Category Archives: Blog posts

Knitting in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries

December 22, 2024 mwharrigan@gmail.com Leave a comment

This is the third in a series of four posts on the origins of and developments in hand knitting

17th century

By the 17th century Dutch knitters were specializing in embossed knitting – a technique that creates raised areas on the knitted fabric. In Sweden, both men and women were knitting, and in Denmark, entire families were carding, spinning, and knitting wool from their own sheep.

The oldest example of Danish knitting that has been found dates to this time, and is an indigo-dyed wool fragment knitted in a damask pattern with eight-pointed stars. It was from a garment known as the nattroje, a tight-fitting women’s nightshirt worked in patterns of purl stitches on a plain background.

In Germany, stockings were found in the coffins of Pomeranian princes. Two appear to have been a pair, and were dated to 1603. They were knitted in silk, in stockinette stitch, without patterning. They may have been imported from England or Western Europe, but also could have been made locally.

At the same time in Iceland, knitters were producing stockings and mittens that were essential both for local use and as exports. Color knitting in Iceland is thought to date from this time, as seen in a fabric fragment worked in a 2-color Fair Isle-style border.

Bratislava, Slovakia had established a hand knitting guild by the early 1600s, requiring a master knitter to complete a beret, a woolen shirt, socks, and a patterned carpet, in 13 weeks.

In 1655, the earliest known written instructions for a knitted garment (knitted stockings) appeared in a book on the history of medicine, published in England.

Two-color patterning found in Estonia in the latter part of the 17th century indicates a high level of skill among Estonian hand knitters of that time. Knitting had largely replaced nålbinding, although the single-needle technique was still used by some mitten makers for another century.

Also during the 17th century, Alsace and Silesia became the major centers of the craft of carpet knitting.

Silesian knitted carpet from 1674: Source, National Museum in Wroclaw collections

18th century

Knitting designs, techniques, and finished products were making their way around Europe and farther afield by the beginning of the 18th century. The technique of knitting pullovers was established in Finland by this time, and it has been noted that some patterns were quite similar to designs from other countries. Sweaters were being exported from Iceland by the 18th century, along with other hand knits that were traded on both sides of the Atlantic.

Orenburg lace shawls date to the early years of the 18th century when Cossack wives introduced a web-like pattern and traditional embroidery motifs to a traditional shawl shape. By mid-century a cottage industry had developed, and the shawls had developed into an art form by century’s end.

A white knitting craze developed in Europe as white cotton and linen became available mid-century, and led to heightened interest in knitting openwork lace.

In Germany in 1761, Susanna Dorothea Riegl published her Strikkemostre (knitting patterns), which may have been the first work of its kind.

By the end of the century knitting was practiced in the more genteel circles throughout England, aided no doubt by the appearance of early patterns books. Quaker knitted pinballs and pincushions dating from this era bore geometric patterns similar to needlework medallion samplers of the same period (Pinball pictured below is likely Canadian in origin).

Pinball: Source, Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library 3194.00

Next up (final in series): Knitting in the 19th and 20th centuries

Sources

Buss, Katharina. Big Book of Knitting. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2001.

Coleman, Ava T. “How It All Began.” TKGA.com. Cast On August-October 2008: 12-13. 28 August 2016 https://tkga.site-ym.com/global_engine/download.asp?fileid=AC65D860-440E-4B58-B61D-5AA5D4FE9577&ext=pdf

Forte, Mary. “Fair Isle: A Quick History.” TKGA.com. Cast On February-April 2009: 10-11. 28 August 2016 https://tkga.site-ym.com/global_engine/download.asp?fileid=C803C6CC-8258-4801-AB91-8F38219A1AF7&ext=pdf

Gibson-Roberts, Priscilla A., and Deborah Robson. Knitting in the Old Way: Designs & Techniques from Ethnic Sweaters. Fort Collins, CO: Nomad, 2004.

Macdonald, Anne L. No Idle Hands: the Social History of American Knitting. New York: Ballantine, 1988.

Nargi, Lela. Knitting around the World: A Multistranded History of a Time-honored Tradition. Minneapolis: Voyageur, 2011.

Rutt, Richard. A History of Hand Knitting. London: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1987.

