It is impossible to name the exact date, or at least a century, when people first thought of knitting products from threads. Handicraft history is only an estimate. However, from it you can learn a lot of interesting things. Knitting is mentioned in ancient written sources. Our article will be devoted to curious facts about which the history of knitting tells us.
The first mention. Epoch of egyptian civilization
To begin with, the emergence of knitting is attributed to the times even before 3000 years BC. e. Knitwear is found in Egyptian graves . So, in one of these burials, a curious little thing was found - a small knitted shoe, obviously for children. According to archaeologists, the product is more than 4 thousand years old. Another find among the ancient Egyptian treasures is a sock, in which the thumb is tied separately . It is believed that this was necessary to wear sandals, the strap of which passes between the thumb and forefinger.
On the image in the Egyptian tomb, dated approximately 1900 BC. e., we could see a woman who wears knitted socks.
In Egypt, the first children's stockings were found. They also knitted for socks with sandals. Based on such findings, the researchers concluded that such a “design” of knitted stockings is characteristic of Egyptian needlework.
Another confirmation that the history of knitting is directly related to Ancient Egypt is a drawing found on the wall of the tomb of Amenemht (Beni Hassan). The plot shows us Semites, among whom are four women. Clothing on women is very similar to knitted cardigans. The time of creation of this drawing, according to scientists - 9th century BC. eh!
Ancient knitwear is found in a very different end of the world, for example, in Peru. They are dated to the 3rd century BC. e. Comparing the patterns and weaving methods, you can make sure that knitting was previously highly developed among different peoples. Scientists seek to find more evidence that ancient civilizations widely used knitting to create clothing. The history of knitting is an interesting, researched today, direction in cultural studies.
Greek sources about knitwear
In the city of Nineveh, among the ruins of the palace of Senacherib found during excavations, archaeologists discovered the relief of a warrior. Knitted socks are clearly visible on his legs - almost the same as men wear today. As you can see, on the basis of so many facts, you can even separately consider such a question as the history of knitting socks.
Researcher William Felkin presented his work on the history of stockings, in which he tried to give logical evidence that knitting existed at the time of the creation of the Illiad and Odyssey by Homer.
About Odysseus' wife and her wedding dress
Perhaps the most interesting evidence given by Felkin is the episode with the wife of Odysseus.
According to the poem, Penelope restrained obsessive grooms by cunning. She promised that she would marry someone only when she weaved her wedding attire. At the same time, every night the cunning Penelope dissolved the threads of the outfit. According to Felkin, the thing that was woven could not open and be used again without damage. So the wife of Odysseus knitted her wedding dress. And it’s possible that back then there were knitting needles like ours.
The great age of the work and inaccuracies in translation lead to distortions in the meaning of many words. So, according to the researcher of the history of knitted things, the words "knitting" and "weaving" are confused.
Mentions in ancient Greek legends
The myths and legend of Ancient Greece reflect not only the beliefs of civilization, but also the elements of everyday life of the Greeks. This is what they interested scientists, the history of knitting is supplemented by new facts from these sources.
In the host of Greek gods, Athena Pallas is special in that she transferred various crafts to people. She taught girls needlework. And now a girl named Arakhna learned to weave (and we remember a possible real fact hidden by the time behind this word) beautiful, transparent, thin canvases. The girl’s heart was filled with pride in her work. She even challenged Athena herself!
The wise goddess warned Arachne, appearing to her in the form of an old woman. But that pride was strong, so she created a canvas, her beauty equal to the canvases of the goddess. Then Athena was seized with anger, and she tore the canvas and struck Arachne with a shuttle. A wounded, grief-stricken girl decided to kill herself, but Athena herself saved her, depriving her human appearance and turning it into a spider. Since then, Arachne has been weaving its beautiful thin cobweb.
Knitting: masterpieces of antiquity
In our article, we will further be interested specifically in the history of knitting. In short, the occurrence of knitting with metal knitting needles is also impossible to attribute to a specific period. But there are facts of archaeologists about the magnificent samples found in different parts of the world when studying the life of distant civilizations of the past.
So, at the beginning of our era, the knitting technique was well developed. Crochets created long ago were found in the Cairo area. Among these, a female silk dress stands out , made in several colors with metal knitting needles.
There is an assumption that knitting came to Europe from Egypt. Copts, Egyptian Christians, brought it to these territories. At first, their knitwear, taken with them on missionary trips, delighted Europeans. Then the craft took root in a new place and became commonplace.
Knitting? Easy peasy! Procession of crafts in Europe
Knitting has gained popularity as a way to create beautiful things. In France, already in the 13th century, it became an independent, highly profitable industry. Knitted stockings, hats, gloves, warm outerwear. It is noteworthy that in Scotland, a knitted beret has become a traditional accessory.
Further, the knitting process on an industrial scale was optimized. And in 1589, William Lee invented a knitting machine.
The fate of the invention was ambiguous: the English Queen Elizabeth I did not give the creator of the machine a patent. The reason was that the stockings made on Lee's loom seemed to her rougher sewn from silk. The idea of William Lee was appreciated in France. There he opened his knitting workshop, where things were knitted mechanically. It was much cheaper than manual labor.
Like everything new that facilitates manual labor, the machine made a stir. However, people soon noticed: machine-related things are faceless, the same. Therefore, the value of hand knitting has not decreased at all, but rather, on the contrary, has increased. And now there is more interest, respect for those who picked up knitting needles and started creating their things, but did not get another scarf in the store.
Original male occupation
It goes without saying that today knitting is considered exclusively a female occupation. However, at the beginning of the appearance of this craft in Europe, it was the opposite: it was men who knitted. Moreover, in the Middle Ages, Prague men (owners of hosiery enterprises) struggled to ensure that women were allowed into production. Thus, entrepreneurs struggled with competition: let the people acquire beautiful things, and not wear what will bind their wives and mothers.
The history of knitting also had funny periods. Interesting and useful needlework is widely spread in European countries, and the leading role has passed to women. True, men are not far behind. For example, in America, in 1946, a man won the knitting competition (though with a crochet rather than knitting needles). He was awarded the honorary Golden Hook.
Passing Mastery
Learning to knit is not difficult, having at least a drop of perseverance. Pretentiousness invented over centuries of labor patterns will surprise anyone. But to write down how to create this or that pattern when knitting, they began recently. The first to fix the pattern of knitting patterns were the Dutch. They began to publish them in a periodical in 1824.
Holistic sign systems for knitting developed by the end of the 19th century. There were two of them: American and British. The modern system by which Russian needlewomen are trained coincide with the American one. Therefore, it is easy to master the pattern even from a foreign magazine. The universalization of characters made knitting simple.
Summary
In our article, we went through the significant milestones of the existence of knitting as a type of needlework. We learned that for a very long time people create clothes with their own hands.
knitting beautiful patterns of yarn.
The history of knitting is long, it is impossible to trace its origins, however, the most ancient finds of archaeologists were in Egypt. The inhabitants of an ancient developed civilization loved knitted things, they can even be seen on people immortalized in the bas-reliefs of Egyptian temples. Europe took the new craft with enthusiasm and began to actively develop it. Today, knitting materials are absolutely accessible information. Therefore, you can do beautiful unique things yourself. We wish you good luck in creating your knitted patterns!