Knitting History Forum Conference Report 2024

Senior conservation scientist at The National Archives, Marc Vermeulen, undertaking microfading testing with Museum of London textile conservator Emily Austin, 2022 (Image: Beatrice Behlen, © Museum of London)

The Knitting History Forum digital conference of 2024 took off at 11:15 GMT on Saturday 3 February with about 170 excited participants (with 250 tickets sold!), ready behind their screens with knitting projects for a day of research about knitting, yarn and even some crochet. Participants listened from all over the world, some even tuning in from Australia despite of, for them, the very early hour. Chair of Knitting History Forum and host for the event, Professor Sandy Black, welcomed everyone, and together with KHF team member I N Eliatamby she presented the event’s speakers and moderated questions put in the chat by the participants.

The speakers, both academics and freelance researchers, presented a wide range of interesting papers on various topics related to knitting research. As Sandy Black pointed out, practical experience and methodology are important research tools, something that was clearly reflected in the papers. There was a high interest from the participants, and the chat was alive with questions and comments.

Beatrice Behlen, senior curator of the Museum of London started the day with her paper A royal waistcoat re-examined about something of a knitting celebrity, the silk waistcoat that Charles I supposedly wore when he was beheaded in 1649. Together with researcher Jane Malcolm-Davies and a team of fibre and knitting experts, they had re-investigated the famous waistcoat inside and out. Behlen discussed what types of modern technology and research methods from the natural sciences such as microfadometry and dye analysis could be used, and what they can and can’t answer. The projects aim to combine these methods with archival research, visual investigations and reconstruction practices to further investigate the waistcoats possibly rather morbid past. The aim is also to find ways to communicate this to a wider audience, and to use citizen scientists to be able to run reconstructive experiments on a larger scale.     

Recreations of knitted-in cuff patterns of three knitted liturgical gloves
Recreations of knitted-in cuff patterns of three knitted liturgical gloves, showing the variety of such patterns, as discussed in the presentation (Image: © Lesley O’Connell Edwards)

Independent scholar Lesley O’Connell Edwards then presented her paper When there are no words: using reconstruction as a tool for understanding the creation of knitted liturgical gloves. All over Europe, there are many examples of liturgical gloves, skilfully knitted in silk and metal threads, some of which have intarsia motifs on the front. In an online database within a database called Holy Hands, most of the gloves are collected, and it is possible to compare them to one another. In her paper, O’Connell discussed the process of using reconstruction as a research tool to investigate the knitters as makers and how these gloves were constructed. She talked through what is needed for this kind of research, such as access to the actual garments or high resolution images and how to make samples.

For a researcher it is really annoying when a book or article doesn’t provide any information on its sources. That could lead to a lot of unanswered questions, but it could also lead to a Sherlock-esque investigation in the hunt for answers. That is where it led Sally Kentfield, independent scholar [and also a KHF team member], when she started to wonder about some information left out of Richard Rutt’s A history of hand knitting. Kentfield presented her detective work in a paper called The lost biography of Frances Lambert, taking us through the steps she took to find answers. With a deep dive into digital and physical archives, and by using digital humanities techniques such as corpus analysis, she showed how this kind of investigation can be conducted. She followed the traces of Lambert through the various archives, and pointed out how digitalisation can be a great help.

There was a refreshment break mid-forum, with breakout rooms in which the participants had a chance to get to know one another and have further discussions on knitting, crocheting and other yarn-related issues.  

After the break, Dr Marketta Luutonen explored the Korsnäs sweaters in her paper The fascinating Korsnäs Sweater. This sweater, originating from Korsnäs at the Ostrobotnian coast of Finland, is made by a combination of crochet and knitting. Originally made for men it seems to date back to the late half of the 19th century, but is today made for everyone. With its colourful motifs and patterning, the sweater has been a strong symbol for the rural area of Korsnäs throughout the 20th century, and its design elements are re-used as commercial elements. In her research on the relationship between human beings and products of knitting and crocheting, Luutonen notes that the design aspects of the sweater often have been more in focus then the material ones such as warmth. She has studied the process in which meaning is assigned to the Korsnäs sweater, and how its meaning to the people of Korsnäs has changed over time – from a warm, nice-looking garment to a connection to their cultural heritage and past.

Dr Katrin Kania, a freelance textile archaeologist and reconstruction practitioner, then examined yarn used for knitting for historical reconstructions and how the way that yarn is spun will have an impact on the end result. In her paper Yarns for knitting – the influence of twist she talked us through the various steps one needs to consider in choosing a yarn for a reconstruction project, such as the difference between knitting and weaving yarns, how twist influences the end result, the magic of plying and the importance of using a distaff when spinning. She also discussed tools and how much of a difference using modern tools and spinning techniques makes to the end result. Her conclusions? Well, as Kania said in her presentation – its complicated.  

Last but not least was Dr Jennifer Daley who took us on a trip to the Shetland Isles and its colourful knitting traditions. Her paper, Past and present knitters on Fair Isle: a case study of Fair isle knitted fishermen’s keps was presented as a recording, but Daley was still present and available to answer questions. By investigating the making of the hats, or keps, used by fishermen, Daley studied Fair Isle knitting and the changing traditions that surrounds it. Knitted with stranded knitting, the keps incorporate several colours and patterns that would be combined based on the knitters’ preferences and skills. To preserve the cultural heritage connected to the knitting, the Fair Isle knitters only consider items knitted with 100% Shetland wool, using no more than two colours each row and traditional designs as “official” Fair isle knitting. The habit of selling the knitted goods to tourists is still alive, even if a lot of the knitted keps sold are now made on knitting machines.