The development of knitting in Europe before 1600

December 15, 2024 mwharrigan@gmail.com Leave a comment

The second in a series of four posts on the origins of and developments in hand knitting

It is believed that knitting techniques from Coptic Egypt influenced Islamic art, and that knitting found its way to Europe from northern Africa, possibly with the Moorish invasion and conquest of Spain. From Spain, knitting was likely to have made its way throughout Europe. By the 14th century, knitting appeared in European artwork. In 1348, the first of several paintings known as the Knitting Madonnas was painted in Siena. The paintings indicate that knitting was known in Italy and Germany in the 14th century, but historians note that not much more can be determined.

Source – https://www.researchgate.net/figure/sita-do-Anjo-knitting-Madonna-1400-1410_fig2_380555368

Archeological finds from medieval cities throughout Europe, including London, Amsterdam, Lübeck, and Oslo document the spread of the knitting of items for everyday use, beginning in the 14th century. These findings are supported by local tax listings as well. With many archaeological textile finds, however, many are only fragments, meaning that their original appearance or use is often not evident.

Caps seem to have been the first items of clothing to be hand knit in England, with Coventry caps traced to the 13th century (example of Monmouth cap pictured below dates from somewhat later – the 16^th century). The popular Welsh Monmouth caps were knitted in the round on four needles, in stockinette, and then felted. Stockings and mittens appeared around 1387, but it is unclear whether these were knitted or made by nålbinding.

Source – Monmouth Museum – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18142738 the only known example

As knitted garments became fashionable and sought after by the wealthy class, professional guilds started to appear, with men controlling the development of the craft and the market. The craftsmen of the guilds were required to pass rigorous tests to demonstrate a high level of skill before membership was granted. The earliest guilds were established in France by the mid-13th century.

Source – Victoria and Albert Museum tapestry guild To gain full membership to the Hand-Knitters’ Guild of Strasbourg, knitters had to knit a wallhanging patterned with flowers, like this one. Adam and Eve appear beneath a central panel depicting Jacob’s Dream. This piece dates much later – to France, 1781

Elsewhere in Europe knitting guilds appeared as well. Craft guilds were set up in the Netherlands in 1429, and by the mid-16th century, Dutch stocking knitters were so skilled that the King of Denmark hired them to teach their technique to Danish knitters. English knitted stockings were exported in quantity by this time but there were no knitters’ guilds in that country. Knitting was established in the Scottish lowlands by the 15th century. The history of Scottish knitting basically paralleled that of the English, although Dundee bonnetmakers formed a trade guild in 1496. [ See my post on the Scots Blue Bonnet – https://www.thismanknits.com/2024/03/26/the-scots-blue-bonnet-an-early-hand-knitting-industry/ ]

Source – The Craigy Bield, by David Allan. Two Lowland shepherds of the 18th century, wearing variations on the blue bonnet. Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

The craft was known in Germany and Austria by the 13th century and in northern Italy by the mid-14th century. In Britain, knitted liturgical gloves, dating from the 14th or 15th century, similar to those found in Spain and France, are part of the collection of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

As early as 1500 Dutch whalers, based in Shetland during the fishing season, traded food for Shetland sweaters. On Gotland Island, in the Baltic Sea southeast of the Swedish mainland, the early appearance of knitting is attributed to Gotland’s role as a major trade center during the late Middle Ages.

In the Baltics woolen gloves and mittens were found in both Estonia and Latvia, dating from this time.

By this time demand for knitted socks was so great in many regions that a cottage industry developed. Peasants were able to enhance their standard of living by knitting woolen socks for the landed gentry. As the craft passed into the hands of women, they began to also knit garments for their own families.

During the 15th and 16th centuries, knitting designs in France had lost the more primitive Arabic appearance. An ornateness appeared in coats and jerkins, and by the late 16th century, knitted silk stockings were worn by the members of the court of Charles IX. The earliest purled stitches that have been documented were seen on the stockings of Eleanora of Toledo (1562).

Beginning in the mid part of the 16th century the purl stitch was used in a decorative way. Shaping also was incorporated into hand knitting technique around this time. Cap knitters of the 16th century used 3-dimensional shaping as they worked in the round.

