1600-1800

• The 1653 parliament of Oliver Cromwell became known as the 'blue stocking' parliament,
  At this time blue or grey wool was cheap and unfashionable, so the name was intended to express the severely puritanical and highly moral nature of the parliament.
  
  
• 1655 is the date of the earliest known written knitting-pattern.
  It was for a pair of stockings with turned heels, knitted on four needles.
  
  
• The frame-knitting industry continued to develope and In 1657 0n June 13th,
  the Framework Knitters Guild was granted a charter of incorporation by The Worshipfull Company of Frame Knitters.
  
  
• In 1678 in an English document entitled'Some Proposals for the Employing of the Poor'
  Thomas Firmin suggested that workhouse schools should be set up to teach the poor spinning, knitting and lace making.
  He stated that this had been done successfully in other countries.
• In 1699 children in a workhouse in London were organized to earn their keep by sewing and knitting.
• By 1700 knitting had become the labour of the poor, rather than the occupation of the Master Craftsman.

• Published works around 1720-30 inform us that
  at the beginning of the century, the handknitting industry in Britain was still very active,
  although in some areas close to London City, hand-frame knitting was beginning to take over.
  
  
• There appears to have been two distinct qualities of stocking being produced at this time;
  handknitted, woollen stockings which were very course and ordinary, and cheap to produce,
  and the better quality machine-made, worsted stockings which were rather more costly.
• Richard Rutt suggests that this distinction in quality and type could be one reason why
  the cottage industry of handknitting survived the 'machine-made' competition for so long.
  
  
  
• The Victoria and Albert museum and the Whitworth gallery Manchester,
  both have examples of the Brocade or Florentine jackets that we associate with this period.
  
• The jackets or waistcoats are knitted in silk, using two colours, one of the colours being used for the intricate floral pattern.
  
• Sometimes the fabric contains purl stitches which slightly raise the pattern areas,
  and enhance the brocade effect
• In 1712 a london newspaper reported the theft of a green silk knit waistcoat with gold and silver flowers all over it.
  
  
• It is known that these brocade jackets and waistcoats were still being worn
  around the middle of the century, as some American newspapers were still refering to them as
  Saxon Green knit jackets or silk knit waistcoats
  
• In 1768 a patent was registered by Josias Crare and J P Porter of Edmonton England,
  for a method of frame knitting Brocade fabric, leading one to understand that
  these later brocade jackets and waistcoats may have been produced on a knitting frame
  
  
  
• By the end of the century, the impact of the Knitting-machine was becoming serious,
  pre-empting the inevitable decline of the handknitted stocking industry.