Julia Holm, PhD Candidate in Textile Studies, Uppsala University

Knitting History Forum Conference Report 2023

Knitting History Forum/Early Knitting History Group Reconstruction Knitted Sanquhar Glove courtesy of Kirstie Buckland. PLEASE DO NOT USE IMAGE WITHOUT PERMISSION

This year’s Knitting History Forum (KHF) digital conference took place on Saturday 28 January, starting at 11:15 CTE. Professor Sandy Black, chair of KHF, welcomed everyone and encouraged the participants from all corners of the world to knit while listening, to everyone’s delight. The conference provided the near 200 participants with some very interesting papers on new research concerning knitting practices and the social and historical contexts of knitting. Participants were asked to put their questions in the chat to be moderated by morning and afternoon hosts Sally Kentfield and Sandy Black. It was clear from the number of questions that the papers generated a lot of thoughts and insights. The conference had two breaks, which of the longer one had well-attended themed breakout rooms for discussions, including one for socialising.

Kristi Jõeste from Viljandi Culture Academy, University of Tartu, Estonia, gave the first presentation on the Reconstructing Estonian mittens and gloves heritage from the insider’s perspective: problems and outcomes. Jõeste is a researcher of knitted items from Estonia, mainly mittens and gloves, and also educates students in traditional crafts. She is the author of the books Estonian Knitting 1: traditions and Techniques and Estonian Knitting 3: mittens. In her paper, she discussed using close examination and experimental practice-based research methods while studying knitted garments in museum storage. She explained she brings her own needles with her as a research tools while documenting a museum piece in order to be able to try out a new stitch. Jõeste also talked about the problems with modern reconstructions, and that exact replicas are hard to achieve due to changes in wool quality and practices. We also learnt a little about the evolution of design and shape in Estonian knitted mittens during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

Hélène Magnússon is a tour guide in Iceland, a knitwear designer, and author of several books on Icelandic knitting, including Icelandic handknits. In her presentation, Icelandic knitting traditions, she gave a walk-through the knitting history of Iceland, and how knitting practices changed with developments in national and international politics. She also told us what kind of items were knitted and how Icelandic people used different parts of the fleece for different purposes to use all its characteristics to the full. Magnússon also touched on how some Icelandic knitting traditions are closely connected to Iceland’s tourism business, such as the popular Lópi sweater that was commercialised in the 1950s.

Irene Waggener is an independent researcher and author from Armenia who presented her paper Keepers of the sheep: Knitting in Morocco’s High Atlas and Beyond based on her research for her book of the same name. She talked us through her experience in using participant observation to research knitting methods, patterns and practices among goat herders in the Moroccan High Atlas area. North Africa is, as Waggener states, an area that has been under-researched when it comes to textile practices such as knitting, despite there being several historical knitted items from the region in museums all over the globe – some being considered almost compulsory parts of knitting history. Waggener proposed several possibilities in connecting the history of these antique pieces and the knitting done by the men she studied, and pointed out some possible future research areas.

Frankie Owens is a knitting practitioner who, in a recorded presentation, gave a demonstration of Knitting the Peruvian way: traditions. She showed us Peruvian knitting practices such as how the knitters tension the yarn around their necks when knitting with several colours at once. She also spoke about the hooked knitting needles used for knitting in the Andes, how to fashion them from bicycle spokes, and how to use them. Owens also discussed how knitting had developed in the Andes after being introduced by the conquistadors in the 16th century.

Last and definitely most colourful came Cynthia LeCount Samaké who presented her paper Andean Knitting update: stunning synthetics of Peru and Bolivia, and made a stand for acrylic knitting yarn. She took us on a journey through Peru and Bolivia, explaining knitting traditions and practices, and discussed the practicalities of using acrylic yarn. The participants also followed her on a journey through Peruvian and Bolivian knitting fashions considering the creative ways of patterning the pieces used by the knitters, which include anything which takes their fancy in the moment. This includes traditional patterns and religious motifs but also images connected to the everyday world such as boxers, motorbikes and comic figures.

Thanks to Knitting History Forum’s committee and Jodie Cox for her technical support during the day. It was a very enjoyable programme and I for one look forward to the next KHF event!

Julia Holm, PhD Candidate in Textile Studies, Uppsala University

Knitting History Forum 2021 Conference Report

This year’s Knitting History Forum Conference was a fascinating and informative journey through knitting history and traditions featuring a roster of informative speakers presenting papers on a diverse range of topics making the 13th of November 2021 event a well-rounded conference. The theme for 2021 was Heads, Hands and Feet and the conference examined knitted artefacts and evidence of their production and social context from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The conference was a virtual, online event similar to last year, kicking off with 10 am start. For those of us in Ontario, Canada however, the conference started at an early 5 am. And that early morning alarm clock wake-up was so very well worth it!

Conference presentation topics included:

  • Knitted caps from the 16th century and their relation to the fez
  • Stockings and stocking production in 16th and 17th century England and The Netherlands
  • 18th century bluestockings
  • Hand-knitting in the Indian subcontinent
  • Knitting literature and practice in the 19th century
  • Early liturgical gloves
  • And so much more!

Conference speakers were Kirstie Buckland, Gieneke Arnolli, Lesley O’Connell Edwards, Pat Poppy, Hanna Bäckström, Jane Malcolm-Davies, Angharad Thomas, Pragya Sharma, Constance Willems and Nicole Pohl as well as a follow-up by Sandy Black on her presentation at the 2020 KHF Conference.

Knitted caps from the Sixteenth century

The day’s programme opened with Kirstie Buckland, Hon President, of the Knitting History Forum, who presented From fleece to fez in fifteen steps: an interpretation of the 1571 Cappers Act in the 21st century. Buckland shared information about the history of woollen caps and British cappers who made them, writing that, “The wool caps were widely appreciated from the 13th century to the changing fashions of the 16th century.” Buckland noted a marked similarity between surviving British woollen caps in historical collections and the production of fez caps in Tunis today. On a trip to Tunis, Buckland happened upon a stall of a fez maker and discovered that, like the early British caps, the modern Tunisian fezzes were actually knit first and then fulled. She watched as the artisan used a teasel to full the knitted caps, a process no doubt similar to the method employed by British cappers.