In the mid-16th century, Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose sank. Over 400 years later, the contents were raised from the seabed, and among them were found several pieces of knitting that demonstrate a high level of craftsmanship and knowledge of knitted shaping. Knitted pieces similar to those recovered from the Mary Rose have been found at 16th-century sites around London.

By this time, knitting was well established throughout Europe and in other parts of the world that were influenced by Europe through voyages of discovery and trading routes.

It has been written that by the end of the 16th century, nearing the end of the Queen Elizabeth’s reign, knitting occupied nearly half the spare time of farmers in the Midlands of England, and that England was the leading producer of knit stockings.

Source – Pair of hose, 1640s, England. Museum no. T.63&A-1910. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

At this same time, William Lee had invented the knitting frame, but was refused a patent by Queen Elizabeth, who felt that it would threaten the livelihood of poor hand knitters around the country.

Next up: Knitting in Europe between 1600 and 1800

Early hand knitting and the earliest identified knitted pieces

December 8, 2024 mwharrigan@gmail.com Leave a comment

The first in a series of four posts on the origins of and developments in hand knitting

Knitting as we know it today involves working a strand of yarn on two or more needles to produce rows or rounds of a fabric of interlocking loops. The earliest example is believed to date to around 1100 A.D. Blue and white Islamic stockings and knitting fragments appear in a number of museum collections. Most are cotton, all worked from the toe up, and most are known to have come from Coptic Egypt. Exact dating is difficult, but they are believed to date from 1200-1500 A.D. Several of the stockings have bands with Arabic script that has been used ornamentally.

*Coptic sock remnant*: *Source – Victoria and Albert Museum* collection

Single-needle knitting, or nålbinding, is thought to have preceded knitting by up to a thousand years, and was known in Africa, Scandinavia, and other areas. Samples of nålbinding have often been misidentified as knitting due to the similarity in appearance of the finished fabric. Nålbinding technique involves using a single needle with an eye, and short lengths of yarn, to create a stretchy fabric.

The earliest examples of knitting in Europe have been dated to the late 13th century and characterized as being influenced by Islamic art and script. It has been difficult for historians to establish actual dates for the appearance of knitting as a craft as there are so few examples in museums and the fragments that do exist are often in such poor condition that they cannot definitively be identified as knitting.

Knitted tomb pillow covers and gloves were discovered in Spain in the tomb of the Prince of Castille, who died in 1275. There are thoughts, but no agreement, that they may actually have been made by a Muslim knitter who worked for the royal family. A number of other knitted accessories and garments dating from the mid-13th century were found in Spanish cathedral collections.

Tomb pillow cover: Credit – https://miimpressions.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/knitting-in-the-medieval-period/

Other documented knitted items also date from this time, including six pieces known as Chur purses. They were found farther north in Europe, in an area that is now along the border of Germany and Switzerland. They are considered to be of 14th century origin, and as with the tomb pillow covers from Spain, they were knitted in the round.

Chur purse: *Credit – http://beautyisntperfect.blogspot.com/2009/04/fo-chur-relic-purse.html*

Knitted liturgical gloves, in a cathedral collection in Toulouse (France), have been dated to the 13th century. (Note that the gloves pictured below are likely of Spanish origin) . Even farther north, a knitted fragment that was likely part of a mitten cuff was excavated in Estonia. The fragment also has been dated to the 13th century.

Early Spanish gloves: *Source – Victoria and Albert Museum*

Next up: The development of knitting in Europe before 1600

“Hold on to Your Hat”

October 21, 2024 mwharrigan@gmail.com Leave a comment

“Hold on to your hat: the ascendancy of Stewarton in Scotland’s male-dominated hand-knitting industry” is an article I wrote for Selvedge Magazine which appears in the November 2024 issue. It is based on the research for my MLitt dissertation at the University of Dundee. These images of the article are shared with the permission of Selvedge magazine. If you are interested in more information about this publication for textiles enthusiasts, visit https://www.selvedge.org/

The Scots Blue Bonnet: an Early Hand-knitting Industry

March 26, 2024 mwharrigan@gmail.com Leave a comment

I’ve recently completed a postgraduate programme in Scottish History at the University of Dundee in the UK and my dissertation for the Masters of Letters degree involved an in-depth study of the men in their guilds who controlled the earliest hand knitting enterprises known in Scotland.

