The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-04-21
HISTORY OF KNITTING.
WEAVING IS MUCH THE MORE
ANCIENT ART.
Adam and Eve Wore the First Garments.
Dup Ihey We're Not of Human
Design-Various Historical #
illusions.

| 1AAAoSAoubs
A writer in, the American Knit
| Goods Review thus treats of the art -
knitting and the manufacture of knit
goods: - '-'
! Although the art of knitting da+es
back to the middle ages, upward ~
three and a half centuries, it is scarce.
ly more than an infant, mere bant-
ling as it were, when compared to
That OF weaving. the origin of which
Is lost in the obscurity that shrouds
the very earliest period of the worlds
history. s
Inc extremely meager known facts
bearing on the first clothing of the
race. as we find them recorded in
holy Writ are: That at the first the
man and the woman in Eden were
naked and were not ashamed" that
little later. through an overindul-
gence IN a species of fruit that dis.
agreed with them in their untaupht
state, they became conscious OF their
hitherto shameless nudity and pro.
ceeded to qualify it somewhat bv adon-
zion OF garment so scant and pecu-
liar that it must speedily have
Wlthered and shrunk until the sniff
cheney of this fig leaf apron as a decent
covering must have mounted to little
more than d Pigment of their untutored
lmaglnatlon; that beyond this came
more substantial garments of skin.
Which, by the way, have been worn At
some period. by all, or nearly all, the
primitive races, and after that at
date and under circumstances of
which there is no reliable record ex-
tant, came the woven Fabric.
The first intimation of the ex1stenoe
OF woven cloth is given in connection
with the account of Joseph and his
brethren. The blood-stalned garment
OF the hapless youth, the first on
record OF long line who have en-
countered pitfalls in their pathway.
might have been either of cloth or OF
skins; the raiment which the Patri-
arch Jacob and his son Reuben rent
upon the finding of Jacobs coat of
many colors was obviously composed
OF skins, but the sackcloth'' which
Jacob put on his loins, in further
token of sorrow of his favorite son.
must certainly have been woven.
Knitting has been defined as an
art allied to weaving, but of compara-
lively modern origin the time and
place OF its invention being disputed,
the weight OF evidence. however 90
ing to prove that the time was some.
where about the year 1900 and that
the honor of the invention belongs to
Scotland. Reverting to the above
definition there are but two principal
classes of broad textile fabrics the
woven and the knitted (felted cloth
being of comparatively small import
ance). and it is an interesting fact
that, although of the former early and
frequent mention is found in the most
ancient writings there was no word as
to the latter until the beginning of the
sixteenth century.
one OF the most noteworthy char
acteristics of knitted fabrics as COM
pared with woven goods is their great
elasticity and comfort and. as rule
greater durability, The implements
first in use by knitters were of the
simplest consisting merely of two
three, tour or more straight needles of
bone or wood. Or as latterly, of STEEL
and the start was. aud still is, made
by casting on" Or, as the old gam
mers" put it, setting up" this initial
process varying as to the number of
stitches etc, according to the gar
ment to be knitted. The UNDERLYING
principle in all knitting; however per-
| formed. is the formation of a series of
loops, whereas in all weaving there is
a stretched warp through which the
wool, or filing, is shot in and out
among the threads of the former and
driven home; hence the greater elias
ITCHY of the knitted and the firmer
character of the woven fabric.
AS already 1ntimated, several people
CLAIM the honor of having first learned
and practiced the art of knitting,
Spain, Scotland and France being un-
doubtedly among the earliest to fabri-
cate garments in this way. Imme-
diately preceding the introduction of
the knitting needle garment in the
form of hose and breeches combined
was in vogue in England and on the
continent This garment which
clothed the lower limbs and the body
to the waist was made of milled cloth,
even for the august person of royalty
ITSELF and was superseded early in the
! sixteenth century by breaches and
knitted stockings, which latter we're
made in the Pyrenees at very early
date, it may be as far back as in the
fifteenth century, and in France about
1927. 1t is safe to assume that the
art OF knitting was known in Scotland
at about the same date and in Eng
land very soon thereafter both the
use and tho art having come hither
from Spain.