You never knew these things about knitting
Knitting is an old craft. In fact, no one knows exactly how old. Over the centuries of knitting, the craft we know and love today has undergone changes, resulting in many little-known facts.
Wool was not always popular
Today, wool is a highly popular yarn for knitting. If you purchase knitting kits like the ones from woolcouturecompany.com/collections/knitting-kits, it is likely that the yarn supplied will be wool or a wool blend. But this was not always the case. For the first few hundred years of knitting, wool was not easily available outside agricultural communities, and so for everyone else, silk or cotton were the most common knitting yarns.
Unusual knitting needles
If you knit today, your needles are likely to be made of plastic, aluminium, or wood. In the past, knitting needles were made from materials like bone, ivory, or tortoise shell, as these were strong materials that could be sharpened.
It’s good for you
You don’t need an excuse to knit, but if you did, then you could point out that knitting is good for your health. The relaxing effect of knitting helps reduce blood pressure and decreases your heart rate, while also providing numerous benefits for your mental health.
Knitting pattern books are not new
You might think that books of knitting patterns are a modern phenomenon, but in fact the first known one was published by Johann Siebmacher in 1611. Featuring 126 pages of patterns ranging from simple motifs to elaborate designs of tapestry-worthy scenes, many of which were filled in by hand.
