Knitting History Forum Conference 2026

Saturday 7 February 2026 – online – 11.15am to 5.30pm GMT

This event will be held live online via Eventbrite and Zoom

Please log into your Eventbrite account and update Zoom ahead of the start time

Conference programme

11.15am: Online arrivals

11.20am: Welcome by Professor Sandy Black, Knitting History Forum Chair

11.30am-12.05pm:

The development of circular knitting needles during the 20th century (see image below)

Susan Webster, collector and researcher of knitting tools, Melbourne, Australia

12.05-12.40pm:

Shetland fine lace knitting: an overview of history and design

Carol Christiansen, Curator of Collections, Shetland Museum & Archives, Scotland

12.40-1.15pm:

The Fair Isle knitting collection at National Museums Scotland: history, craft and identity

Helen Wyld, Senior Curator of Historic Textiles, National Museums Scotland

1.15-2.30pm: Refreshment break

1.45-2.20pm: Refreshment break with group chats for “show & tell” or discussions

2.30–3.05pm:

From Shetland sheep to US knitters: exploring the history of Shetland wool in handknitting in the United States 1848 to 1990

Nora Howley, knitting researcher and educator, founder of Knitting Tales, USA

3.05–3.40pm:

The multi-stranded history of hand knitting in Appalachia

Emily Hilliard, Folklorist at Berea College, Kentucky, USA

3.40–4.15pm:

Knitting the pieces together: fragments of knitted stockings from the Swedish warship Vasa 1628

Josefin Lindegren, design and art historian, Skansen Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

4.15-4.50pm:

The undelivered sweater: a 200-year-old knitting time capsule

Amanda Bevan, Prize Papers Team Leader, & Marina Casagrande, Prize Papers Project Conservator, at The National Archives; with Margretha Nónklett, Head of Ethnology, & Noomi í Dali, Lecturer in Textile Arts, Faroe Islands National Museum, Denmark

4.50-5.00pm: Thanks and closing remarks

5.00-5.20 pm: Informal chat (optional)

5.20pm: Close

Please note that there may be changes to the published programme

The conference will be recorded and ticketholders will have unlimited access to the recordings soon after the event. There will be a password protected link to the recordings. It will not be possible to download the presentations.

Please note – If you cannot join us on the day of the conference and would like to watch recordings of the presentations, please purchase a ticket in advance. It will not be possible to buy access to the recordings after the event.

Image caption and credit: Prize Papers Project conservator Marina Casagrande doing microscopic analysis of the fibres in the Faroese sweater (image: The National Archives)