The graphic representation of a looped fabric structure can provide a useful complement to its narrative or photographic description. When documenting fabric that includes a variety of stitches that are irregularly juxtaposed, a pattern diagram can provide clarity that is not possible by other means. Numerous systems of notation are based on square-grid diagrams, adapted to… Continue reading Loopography
I ended the preceding post with what I thought was a radical suggestion about simple crochet being a handcraft equivalent to industrial warp knitting. It was intended as an upbeat to a more detailed consideration of the use of hook-tipped needles in all forms of mechanized knitting, beginning with the stocking frame invented by William… Continue reading Crochet as warp knitting
My recent visit to the Museum der Kulturen in Basel included a stop at their library to fetch a copy of a visitor’s guide to an exhibition of the Fritz Iklé collection of textiles, displayed at several locations in Switzerland during 1935. It was titled Primäre textile Techniken (Primary Textile Techniques) and the accompanying booklet includes… Continue reading The True Stitch
In the last few posts, I’ve been working my way toward the description of a baby’s sock in the collections of the Museum der Kulturen in Basel. It is possibly the oldest object with a slip stitch structure that has yet been noted but is described as nalbinding in previous documentation, rather than as the… Continue reading The tale of the second bootee
The earliest text describing and comparing various forms of hand knitting that has yet come to light is “The art of knitting in its full extent” (Die Kunst Zu Stricken in ihrem ganzen Umfange), published in 1800 by Johann Friedrich Netto and Friedrich Leonhard Lehmann. An earlier post covered their description of work with hook tipped… Continue reading Slip stitch crochet in Germany 1780-1800
The earliest instructions for any form of crochet yet noted are in the Roland de la Platière Encyclopédie Méthodique, from 1785. This includes an extensive section on industrial knitting, and manual “nail knitting” is used to illustrate the way an individual stitch is formed on a knitting machine. In contrast to the smooth-tipped needles now associated… Continue reading Slip stitch crochet in France 1785
The body of scholarly writing on the history of knitting is about to increase significantly, with the impending publication of the diamond issue of the Archaeological Textiles Review. It will be devoted to Early Modern knitted items with contributions from nine experts in that field. A detailed list of its contents is located here. It is available by… Continue reading Archaeological Textiles Review