Harlingen hosiery shops in the 17th century

Next up was Gieneke Arnolli, former curator of the Fries Museum, Leeuwarden, the Netherlands who gave a presentation on Inlandic, Foreign and Speckled Stockings from Harlingen hosiery shops in the 17th century. Arnolli based her paper on inventories, from between 1637 and 1668, of hosiery shops in Harlingen, a harbour town in Friesland (Fryslân), the large, northwestern Dutch province. At the time, Harlingen was the northern gateway of the Republic of the United Netherlands.

Arnolli reported that knitted stockings or “hose” could be bought ready-made in the 17th century, making them an early form of ready-to-wear clothing, as well as valuable exporting items. The craft of stocking knitting was done by men and women, who were members of a guild. Most of the Harlingen stocking shops were held in the name of (married) women; and there were always two women involved in inventorying, as licenced valuers. The stockings traded in the shops were nearly always made of wool. The shops were like workshops with knitting supplies on hand such as knitting yarn, whalebones or iron wire for making knitting needles, and moulds in the shape of a leg for stretching the knitted stockings around.

Elizabethan and Jacobean Hand-knitted Stockings

Lesley O’Connell Edwards, an Independent Researcher from the UK, then presented her paper, From anecdote to statistic: in search of quantifiable data for the volume of production and trade in hand knitted stockings made from wool in England in the later Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.

Edwards’ paper shows that it is possible to provide quantifiable data when it comes to the history of stocking knitting. From her abstract: “After touching on the amount of wool that might be needed for a pair of stockings, the paper will concentrate on the number of stockings being produced and traded, both within England and as exports, and reveal who the traders could be.  It will then consider knitters as a socio-economic group and produce an estimate of how many there could be in the early seventeenth century. Finally, it will show how sometimes different categories of records can be brought together to paint a broader picture of stocking knitting, using (fine) jersey stocking knitting in Norwich and Yarmouth as a case study.”

Knitted garments in Seventeenth century accounts

After the break, Pat Poppy reported on knitted garments in Stuart accounts with “3 pounds Wostid in niting”: Knitted garments in Stuart accounts. From the abstract: “An ongoing project created a database of information on clothing from the Stuart period. The database contains around 23,000 references, only a few are to knitting or to knitted garments. These do however provide an insight into what was being produced and how. The bulk of the garments are stockings, followed by small numbers of gloves, cuffs, a waistcoat and a doublet.” Poppy’s presentation examined changing terminology, particularly around references to stockings, the extent to which knitted items were purchased or ordered and the values put on the finished items, including cost of yarn and cost of knitting.

Nineteenth century stocking knitting literature

Hanna Backstrom’s paper, “There are few ladies who cannot knit stockings” – Printed instructions, norms and practice in the nineteenth century, was next in the presentation lineup. Bäckström, PhD in Textile Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden, explained that in research on the history of knitting, stockings are often mentioned as a key item. The stockings themselves are often well described but the development of the printed instructions on how to make them has not been given the same attention. Backstrom’s paper examines how the publication of instructions for knitting stockings changed over time. She also explored what was thought of as women’s work in nineteenth century Sweden and how knitting was considered to be an appropriate activity for women from all social backgrounds, as professional livelihood, domestic chore or ladylike accomplishment, but interestingly, “Most of the printed manuals were aimed at middle- and upper-class women, and in these publications the knitting of stockings was framed as a fashionable, graceful and feminine activity, tied to bourgeoisie gender ideals.”

Examining the body of evidence for early knitting.

Jane Malcolm-Davies, Associate professor of textile analysis, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, presented her paper, Heads, hands and feet: Examining the body of evidence for early knitting. Malcolm-Davies has been working at developing a more scientific approach to historic textile studies. In her abstract, she writes, “Rigorous object-based research (at the macro and micro-level) promised by scientific enquiry and the insights offered by craft expertise now need to be integrated into the interpretive framework of traditional contextual studies of dress and textile history. “  Malcolm-Davies notes that our understanding of prehistoric and ancient dress has been increased by “innovative cross-cultural academic collaboration” and points out study of early modern garments could also reap the benefit of further interdisciplinary work : “Textile and dress history offers similarly fertile ground for new teams of collaborators to harvest new knowledge.”

Malcolm-Davies’ presentation was quite enlightening. Textile study can blaze a trail, Malcolm-Davies stated, integrating many facets of scientific investigation including technical, scientific, and craft. According to Malcolm-Davies, “We are all digital archaeologists.”

Holy Hands: Studies of knitted liturgical gloves

This paper, presented by Angharad Thomas and Lesley O’Connell Edwards, shared the findings of the Holy Hands project, which ran between March 2020 and August 2021, researching knitted liturgical gloves. The Knitting in Early Modern Europe (KEME) and Holy Hands research projects came together to catalogue nearly 100 examples of knitted liturgical gloves.

“The project to date has identified ninety-six knitted liturgical gloves in collections worldwide, which have been added to the online database at www.kemeresearch.com. Angharad and Lesley provided links to photographs and added details according to the protocol for recording evidence for early knitting developed by Dr Jane Malcolm-Davies, Ruth Gilbert and Susanne Lervad. Dr Sylvie Odstrčilová contributed to the examination and recording of the knitted gloves, much of which was achieved remotely owing to the challenges of covid and travel restrictions.”

