Finishing up our brief history of knitting

Again I'm relying on Rutt and Mcdonald for reference.

Although felting seems like a current fad in knitting, it’s actually a very old process. Technically fiber artists probably would prefer that I call it “fulling” because in this case it’s done to knitted fabric rather than loose wool, but since we are creating a type of felt and it’s commonly called felting, I’ll continue to use that term.

Felted caps were made in 16th century England – felted knitting was cut, sewn, and shaped into hats. The Cappers Act of 1571 required all men over the age of six holding less than the rank of a gentleman to wear English-made wool caps on Sundays and holidays or pay a fine. The cap also had to be made by someone in the cap trade so knitters couldn’t make their own caps.

Around the middle of the 16th century, knitters were also creating textured knits by combining knit and purl stitches to create fabrics that are reminiscent of damask. Although much of the finest knitting was created by skilled craftsmen at this time, developments in the production of steel soon allowed for knitting needles to be made more easily and knitting became widespread. The first knitting pattern was published in Natura Exenterata in 1655; Rutt provides a translation into modern English. The sale of handknit goods provided vital income to cottage farmers and probably occupied nearly half their spare time, mostly in the winter months. According to Rutt, around 1600, children about the age of seven could earn roughly four shillings a week through knitting.

Knitting schools were organized to help relieve poverty and keep people out of mischief and prisoners were expected to knit. Many people took their knitting everywhere they went – town meetings, parties, the voyage to America, perhaps even to public executions as we read of the knitters in A Tale of Two Cities. Priests complained of people knitting in church. In 1642, shepherds in Andover, Massachusetts, were required to take up knitting, spinning, or weaving to keep them busy in the field. In Rutt’s words, knitting became the “drudgery of the masses.” By the end of the 16th century, 200,000 knitters produced 20 million pairs of stockings a year for the British home market.

The knitting frame, invented by William Lee between 1589 and 1600, was slow to catch on. Handknitting was portable, the tools were cheap, and knitting could be done at all hours, even in darkness for some knitters. So while the machines had the potential to produce more fabric faster, the expense would have been out of the reach of most knitters. Tradesmen who invested in the machines were said to have kept them hidden from their handknitting neighbors’ view to avoid conflict. By the end of the 18th century, handknitting in Great Britain was in decline.

In the American colonies, however, the ability to knit was considered a virtue and during the revolutionary period, colonists saw knitting as a patriotic duty. Making goods from homegrown and homespun wool increased independence from Britain.

Wars seem to have always led to an increase in the interest in knitting. People knit socks, mittens, hats and helmet liners for family and for strangers, and in some cases unraveled other items to provide materials during shortages. Knit-in’s gathered a wide range of people to knit for soldiers – older veterans, men and women. Nurses taught recuperating soldiers to knit for men who were still in the field. College students knit during their classes – at least in classes where professors tolerated it.

Between WWI and WWII, the U.S. and Great Britain were struck by the “jumper craze” as sports such as tennis, golf, and bicycling increased in popularity. Tight clothing gave way to stretchy fabrics that allowed for ease in movement. Since then knitting has had its ups and downs in the U.S. After WWII women took up domestic duties in great numbers and the handknitting industry encouraged the notion of knitting as an important domestic skill. The later women’s movement drove a backlash against knitting, encouraging women to develop job skills outside the home. The nature movement of the 1970’s increased interest in crafts and knitting. By the 1980’s so many women were working outside the home that time for knitting was minimal. Knitters began to demand higher quality yarns to make the most of their time and effort. Knitters no longer knit to be thrifty. Handknitting today is not very cost effective because factory items are sold for much lower prices than the cost of yarn for most handknit projects.