Some facts about knitting...
According to
www.woolandyarn.co.uk the origins of knitting as we know it today are quite obscure. Textile historians commonly trace hand-knitting back to the Middle East around 200 AD. Around 600 AD it is said to have travelled with the wool trade to Europe, where it was quickly adopted and spread to the colonised world. But there are other stories around.
Some claim a Scotsman, St Fiacra invented knitting and passed it along to France. This is disputed by others who claim this legend was attached to him later as he was adopted as the patron saint of cap-makers after the founding of the first knitting guild in France. Another view holds that knitting was
entirely unknown in Europe before the 15th century when it first started to appear in Spain and Italy. A third factor is that throughout the world, including Europe, archaeologists have unearthed ‘knitted’ articles from various cultures in ancient times that do not coincide cleanly with either of these timelines. During the first half of the 20th century,
there was a resurgence of the craft. During the wars women knited for the men abroad, and the injured soldiers were taught to knit to occupy their minds as they recuperated as suggested by nursing journals of the time. By the late 1960s, however, hand-knitting
had fallen out of fashion, largely due to changing views concerning traditionally domestic and feminine roles and the availability of machine knitted man-made fabrics.
l Top names in knitting include: l Kaffe Fassett, an American born man whose use of colour in knitting, needlework and quilting has inspired many people in recent years to pick up their needles and create something breathtaking.
www.kaffefassett.com
l Another name who has inspired knitters across the world is self-taught Jean Moss, who during her career has designed knitwear for the likes of Laura Ashley, Ralph Lauren and Bennetton. She hosts knitting tours which keen knitters can attend and get the chance to knit along with Jean and other top names in the world of knitting.
www.jeanmoss.com
Fair Isle This unique style developed on the Scottish
island of Fair Isle long ago, when local knitters discovered that fine yarns stranded into a double layer produce durable, warm, yet lightweight garments. For hundreds of years demand for hand-knitting kept Fair Isle women busy. Islanders traded with passing ships, bartering their home-made textiles and fresh produce for goods they couldn’t make themselves. Today the only source of the genuine article is still Fair Isle, where a small co-operative – Fair Isle Crafts – produces sweaters on hand-frame machines, quality-controlled and labelled with Fair Isle’s own trade mark. www.
fairisle.org.
Picture of Fair Isle knitting far right from
www.visitscotland.com/natural
16
Top: A knitted Bradley Wiggins Bottom: Designs by Kaffe Fassett and Jean Moss for Rowan Yarns.
www.knitrowan. com
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