Knit together: a study of late nineteenth-century knitting patterns through contemporary eyes and hands

Moddle, Courtney (2017) Knit together: a study of late nineteenth-century knitting patterns through contemporary eyes and hands. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Despite, or perhaps because of its familiar role in society, knitting has often been considered as little more than a craft or hobby and too mundane to study in an academic sense. Yet, everyday activities, like knitting, can often offer significant information about society, culture, and individuals’ lives. Focusing on the connections between past and present, between current knitters and their predecessors, my project examines historic knitting practices through a contemporary feminist lens. My research argues that a study of knitting books published in the late 1800s can provide new perspectives on women’s lives and the knitting culture that they participated in. Furthermore, a thorough analysis of these texts may change the way modern knitting culture is perceived. To deepen my understanding of the historic knitting patterns, I engaged in an autoethnographic knitting project as I knit through historic patterns.

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