Thomas used the Protocol for Recording Early Knitwork mentioned above, a textile identification form originally published in Archaeological Textiles Review No. 60. The form outlines 9 categories including item identification, item material, and yarn structure and fabric structure to name a few. This form would be of great help to researchers new to textile identification and working at reproductions. This knitter is definitely interested in using the protocol for future reconstruction projects.

Hand Knitting in the Indian subcontinent

Pragya Sharma of the Indian Institute of Art and Design (IIAD), New Delhi, India, shared her paper on handknitting in India with the fascinating presentation, From jorab (socks) to dastana (gloves): Tracing provenance of hand knitting in the Indian subcontinent. Sharma provided a survey of the history of knitting in India, touching on the knitting contributions of various groups of people including the Moravian missionaries who brought their own knitting traditions to India. Sharma’s abstract states, “Hand knitting is a widely practised craft by women in contemporary India, irrespective of age, culture, or class and this has been the case since the eighteenth century. The earliest reference to knitting from the subcontinent is from the seventeenth century by Dutch colonisers.” The images Sharma shared of the mittens and gloves were quite striking. The pattern motifs, placement of colours (for instance the red-tipped glove fingers) and overall colour choices were quite different than patterns this knitter has come across; the frequent use of reds was quite eye-catching and beautiful.

Reconstructing Sixteenth Century Dutch Stockings

Constance Willems, a designer, researcher and writer from the Netherlands presented, Little 16th Century Feet. The hidden secret of Dutch Groningen´s knitted stocking of 1540, excavated in 2000 in the canal Gracht van Alva, Prinsenstraat 11 in Groningen and reconstructed in 2020 in the Netherlands. Willems spoke about the reconstructions of knitted stockings from the canal Gracht van Alva and handknitting in Groningen. In her abstract, Willems wrote about her reconstruction experience this way, “… as I am reconstructing and have reached the point where I have to decrease the rows of the heel, something very special happens…. and what I thought the heel was, suddenly under my knitting hands, becomes a beautifully shaped part of the sole.”

This point I found very exciting and an encouraging note to any stitcher attempting a recreation. There is so much value in trying to make the old new again as new information can be revealed during the process. An old wool stocking is not just an old wool stocking – it’s a valuable piece of material culture deserving of attention. Things are not always what they seem or what we expect. The process of reconstruction reveals more information than a visual inspection can ever provide.

Knitwits: Knitting the Bluestockings

In her paper titled Knitwits: Knitting the Bluestockings. Knitting and the 18th century salonNicole Pohl, Oxford Brookes University, UK, explored the material culture of the famous eighteenth-century salon of the Bluestockings with a specific focus on the material production and iconography of the ‘blue stockings’. The basis for the paper are the original letters written by the Bluestockings as digitised and edited by The Elizabeth Montagu Correspondence Online (EMCO). Pohl’s abstract explains, “The Bluestockings were a group of men and women who met in the London, Dublin and Bath homes of fashionable hostesses Elizabeth Montagu, Elizabeth Vesey (c.1715-91) and Frances Boscawen (1719-1805) from the 1750s.” Pohl shared that eventually the label ‘Bluestockings’ came to designate, often in a negative sense, a group of learned and intellectual women.

Kate Davies, a Scottish knit designer, established a modern Bluestockings Club in May 2021. The Bluestockings Club celebrates and explores the lives and work of the important group of intellectual women known as the “bluestockings” by examining the history of sock knitting and knitting their own bluestockings.

Classic Knits of the 1980s

Sandy Black, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, UK, shared her book, Classic Knits of the 1980s – a book of colourful knitwear designs. In Part 1 of the book, Black shared her own approach to designing and gathering inspiration, her design process, plus colourwork tips and techniques. Part 2 focused on her 24 knitting designs for sweaters, cardigans, jackets and longer-length tunics, and accessories. Conference delegates enjoyed looking through the images of various patterns and designs. Black’s beautiful colour, geometric and textural designs were praised and commented on, no doubt inspiring many to start a new project or two.

Heads, Hands and Feet – a wealth of information and inspiration

The Knitting History Forum Conference 2021 was packed full of information, the knowledgeable presenters representing an extensive, diverse network of historical knitting professionals. If you have a question about knitting history, you are not alone – this is the community that can help. As a knitter just getting into studying historic patterns and reproducing vintage knitted items (with no formal textile history training), this conference offered a wealth of useful information featuring many absorbing presentations. There was such a lot of information to take in; I look forward to seeing the recorded video presentations just so I can enjoy them all once more. Thank you to all the people who worked to make the conference a reality and to all the speakers who shared their extensive knowledge. Attending this knitting history conference was an invaluable, inspirational experience!

Sharlene Young-Bolen

If you would like to learn more, click the following link to read abstracts of the conference papers mentioned by Sharlene in her report. You can also keep up with the latest news from Knitting History Forum online:

http://knittinghistory.co.uk
https://groups.io/g/knittinghistory
https://twitter.com/KnitHistForum
https://www.facebook.com/KnittingHistoryForum
https://www.instagram.com/knittinghistoryforum/
https://www.ravelry.com/groups/knitting-history-forum

Knitting History Forum 2020 Conference Report

Reconstruction Knitted Sanquhar Glove courtesy of Kirstie Buckland. PLEASE DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION!

Due to the global pandemic, the KHF Committee decided to hold the 2020 AGM and Conference virtually and to extend a welcome to attendees from all time-zones around the world. The response was extremely enthusiastic and tickets were booked up very quickly. Approximately 120 attendees joined via Zoom from countries including the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland and the Nether-lands.

Alongside the excellent presentations, fascinating points and questions were raised by participants via the Zoom chat function. Some of these have been included in this report. However, there is no doubt that the discussions will continue on the KHF group discussion forum, https://groups.io/g/knittinghistory. Please join in!

