uh oh, you'll be sorry! i love knitting.. there is a book, no idle hands, a history of knitting in americaon my shelf of course, ..but knitting is way older. knitted socks have been found in egyptions tombs. and there are indications is was old even then!

partly because of the level of sophistication..the heels were double knit, to make them stronger! many knitters never learn to double knit!.. and as Dr bill has pointed out, there are indications on very early carving so of knitted type garment/designs.

an knitter worth her pins (or needles!) knows, christ went to his death in a knitted robe.. the soldier cast lots for his robe, because it couldn't be rent.. you can tear apart a garment made from cloth, and have small peices for mending or patching.. but if you try to pull apart a knitted robe, it is ruined..

in the days before powerlooms, it was faster to knit a garment than to weave and so.. a crafter (a person with a skilled that was recognized, but not guilded) was known by his smock (a smocked gathered jacket made of cloth) but poor folk wore knitware.. it stretches, so its easy to size and fit, unlike sewn garments that had to be fitted.

irish fisherman sweaters (and greek ones too) were knit in distinctive patterns to help identify drowned fishermen, when there bodies were recovered.. (the face is often nibbled one, or worse but the wool is un appatizing to most fish i guess.)

if you want to continue this, we can move to "word from German" (when ever some one went way off words, the answer was move it to words from German-- it all the way at the bottom and it didn't bother most folks.. so if you want, copy and paste to a new thread down there!)


my other obsession