Here’s an abstract of the study:

This study examines the male-dominated hand-knitting industry in Scotland from the earliest bonnetmaker guild formation in the late fifteenth century through the introduction of machine knitting in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Specifically, a comparison is made between the bonnetmaking guilds of the burgh of Dundee and the small Ayrshire town of Stewarton in respect of their management of members, products and markets. The two guilds were chosen as subjects for this research as they were the only incorporations in Scotland that exclusively produced headwear.

The flat, oversized blue bonnet so popular with the Scottish working man, which was their original product was likely copied from similar headwear worn by French clerics who travelled between the European continent and Dundee. The bonnetmakers of Dundee relied excessively on the domestic market for their income, and when that market declined, so did their fortunes. The Stewarton craftsmen, on the other hand responded to the market decline with the introduction of a new product – the nightcap – to address changing consumer preferences and later were able to capture the lucrative market in military headgear, showing additional ability to adapt. Their success continued with the export of their popular products to new markets in North America during the latter years of the eighteenth century. Bonnetmaking by hand came to an end in the second half of the nineteenth century, when knitting by machine took precedence.

Available documents from the period – including guild and court records and wills and testaments, for example – were consulted in considering the reasons for the downturn in bonnetmaking in Dundee in the mid-eighteenth century and the upsurge of production in Stewarton. Weaknesses in the Dundee organisation and a lack of entrepreneurial spirit – in failing to consider new products and markets – are compared to the better-organised guild in Stewarton and its successes in introducing products to meet changing demand and seeking additional domestic and international markets.

If you’re interested in reading the entire dissertation, you can click on the Scots Blue Bonnet tab above or you can find it here:
https://www.thismanknits.com/early-male-hand-knitters-scotland/

Traveling is an integral part of my knitting life

June 3, 2022 mwharrigan@gmail.com 4 Comments

Visit our **store** which currently features cowls and neck warmers designed and hand knit by me.

Traveling is an integral part of my knitting life

I know that I’m a lucky man. I love my home life and I love to travel – and I’ve come to realize that my knitting life spans and enhances the two. Our family unit is a small one: in addition to a wonderful spouse I have two devoted dogs – who you can see below.

For the best part of the last 20 years I’ve lived in Thailand and it has certainly become home. After working in Bangkok for many years, I’m fortunate now to be able to spend half of the week in the big city and the other half at our house by the sea – about an hour’s drive from Bangkok. From the photo below you can see the view I enjoy from where I knit.

Gulf of Thailand – view from our living room

My interest in knitting began when I was a child and my mother showed me the basics – when I was about nine years old. However, living on a farm, in that part of the northeastern US, and at that time, knitting was not one of the approved pastimes for a young boy, so the needles were put aside – for many years, in fact.

I have loved to travel all my life. I began to do some serious traveling in my 20s but in my imagination I had traveled the world from the time I was a young boy. So, although knitting wasn’t to be a part of my early life, the seed was planted – and instead I spent a lot of time with a globe of the world dreaming about the lives and cultures of people in faraway places.

Several years ago I started to knit again and it quickly became an integral part of my daily life. I bought lots of books and learned a wide range of techniques. Then I bought more books and experimented with lace, texture, and colorwork stitch patterns.

It wasn’t long before I decided to write out the instructions for my designs so I could share them with others (and remember them) – and soon discovered I could upload them to the internet. I was off on a new adventure!

Years ago I spent the better part of a year in Central America and was captivated by the colorful work of artisans in Mexico and Guatemala. Many years later my travels took me to Africa, where I was enthralled by the magic and mystery of Egypt and Morocco, and the talented artisans of South Africa.

A tile from Morocco that will be the basis for a future design

I have been fascinated by the designs of rugs in Turkey and the embroidery I’ve come across in China. There’s such an amazing wealth of hand-crafted riches throughout the world – and I certainly enjoy travels of discovery. The photo below shows part of a painted cloth I bought in South Africa that became the inspiration for my first knitting pattern, called Tribal Traces African Sampler Shawl.

