Chapter I HISTORY OF KNITTING

The word Knitting Knit as a word in English has probably come from Knot meaning to tie. In old English we come across references to knit / knitting meaning to draw close, (knitting the brows), which we even use today. More often than not the history of a word, tells us a lot about the craft, e.g. weaving as a word exists in many languages, but knitting does not. There is no ancient Greek, Latin or Sanskrit word for knitting. Even today in the National Language of our country Hindi, knitting is known as Bunai / bunnana, the terminology is same as weaving. There is no special term for knitting. This shows that weaving is a very old craft in India and probably the only one known to make a fabric thus to create a fabric means to weave it, thus the only term known was Bunai, and the weaver known as Bunkar. So when knitting was introduced in India, it was instantly called bunai for the lack of a better word. The intricacies were not looked at and the fact that this technique too could create a fabric , meant that it was bunnana, so the term bunai was associated to knitting as well.

Figure 1 Hand Knitted Socks for winter

CH 1. History of knitting By Toolika Gupta

An Introduction to Hand Knitting I grew up in an era when knitting was a home craft in India, my grandmother and many other talented housewives, in those days knitted for pleasure and took pride in their creative outputs, which were beautiful and economic to say the least. They were forever borrowing patterns from one another and revelling in the glory of outdoing their lenders in colour and texture. Thus I associated the word bunai with knitting and only knitting. Along with that, as years went by hand knitting came to be associated as a housewifes unfashionable activity. Many reasons can be associated with this lack of interest in knitting: 1. The first and the most obvious of these being the movement of Fashion Cycle. As we know Fashion is cyclic, certain things are in fashion at a given point in time and as time progresses they get too boring and thus go out of fashion. So this seemingly impressive craft lost its fashion. 2. Another reason was because in todays consumerist economy mass produced goods are cheaper and woollen yarns and patterns more expensive and time taking at least in the metropolitan cities. 3. The third reason being change in life styles. Women go out to work and are externally employed so that they can buy whatever they want for themselves and their families. This does not give them enough time to indulge in these crafts. Those who prefer to stay at home and look after the family, love to watch family dramas on screen rather than get creative.

Machine knitting has replaced hand knitting for the good, but now the time has come for revival of this home craft before it gets lost to time and the forthcoming generations feel the

CH 1. History of knitting By Toolika Gupta

folly of our generation in not keeping these traditions alive. Hand knitting needs to survive as a craft, it needs hardly any complicated apparatus to learn and continue knitting. As a Surface designer, hand knitting by all means is not my only hobby, but I love the textures that can be created by manipulating yarns; and the feel of yarn under ones fingers and the possibility of creating anything, almost anything unique and special, be it garments, accessories, toys or household items is overwhelming. I love weaving as much, but knitting gives instant results. You can increase, decrease and shape while knitting which to an extent is not possible in weaving.

Origin of Hand Knitting The origins of knitting as well as other textile crafts are not very precisely known. We do not have many written records. In terms of surviving pieces or archaeological finds, we do not have many textile pieces as textiles degenerate from the moment they come into existence. The reasons for this disintegration are primarily organic, physical and chemical. 1. Organic Since the basic element of all textiles, historically was organic (before the production of man-made fibers), they were prone to attacks by bacteria and fungi (moulds). Natural elements such as dampness, heat, stagnant air, food stains / vegetable matter have always speeded up this disintegration process. Many destructive insects may have also attacked and eaten up the fabric, leading to holes in the fabric. 2. Physical Exposure to excessive heat and sunlight makes the textiles brittle, especially woollen and silk textiles and causes desiccation. The ultra-violet rays cause photochemical degradation of susceptible dyes and also lead to tendering of the fabric. 3. Chemical Atmospheric gases which convert to acids are a major cause for tendering of the textiles, which leads to their degeneration. Cleaning an item also decreases longevity; wet cleaning can remove original finishes, alter dyes, or weaken the dye-fibre bonds, and become more susceptible to degeneration. Some people believe that knitting was probably introduced into Europe after the Moorish invasion of Spain in the 8th Century AD. Some believe that it was brought by Arab Traders, who came to Europe. But there is hardly any evidence that supports this theory, personally I do not believe it. Another theory suggests that it came from Naal binding technique of Egypt. This could possibly be true as Naal binding is very similar to knitting. Among the native American Indians knitting seems to be a popular craft, like other yarn crafts braiding, crochet, tablet weaving etc. Other written records show that knitting was in use in Europe from 16th Century AD, we find mentions in the plays written by Shakespeare (between 1590 and 1610), The use of knitted stockings in this century also shows that people were conversant with this form of making the fabric by then.

CH 1. History of knitting By Toolika Gupta

Many other techniques similar to knitting have been in use by Europeans, like Sprang, Naal Binding, Crochet. All those who are really interested in the history of hand knitting should read - A History of Hand knitting, by Richard Rutt (Bishop of Leicester), Published by B T Batsford Ltd. London, 1987. Other reference books are also given after this Chapter. After realizing that knitting was not native to India, the next question that comes to mind is that how on earth, did something that does not have its origins in a country, become a house hold craft of women, so much so that it became a tradition, that every girl suitable for marriage had a plus point if she knew knitting, in 20 th Century in India and not only in India but in the entire Indian Subcontinent. The first shock came when I researched and found that it was a mans craft to begin with. So the myth that knitting was a traditional Indian womans craft passed down for generations soon disappeared. It was a mans activity, much later did women start to knit, and that it came to India from Europe, clearly shows that todays generation is not to blamed as the only generation fascinated with the west. (This fascination is our tradition). To begin with Knitting was a mans craft, and the equipment was cruder than it appears today, also the way of holding the needles differs. Back then they were called wires, and were held below the palm. Traditionally knitting has been done with woollen yarn also sometimes with silk yarn, but now cotton is also used to a large extent. The synthetic yarns like acrylic and wool and acrylic blends are being used too.

Further Reading: 1. 5000 years of Textiles, edited by Jennifer Harris, Published by British Museum Press in 1995 2. A History of Hand Knitting, by Richard Rutt (Bishop of Leicester), Published by B T Batsford Ltd. London, 1987

CH 1. History of knitting By Toolika Gupta