Nineteenth century knitting sheaths and knitting sticks. How to knit while cooking
Museum voor Naaldkunst, there was a small group of knitting sheaths. Up to then, we only had one of these objects in the TRC Collection (TRC 2015.0256), which dates to about 1900 and comes from northern England. So the opportunity to have several more that illustrate different types of sheaths fitted nicely into our plans to add depth to the TRC Collection.
In a recent donation from the formerHand knitting, especially of stockings and socks, and later caps, gloves and jumpers, was an important cottage industry in many parts of Europe from the 16th to the beginning of the 20th century. Many women (and some men) knitted clothing for themselves and their family, but they could also supplement their incomes by making knitted goods for sale.
Over the centuries, in order to make the hand knitting quicker, various tools were developed including knitting sheaths, which meant the knitter could continue plain knitting while carrying out other domestic jobs, such as looking after babies, or while walking to the market or work, carrying baskets on their heads or backs, etc.