Who Did The Knitting?

All the histories I have read say that anyone who could hold a pair of needles (“pins”) knitted; men, women and children. The less experienced knitted the plainer sections while the more decorative elements were knitted by the more experienced. Moreover, in “The Harmony Guide to Aran and Fair Isle Knitting, Collins & Brown, 1991, Editor Debra Mountford says: “contrary to the popular opinion that knitting is a womanly craft, the men of the Aran Isles believed that spinning was the women’s duty while they reserved the privilege of knitting for themselves.”

In the early 1980’s a study was published that claimed girls were genetically less capable of learning math skills than boys. My son was involved in a “discussion” with some college mates regarding the validity of this report. He was contending that girls were equally capable. A friend countered, as a confirmation to the contrary, “Men don’t knit”. Where upon my son set about knitting a scarf for his girlfriend, who was at a different college. If I recall correctly, he even knitted her name in it. When others asked her where she got it, she says she got quite a reaction when she replied “My boyfriend made it”. It was my mother, not I, who taught my sons to knit when they were adolescents.

I intend to go into the history and art of Fair Isle knitting, but the next blog will be about Free Motion Quilting and Machine Embroidery or Thread Painting, since I will be introducing some examples on my site. The Shetlands and Fair Isle will follow.