The morning began with a warm welcome from our Chair, Professor Sandy Black. After the AGM, which will be reported separately, participants joined one of two breakout groups. The first group was a show and tell open session, exploring “What I made during lockdown”. This session began with Susan North’s amazing crochet toys. During lockdown, Susan has so far crocheted forty-three different critters. Her creative and colourful creatures range from a selection of urban pests to an English beaver, a Highland cow and a Louisiana alligator. Her wide range of subjects also includes sea creatures, monsters and dinosaurs and her next project is a “creepy critters” collection!

Roxanne Richardson shared the extensive learning opportunities from knitting a 1920’s knitting pattern. The 1920’s jumper can be viewed on Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Rox/indian-slip-on-no-13a and there is an accompanying video https://youtu.be/4cxNbJoWXB4. A link to a 1904 pattern ‘Edwardian Sweater’ can also be viewed on Ravelry. https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Rox/columbia-sweater

Kirk Dunn, a textile artist who apprenticed with Kaffe Fassett, shared three hand-knitted stained glass windows that took 15 years to create. http://www.kirkdunn.com/knitting#stitched-glass

Marleen Laag shared that the company EE Exclusives made a knitting wall-hanging for King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, which had a lot of media coverage. https://www.ee-exclusives.com/portfolio/furniture/for-sale-bouquet-v-a-unique-double-sided-wall-hanging/

The second group attended two presentations by PhD candidates.

Michelle Hanks, London College of Fashion, considered knitting as a thinking tool in her presentation “I’ll have to knit about it”. Michelle selected four items from her research to illustrate her ideas and processes. A large knitted blanket project was a fascinating record of her own mood and feelings as compared to the same day’s Twitter headlines. A double-sided, reversible sweater with mirror-imaged lettering “Good enough” was extremely thought-provoking, especially when Michelle revealed her discovery that the words on the inside of the sweater became readable in selfie photographs. The links between the complexity of knitting project and an individual’s mood and feelings provided fascinating insights. Maintaining control over the knitted stitches was also considered as an important element linked to well-being.

Emily Rickard, Nottingham Trent University, introduced us to her free knitting experi-ments. These knitted responses are used as a means of exploring the use of creative, open-ended knitting as a form of journaling to record emotions, with consideration for mental well-being. A discussion point raised during the presentation suggested that free knitting has parallels with “automatic writing” and with Julia Cameron’s “morning pages”. Emily developed her free knitting proposals though interviews with knitters. This allowed her to establish clear parameters for her research. At the end of her presentation, Emily made a request for new participants to join her research. If you are interested in finding out more, please do contact her on emily.rickard@ntu.ac.uk.

Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, Director of the Textile Research Centre (TRC), Leiden, The Netherlands, opened the afternoon Conference with her presentation about knitted highlights from the TRC Collection. In particular, the Socks & Stockings Exhibition (2019) featured exhibits from many different countries, and the results of the Texel Silk Stocking project led by Chrystel Brandenburgh. This exhibition included a wall of socks created with items borrowed from Annemor Sundbo’s Ragpile Collection in Norway https://annemor.com/. Gillian showed a surprise object in this section — a knitted snake! This snake had been constructed using seventeen different styles of sock heels, demonstrating just how many techniques exist within only one aspect of sock knitting.
https://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/
https://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc/index.php/en/2-uncategorised/840-socksastocking-a-world-full-of-surprises

Lynn Abrams, University of Glasgow, presented an excellent overview of “From Fleece to Fashion: researching the history of knitted textiles in Scotland”. The following quote is from The University of Glasgow knitting and textile history blog, where you can find out more about Fleece to Fashion and other research projects. There are also links to the University’s own Cochno yarn. “This project’s aim is to transform understanding of a) creativity: the relationship between materials, designs, techniques, and skills used to produce knitted textiles across Scotland; b) authenticity: why and how knitted textiles have become synonymous with Scottish heritage and c) sustainability: how knitting has survived — through adaptation — as both an indigenous craft and industrial practice from the late-eighteenth through late-twentieth centuries, and what is required for its survival in the twenty-first century and beyond.”
http://knithistory.academicblogs.co.uk/university-of-glasgow-wool/

Jade Halbert, University of Huddersfield, drew on her own family experiences in her fas-cinating talk, “Knitting for Money: homework in Glasgow and beyond in the 1980s”. Using interviews with her aunts and her mother, Jade described small-scale knitwear businesses that were set up and run within the Easterhouse area of Glasgow in the 1980s. Using knitting machines, her aunts made sweaters and cardigans and sold them to local residents. Jade highlighted the contrast between this machine-knitted garment production and her mother’s experience of hand-knitting garments for a “designer” shop. These ob-servations showed the difference between what the garment knitter was paid and how much a garment could subsequently be sold for. Several participants shared their own family experiences, including teaching machine-knitting and making garments for shops and local communities.
https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/persons/jade-halbert

The 1980s theme continued into Sandy Black’s presentation,” On being a knitwear designer in the 1980s”. Sandy’s creative use of a wide range of different inspirations, including landscapes, texture and colour in her work, prompted many admiring comments in the chat. Sandy was also asked about her background in mathematics which prompted a discussion of the strong links between maths and science and knitwear design. The presentation concluded with the exciting news about Sandy’s forthcoming Crowood Press book! For the book ‘Classic Knits of the 1980s’, Sandy has recreated some of her favourite knitwear from the 1980s, placing them in context with the inspiration for the designs. Another of Sandy’s excellent books, ‘Knitting: Fashion, Industry, Craft’, is currently available from the V&A bookshop.
https://www.arts.ac.uk/research/ual-staff-researchers/sandy-black
https://www.vam.ac.uk/shop/knitting-fashion-industry-craft-110124.html

