from archeological expeditions show superb examples of knitted

socks from 3

rd

century Egypt and even much earlier in various parts of the Middle East. Abronze knitting needle dates back from the early Iron Age, and a wool spinner came from

4000 B.C. Mediterranean.

Sometimes the so-called “lost” civilizations have left amazing relics of their knitting

expertise in the use of single-needle or pseudo-knitting. The woven clothes of the Nazca

had highly intricate stitches showing human and animal figures with frequent vivid color changes. Amazing native woks also came up from diverse other locations like Persia,

Syria, Jordan, Israel, and North Africa, even as far north as China and Japan.

Quite obviously the first knitting works were for body protection against inclement

weather and for comfort in wear-and-tear conditions of travel. Socks and stockings wereamong the earliest created. The more complicated garments worn over the torso were inthere too. Commerce played a key role in spreading the practice, as Arabian merchants

and sailors carried merchandise throughout the world. Then religion helped brought it

across many continents, as Spanish and Portuguese conquistadores vied for nations toconvert to Catholicism.

True knitting as a craft started around 14th century in parts of Europe, where factories and

workers guilds were established. The variety of fabric and yarns grew, and style andfashion flourished. Oftentimes reserved only for the gentry and royalty, use of knitted

garments nevertheless spread to the less affluent. Knitting styles developed independently

in many locations. Knitting styles developed independently in many locations. For example, the multi-colored began in a group of islands north of Britain

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the invention of knitting machines,

manual procedures lost the ability to compete. The craft diminished into the category of a

hobby although it increased in status as an art form. As technology advanced, artisticappreciation grew.



Recently, knitting has undergone a resurrection and a renaissance, and today has more

performing enthusiasts than ever. Specialty yarns have been created from different fibers,

and different techniques have been combined. Nowadays, the demand is dictated byfashion, the choices limited only by the imagination.

a concise history of knitting

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