For the past few weeks, I have been reading Anne McDonald's No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting.
Although I knew of the existance of this book, I had never been compelled to read it, probably becuase it describes itself as a history of American knitting, and until recently I did not live in America, nor knew that much of life here. However, it is much more universal from that and has been an extremely enjoyable read - I would recommend it to anyone, anywhere in the world.
It covers knitting from the American Revolution until the 1980s - a huge span of time which saw sweeping changes in society and culture, and hence in knitting. People knit less for necessity now, but knitting still has the same properties; relaxation, something to do in odd moments, something to do with one's hands, and the pleasure of hand made items.
I was astounded by the work of one early knitter, completely blind, who knit intricate mittens with poetry and verse included, using fair isle techniques. In fact it was striking how many early knitters note that knitting, unlike sewing, is something that can be done in the dark! Used to electric light available all the time, I hadn't even considered this.
The output of earlier knitters is also pretty amazing; one knitter regularly turned out 10 sweaters in 7 days, achieved through a routine of knitting from 9am until 2am the following morning, broken only by meals, occasional trips to market, and an afternoon rest.
Much time is given to sock knitting, both in wartime and in peace, and this has inspired me to once again pick up my sock needles and start the perfect portable, pick-up, put-down and ultimately most useful of projects - even in this day and age, hand knit socks are much, much nicer than shop bought ones. The knitters in the book knit socks at every available moment, and so many times in the past few weeks as I've been reading this book I've thought - if only I had a sock to work on now...