Lower central section of a hand painted cloth purchased in South Africa

A couple of summers ago, we visited the Shetland Islands – long an inspiration to me – both for the knitted lace from the northern island of Unst, and the magically colorful patterns of Fair Isle. Shetland became prominent on the knitting map in the 19th century, for its Unst lace and Fair Isle color-stranded knitting.

The northern tip of the island of Unst – closer to Norway than the Scottish mainland

We took the ferries to Unst, the northernmost island, where I learned more about traditional lace patterns. The previous year I had knit samples for a research project on the authenticity of 19th-century stitch patterns that had been called Shetland lace. It was really gratifying to see some of my work on display at the Shetland Museum in Lerwick.

One of the lace samples I knit for the Shetland Museum research project

In Lerwick, Shetland’s population center, I also met Mary McGregor, the author of a book on traditional Fair Isle patterns: I bought the book and bought a fair amount of yarn for Fair Isle knitting at Jamieson’s of Shetland as well. Lerwick is the perfect place to buy Shetland yarn, of course, and in particular the 2-ply yarn that is so widely used in traditional color-stranded knitting. The photos below show a Shetland lace shawl I knit and of some of my Fair Isle and other stranded colorwork – most made with Shetland yarn.

A lace shawl with Unst patterning I knit using a 2-ply Shetland lace weight yarn

A sampling of my color-stranded knitting, including Fair Isle and Latvian stitch patterns

On a trip to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and St. Petersburg, Russia earlier this year, we had a chance to take in the scenic beauty of a part of the world that was new to us. I also had the opportunity to get some hands-on advice on color-stranding knitting technique at a popular shop in Riga, Latvia.

Hobbywool in Riga, Latvia, where I learned more about color stranding

Although working two colors of yarn on a given row or round is something I’m comfortable doing, adding a third or fourth color has always been puzzling. Now I know how to do it!

At the end of that trip, on a visit to the Russian National Museum in St. Petersburg, I found inspiration for a new colorwork design based on a piece of ethnic embroidery.

Russian (ethnic Kargopol) embroidery: design inspiration for me

My cowl design based on the embroidery above

When we travel I like to spend time in historic urban settings, visiting local artisan markets and bazaars, and admiring landscapes and natural features. I try to recreate what I have seen in stitch patterns – interpreting elements of nature, landmarks, and textiles I have encountered.

I knit because it is an integral part of my life – from days I spend by the sea at home to the time I spend visiting countries around the world. It is the way I express myself best and a means for continuing to grow as an artisan into my later years. And for that I am truly grateful.

About me:
My name is Michael Harrigan and I’m a knitwear accessory designer based in Bangkok, Thailand. I enjoy traveling the world for inspiration for my designs. My main areas of interest are lace knitting and stranded colorwork. You can find my patterns on Ravelry and lovecrafts.com.

Over the past several years I have designed lace patterns for accessories, such as scarves and cowls, shawls, other types of wraps, and hats. Many have been self-published, several have been produced for major yarn companies, and others have featured in online and print magazines.

I have been certified by The Knitting Guild Association as a Master Knitter, Knitting Technical Editor, and Knitting Judge.

Honeybees and Cats Paws Shetland-patterned Lace Shawl

July 13, 2021 mwharrigan@gmail.com Leave a comment

The inspiration for this rectangular lace wrap came from a corner of our garden. The colors were too much to resist, so I found an indie dyer in the UK to match the colorways for me. The design incorporates two traditional Shetland lace stitch patterns – Honeybees and Cats Paws – worked on a garter stitch background.

If you’d like to knit this with the colorways shown, there are contact details in the pattern for the indie dyer I worked with. Otherwise, any lace-weight or light fingering weight yarns of your choice could be substituted.

The wrap required less that one skein of each colorway.

Check out the pattern at: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/honeybees-and-cats-paws

Happy knitting!
Michael

Two New Colorwork Cowl Knitting Patterns

March 22, 2021 mwharrigan@gmail.com Leave a comment

A knitting friend of mine saw my photo of a “visibly mended” park bench and pointed out the diamond pattern in the metalwork. I happened to be working on this accessory and was in need of a name – and that’s how it became Park Bench.

The pattern calls for two colorways of Miss Babs KAWEAH: Floyd and Apple Season. You’ll need about half a skein of each for one cowl. If you wish you could knit a second cowl reversing the colors in the chart – and have one for yourself and one for a gift!