The next two presentations explored the subject of knitted gloves. In “Two pairs of 18th Century Abbess’s gloves from Prague”, Sylvie Odstrčilová, an independent researcher from the Czech Republic shared her fascinating research. The audience were entranced by Sylvie’s detailed examination of the construction of the gloves, especially the differences between the pairs of gloves that became apparent upon close viewing. For example, slits present on the thumb and two forefingers of each glove had several possible uses. Each were carefully considered by Sylvie before reaching the fascinating conclusion of linking them to rosary beads. Sylvie’s research will be published in the Archaeo-logical Textiles Review (no 62) at the end of the year. It will be free to access online from early January 2021. https://ctr.hum.ku.dk/articlesbooks/atn/

Lesley O’Connell Edwards and Angharad Thomas, both independent researchers from the UK, introduced us to their current shared research, “Holy Hands: studies of knitted liturgical gloves”. In one section of their talk, they explained the development of a protocol to record observations where there are a large number of elements to be included. Deciding on a consistent approach to the order of examination is key to gaining an understanding of the gloves. When considering the reconstruction of a glove, several challenges emerged including charting the motifs and patterns, as well considering how colour-work was handled. The extremely fine gauge of the knitting was also highlighted. This prompted a fascinating discussion of the tools required to knit with this fine gauge silk. A participant suggested that fine smooth needles could have been supplied by goldsmiths or armourers. The project will also be written up as a work in progress report in Archaeological Textiles Review (no 62). Liturgical gloves can be found in the collection of the Worshipful Company of Glovers. http://www.glovecollectioncatalogue.org/

For the final presentation of the day, we were joined by Emily Whitted, PhD candidate from the University of Massachusetts, USA. Emily presented her Master’s research, “Made in Germantown: Analysis of an Early American Frame Knitting Industry”, tracing the life cycle of Germantown stockings as they passed through the hands of their makers, users, and repairers in eighteenth-century Philadelphia. To gain an understanding of frame knitting machine operation, Emily undertook hands-on research at Ruddington Framework Museum in the UK. Learning to set-up and make her own samples on a frame knitting machine showed her the complexity of working in this way. Her descriptions of carrying out repairs to the knitting machine and actually making the spare parts were in-sightful.
https://www.umass.edu/history/emily-whitted
https://www.frameworkknittersmuseum.org.uk/

Thank you to the KHF Committee for organising and hosting this excellent event.

Please do keep in touch with Knitting History Forum through the following links to continue the excellent discussions and conversations started during the Conference.

http://knittinghistory.co.uk
https://groups.io/g/knittinghistory
https://twitter.com/KnitHistForum
https://www.facebook.com/KnittingHistoryForum
https://www.instagram.com/knittinghistoryforum/
https://www.ravelry.com/groups/knitting-history-forum

Emma Vining

2019 Knitting History Forum Conference Report

Knitting History Symposium
Conference organised by the TRC Leiden and the Knitting History Forum
Leiden, November 2, 2019

Or

A Knitting Weekend in Leiden

Almost a year ago I spent a fantastic weekend all about knitting in Leiden, taking part in the Knitting History Symposium on the 17th century “Texel Silk Stocking” on Saturday and visiting the TRC Leiden where the KHF AGM was held on Sunday, as well as some of the sights of Leiden. I was so busy taking notes I did not take any pictures at the conference itself but I did in the exhibition on Sunday, which showcased most of the samples and reproduction stockings of the project.

The keynote lecture of the symposium was about the reconstruction of the 17th century Texel stocking finds by a citizen science community, under Chrystel Brandenburgh.

The stockings came from wreck number BZN17, and we now know it was an armed Dutch merchant ship that sank about 1645-1660.

The two goals for the project were to involve people who are not normally part of archaeological research but have the expertise needed for a reproduction, in this case experienced knitters, and to be able to repeat the experiment. More than a hundred people volunteered!

The original stocking was made from reeled, not spun, silk, and knitted in the round. It was examined with a Dino-Lite microscope. All information was gained from that examination, the stocking was not turned or otherwise disturbed.

The citizen science project involved knitting test swatches with different types of silk (some already de-gummed, some still containing the sericin, and different size needles, 0.7mm and 1mm, to find the right material and gauge for the reconstruction. The original measured 83 stitches and 100 rows for a 10cm square! The test pieces measured 5x5cm and took on average 5 hours to complete, and required 15m of silk, which means a stocking would need 1080m.

After the test swatch stage, about 40 people continued with the experiment by knitting a complete stockings, and as of the date of the conference 27 stockings were finished. Knitting with the silk that still contained the sericin proved easiest and quickest, and blocking the stocking after removing the gum also brought the most uniform result.

Using a wooden former to shape the stockings after washing (and de-gumming) was based on the existence of an extant example of the period in Denmark, and English records mentioning wooden stocking formers. Uneven knitting and a certain amount of difference in gauge did not matter after removing the sericin and blocking the stocking.

It is impossible to tell how long it would take to knit a stocking in period. Those knitters that knitted more than one stocking reported that the time it took to knit the second one was almost half of the first, showing how much familiarity with the material and the way to knit speeded up the process.

