History of Knitting
Brief History of Knitting
it is believed that knitting was started in the Middle East. The timeline is also thought to be the 5th Century. Knitting eventually made it's way to Europe around the 13th century thanks to the famous Silk road.
From our research, it's not clear as to who, what specific person actually created knitting. We could only identify people who later expanded it's reach to the world during the Industrial revolution.
As the industrial revolution was in full swing, a knitting machine was eventually created in 1859 by then inventor William Lee. It was the first time a machine could do what human hands were doing. It started with eight needles but that created a coarse fabric so later on Lee improved his machine by having 20 needles to the inch (25mm). It was using both silk or wool to knit.
It was later in the 1920's that knitting became part of main stream fashion. This new fashion fad was for everyone. Women, Men & Children. During the Great depression it was also a way to make more affordable clothing for yourself and families. It was also a great distraction from the problems of the time.
Today, with the advent of Social Media it has become mainstream once again and is gaining in popularity.