I used the remaining yarn to weave a two-color scarf on my rigid heddle loom, which you’ll see in one of the photos.

I love these colors and as always, love working with Miss Babs yarns.

The pattern for this accessory is available on Ravelry.

I enjoy designing cowls because it’s a great way to try out stitch pattern and color combinations – and also because so many knitters like a fairly quick project that doesn’t require a lot of yarn.

The second cowl I’ve recently completed is called “Not Another Cowl” — that’s what a friend of mine said when he saw it!

I was recently asked if knitting cowls ever gets boring (as it seems that I have produced quite a few cowl patterns). My reply: it’s never boring! A cowl is a relatively small canvas that allows for experimenting with stitch patterns and a variety of colorways – so how could it ever be boring?

This design was a challenge to myself: dip into the Shetland wool drawer and come up with a pleasing and somewhat subtle selection of colors that would suit the stitch patterns I had chosen.

This pattern is also available on Ravelry.

Happy Knitting!
Michael

Book Release – Travel-Inspired Knits: 10 Original Patterns for Hand Knit Accessories

September 16, 2020 mwharrigan@gmail.com Leave a comment

I am so pleased to announce that Travel-inspired Knits: 10 Original Patterns for Hand Knit Accessories was published on September 15, 2020. The print edition is available on the publisher’s website at: https://anchorandbee.bigcartel.com/product/travel-inspired-knits

A digital/ebook version is available on Ravelry at:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/travel-inspired-knits/patterns

Lacy Circles KAL: Photo Tutorial for the Circles Motif

May 31, 2020 mwharrigan@gmail.com Leave a comment

Welcome to the Lacy Circles KAL. I wanted to get us started by showing you how some of the more technically complex stitches in the Circles Motif are worked – and here’s a photo of me so you’ll know who I am!

As you’ll see I’m using a smooth and heavier weight yarn and larger-sized needles for this demo (photo credits: Wiboon Tantirittisak).
On Row 1 of the Circles pattern chart you ‘ll see an unusual symbol that takes in the three center stitches. This is known as a cluster3 and here are the three steps involved:

Keeping your yarn in back, slip 3 stitches to the right needle, purlwise.

Slip the 3 stitches back to the left needle. Move the yarn to the back and knit the 3 stitches.

On Row 3 and Row 5, there’s a central double increase (cdi) worked on the center stitch – the 8th stitch of the 15-stitch pattern. Here’s how it’s done:

First, you’ll knit through the back loop of the center stitch.

Next, you’ll knit through the front of the stitch.

Then, you need to look for the vertical bar that’s been formed by these last 2 steps..

Insert the tip of your left needle behind the vertical bar, and then insert your right needle and knit it through the back loop.

Tip: When purling the wrong-side rows it’s a good idea to remember what you did on the right-side, and to count your stitches, ensuring that you have 15 for each pattern multiple. With the fuzzy lace weight yarn the stitches can become clumped together when you’re doing the increases and you need to be sure to purl in each one of them on the wrong side.

The next stitch that is a bit unusual is the inc1 that you’ll work on Rows 13 and 15 (twice on each of these rows).

First you’ll insert your right needle down through the purl bump of the first stitch on the left needle. Knit into the back of that stitch.

Knit through the front of the stitch to complete the increase.

The final stitch I’d like to demonstrate is the central decrease (at the center of Row 13 and Row 15) that takes you from 5 stitches to 1 (5sts tog).

Insert your right needle through 3 stitches, purlwise. You will have just made a yarn over (as you can see with the yarn in front in the photo above). After slipping these 3 stitches to the right needle, move your working yarn to the back (maintaining that yarn over).

Pass the second stitch on the right needle over the first stitch (which is the center stitch).

Slip the first stitch on the right needle (the center stitch) to the left needle. Pass the second stitch on the left needle over the first stitch. Repeat these actions on the right and left needles once more. Pick up the yarn and knit the remaining stitch, making sure you have maintained the initial yarn over. (4 stitches decreased)

If you have any questions be sure to post them on the KAL site and I’ll respond as soon as possible. Enjoy Week 1!

This Man Knits