The papers in the Knitting History conference itself were all connected to the Texel Stocking project. The first section was about stocking production in Europe, showcasing current research in knitting history:

  • Lesley O’Connell Edwards’ “A hidden workforce: hand knitters in 17th century England” focused on evidence of who was knitting and what was being produced, and the research is centred on Norfolk and Suffolk. There is less information available on this topic for the 17th century than for the 16th century, and council and probate records are so far the best sources. Items produced by knitting included caps, gloves, petticoats (short jackets), stockings or hose, and waistcoats. There was no guild for knitters, but knitting was something taught, not necessarily learned in the family. Interestingly, although men were listed as teachers, very few men were listed as being taught. Silk hand knitters are mentioned in 1619 but there is not much more information about this aspect of knitting.
  • Sylvie Odstrcilova’s paper “Early modern stockings from the Czech Republic and neighbouring countries: The story continues” offered a fascinating glimpse into the variety of extant stockings in this area, and built on her research published in NESAT and ATR. Her findings of the similarity of the stockings of Imrich Thurzo in Orava Castle to the Texel stocking opened questions regarding manufacture and import of silk stockings throughout Europe.
  • Hanna Backstrom’s paper “The earliest printed knitting patterns” compared what the printed patterns looked like and who they were made for, to a hand written 17th century notebook, possibly from a knitter’s workshop. This was one of the highlights of the conference for me. It raised lots of interesting questions as to how they used the charts, diagrams and sketches contained in this book, especially in contrast to the printed books which seem to have been designed for a different audience.

The first afternoon section was dedicated to projects inspired by the Texel Stocking project:

  • Art Ness Proano Gaibor’s “Dye experiments on the Texel Stocking” was an interesting paper on how period dye recipes can have an impact on our modern lives, and how diverse the period recipes for dyeing black were – some doing more harm to the fabric than others.
  • Geeske Kruseman’s findings of her report “wearing 17th century knitted silk stockings” really surprised me. Two people wore two pairs of the stockings produced by the citizen science project with period reproduction shoes in everyday life and recorded their subjective and objective observations. Although the experiment was cut short, they still got some data. The stockings showed no signs of wear after an accumulated 139 hours of wear, kept their shape after washing, and were comfortable to wear in hot and cold weather. Afterwards everyone with the right foot size (European 38) got a chance to try the stockings , and I personally loved the experience! The stocking is very light and smooth to wear, you sort of forget you have it on, and the lack of stretch that we have come to expect from wool stockings wasn’t missed due to the garter holding the stocking up, and the fact that the stocking fitted me perfectly. It would be interesting to repeat this experiment with a wider range of participants.
  • Sally Pointer reported on her experience of making a replica for the re-enactment market based on the Texel stocking and using a 19th century knitting machine. She started with a wool version to test the design and then made a version with spun silk. She had to alter the key features to work with the much lower stitch count possible with the knitting machine, reducing the patterns produced by the purl stitches by about one third, and producing a stocking with a similar pattern but clearly different to the original. key question: “Though we can do it, should we?” The stocking she produced is much quicker to produce than the hand knitted ones, but still took a considerable time to make and it leaves the question how it would compare being worn to a non-patterned, machine-knit silk stocking and the replica hand knitted ones.

The last section consisted of papers based on Citizen Science Projects:

  • In “How not to knit: Sourcing silk, research and reconstructions reviewed” Susan North shared with us her insights into the problems encountered and mistakes made when making reconstruction silk stockings for the Original Practice at the Globe Theatre, and how difficult it was to find any information on tools, materials, and methods.
  • Jane Malcolm-Davies’ paper “Modern Slavery and the early modern work ethic: Lessons learned from volunteer participation in knitting in early modern Europe” gave insights into the experiences made by her and the volunteers in the Knitting in Early Modern Europe (KEME) project. She discussed how using volunteers in knitting (a notoriously underpaid work activity) raises the question to what extent Citizen Science is exploitative, and how much can be learned from the knitwork produced, and the process of knitting it. The focus has to be on what the benefits for the volunteers are as well as the researcher/scientist, and it is interesting that the KEME volunteers listed a similar range of benefits as the Texel stocking project participants.

The following panel discussion followed along similar lines, and I loved the new-to-me emphasis on the social aspect of taking part in a Citizen Science project, and the emphasis on being mindful of the nature of these experiments versus lab experiments, and that there have to be mutual benefits for the researcher and scientist as well as the volunteer.

My stay extended to Sunday for the Knitting History Forum AGM, and so I had a chance to visit the exhibition about the stockings in the Textile Research Centre, showcasing all the finished stockings, the former, all the samples and the ingenious holders some of the knitters had come up with to keep the cone of silk from unravelling while being able to knit off it easily. Also part of the exhibition was a treasure trove of patterned socks and stockings, and sample boards of different heel and toe varieties, as well as other knitting samples. I came away with so much inspiration!

We also were given a short tour of the facilities, making me want to come back to study some of the beautiful knitted and crocheted items in the collection. In the afternoon we visited the weaver’s house and the Laakenhal museum, all places I am looking forward to visiting again!

Christine Carnie

2018 KHF AGM & Conference

After a year notable for the extraordinary, in weather and in much else, November has rolled around once more. Knitting History Forum’s unique annual conference and AGM for 2018 was held last Saturday. The day’s proceedings informed, amused and intrigued.

The conference itself was packed with more papers than at any previous KHF event. Six very different but equally eloquent speakers presented. Our Chair Prof Sandy Black opened proceedings, then Annemor Sundbø opened an apparently unremarkable suitcase to reveal a wonderful selection of knitted garments she had rescued from destruction.

These treasures, ranging from the strictly utilitarian and functional to highly decorative expressions of love, form a record of Norwegian knitting traditions and dress history, many with signs of multiple repairs and multiple lives, such as cardigans and jumpers turned into underwear or swimming costumes.

Celia Pym’s paper followed on directly from this, beginning with a jumper from Annemor’s ‘ragpile’ that Celia had visibly darned in white wool and going on to deeply moving accounts of repair work, including two well-loved jumpers, one belonging to her family GP Bill, and the second to Celia’s great-uncle Roly, which involved adding to her great-aunt Elizabeth’s sturdy and very individual darning.

Rachael Matthews discussed her work as textile artist, writer, teacher and activist with refreshing honesty. Her paper took the form of an humourous but candid alternative to her recent book, expressing knitters’ struggles and low points illustrated by examples from Rachael’s own practice and experience and observing truthfully how knitting can divide as well as unite.

After a short break, the conference resumed with Cary Karp speaking on the use in Great Britain of hooked-tip knitting needles, the distinction from and adoption of crochet hooks and the terminology and structure of the different techniques. His precise and incisive paper, tracing this history through the published work of nineteenth-century knitting writers, was a model of clarity. Jana Trepte’s well-received paper examined the fragments recovered in Bremen of everyday knitted garments of the early seventeenth century and concentrated on one large piece from a knitted wool waistcoat with knitted-in shaping, comparing it to surviving examples of elite waistcoats of silk and wool.

Ellie Reed’s paper presented an evaluation of the target readership of ‘Woman’s Weekly’ in 1958. Her analysis of the social and cultural significance of ‘ordinary’ domestic knitting as presented in the magazine was confirmed and expanded by the memories of several delegates. Both this and the final presentation by Lorna Hamilton-Brown underlined the importance of collecting oral history from living knitters of all backgrounds. Lorna’s paper on black knitters was both revelatory and entertaining, enlivened by a brilliant video, ‘Knitters of the Caribbean’. Securing funding for further, doctoral research is vital. The memories Lorna collected from older generations of black knitters in the Caribbean showed similarities to otherwise very different geographical and cultural knitting traditions, such as knitting needles made from palm leaves, a practice also found in Malaysia, or more expensive metal bicycle spokes, still frequently used in Peru.

Sandy had loosely arranged the conference presentations around a theme of mending and repair. Other themes emerged during the course of the day, such as recovery of unexplored, hidden or unvalued histories of knitters and knitting; of moving beyond limits of tired tropes and preconceptions; of fresh methods and fields of research; of breaking new ground while re-considering and consolidating the old. One point certainly highlighted by all six presentations is that the ingenuity and resourcefulness of knitters, crafters and needleworkers everywhere is unbounded.

The KHF AGM in the morning was hopeful in outlook, with suggestions for future events and new ways for Knitting History Forum to participate in wider discussion and continue to build up networks of knitting history research. The display tables held an eclectic array of knitting-related items, including exquisite nineteenth-century garments and a stunning modern reproduction from the collection of Gieneke Arnolli; modern publications by Annemor Sundbø, Rachael Matthews and Lise Warburg; nineteenth and twentieth-century knitting books brought by Joyce Meader from her extensive collection; new work by Philippa Thomas incorporating real gold, and much more.

Many thanks to all of our fantastic speakers for their papers, our delegates for stimulating discussion and to Sandy Black for arranging another really thought-provoking conference that could be enjoyed by scholars and knitters of all levels of interest. KHF Membership Secretary and Treasurer Tricia Basham deserves special thanks for valiantly joining us straight after a very long Knitting and Crochet Guild board meeting. It was wonderful to see friends old and new and see the results of some exceptional scholarship. Here’s to another excellent year of knitting history networking and research.

The Pasold Research Fund Conference 2012

THE PASOLD RESEARCH FUND CONFERENCE 2012
NORDISKA MUSEET, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN. 27-29 September, 2012

Innovation before the Modern, Cloth and Clothing in the Early Modern World
Jointly organised by the University of Uppsala, Stockholm University,
K.A.Almgren Sidenvaveri & Museum and the Nordiska Museet. In English.

41 speakers with 3 Plenary lectures, introduced by 15 chairmen; mostly from UK and Scandinavia, others from France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and USA.

The lectures were held in the Nordiska Museet with two concurrent sessions split between the lecture theatre and a conference room in a different building. The museum’s restaurant provided delicious lunches and teas and an evening reception by invitation of the K.A.Almgren Silk Mill Museum housed in its original mill building with contemporary machinery, was visited by ferry. These friendly sessions provided the usual entertaining discussions.

Papers were very varied, from dog-skin Maori cloaks to the finest silk ribbons from Italy, Scottish linen processing to Finish sumptuary laws, and all types of textile areas and organisation. Only two of us spoke specifically about knitting but one keynote lecture stimulated discussion of the trunk hose worn by Tudor men. Each ordinary paper was restricted to 25 minutes which restrained those (often PhD students) with a lot to say in a very short time. The plenary lectures were longer and very well presented.

There were problems with the split locations as the conference room, in the stable of a nearby house, was too far away to rush between the papers in each session. It was difficult to cross the double road, negotiate gates, garden and mud between the sessions themselves. Luckily abstracts had been circulated beforehand but several attractive papers were under-supported by this difficult damp walk.

Stockholm has many attractions, sadly there was little time to explore them on this visit but it was an interesting, well organised conference with a truly international flavour giving eye-opening information. I did manage to visit Uppsala to see the Sture clothing with the tiny silk glove which Lise Warburg introduced to us in 2009 as the earliest knitting in Sweden.

Kirstie Buckland

Early Seventeenth Century Knitting from Copenhagen

“The materiality of textiles and clothing – under the surface” was a recent two-day workshop organised as part of the research programme, Costume, Clothing, Consumption and Culture. CCCC is investigating early modern textiles and dress and is run jointly between The Centre for Textile Research and the National Museum of Denmark.

Delegates from universities in Denmark, Finland, India, Great Britain and Italy, curators, conservators, students and a multi-disciplinary network of scholars gathered to visit the National Museum of Denmark and the Museum of Copenhagen, taking in the Renaissance exhibition, attending talks, discussions and a shoemaking demo. They also viewed early textiles from the reserve collections and excavated finds in the process of being conserved.

Early seventeenth century knitted hats and gloves on display in the National Museum in Copenhagen. Photo by Paula Hohti

Paula Hohti has posted a well-illustrated report, including large pictures of early knitted hats, stockings, gloves and mittens not commonly seen outside Denmark.