knitting history, early 1900s

The original version of the knitting abbreviations that we are familiar with, first appeared in 1906
Raglan sleeves first appeared in knitted garments somewhere between 1912 and 1913,
just prior to the first World war
This style of sleeve was named after Lord Raglan, about 57 years after his death in 1855.
During the first world war, knitting became almost a full time occupation for many English women,
In December 1916, 'The Family Journal' published an appeal by Her Majesty Qween Mary,
she appealed for woollies to be knitted for the soldiers fighting for their country
All and sundry knitted with great passion and almost obsessive zeal
in order to send 'comforts' to the 'lads at the front'
They knitted on trains, trams, in theatres and resturants
as well as by their own firesides
These busy hands knitted, socks, mitts, body belts, helmets
and anything else they could think of, that would bring warmth and comfort to our soldiers

1920'S

The 1920's may well be remembered as the Jazz age, or the age of short skirts, cropped hair, and a flattened torso,
but the 1920's was also the age of the jersey craze.
During Victoria's reign knitting was thought of as a hobby or craft,
and many usefull items such as doylies, table runners, cushion covers, or clothing accessories,
like gloves, hats, scarfs, stockings,were made
Knitted items were iether decorative or utilitarian,
The act of knitting may have been fashionable, but the results had very little to to do with fashion,
In the 1920's that was to change, not just sweaters, but whole outfits were now being produced
from either hand or machine made knitted fabric,
knitted garments, jumpers, jumper suits, dresses, bathing costumes, were now the very height of fashion
Three female designers dominated the 1920's fashion scene, each in their own way played their part in the 'jersey craze',
They were:
Gabrielle Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and Madeleine Vionnet
Chanel had a particularly significant influence on knitwear, and knitwear design,
After the war, because many raw materials were in short supply
Chanel pioneered the use of knitted jersey fabric,
a fabric which previously had only been used for men's underwear
Her easy to wear, uncomplicated jersey jumper-suits took the world by storm.
They suited all age groups, all fiqure types and all purse sizes
knitwear was suddenly very, very fashionable
In 1924 Chanel designed the costumes for Diaghilev's
very popular ballet 'Le Train Bleu', these designs were revolutionary
The dancers wore hand-knitted, very daring, unisex bathing costumes,
Costumes which scandalised the critics,
but instantly made handknitted unisex-styled bathing suits the number one 'must-have'
Swimming and bathing costumes continued to be hand-knitted
throughout the 30's and 40's and well into the 1950's
Madeleine Vionnet was the Queen of bias cutting,
Her contribution to the knitting revolution was more to do with introducing women to stylish clothes that suited the new, less restricted lifestyle they were now becoming used to
Her clever cutting of softly draped fabric, produced clothes that were fitted but unstructured.
clothes that allowed complete freedom of movement,
clothes that were elegant, feminine and very fashionable.
Not everyone could afford the silks and silk chiffons of courture fashion,
but many could afford clothes made from inexpensive jersey-knit fabric,
a fabric which has just the same qualities of softness and drape as bias cut chiffon,
Clothing made from jersey-knit fabric, answered the every-day need
for the now fashionable requirement of elegance, freedom and informality
ELsa Schaparelli was a very innovative, creative and influencial designer,
She almost always included unusual hand knits in her collections
In 1927 Schaparelli designed her most famous trompe-l'oeil jumper
The black sweater had a rather large knitted-in bow on the front.
In 1928 the sweater of the year, was another of Schiaparelli's trompe l'oeil designs,
This one had a knitted-in scarf which draped round one hip, with a real tie on the other
These sweaters were sensational, nothing like this had ever been seen before
They were witty, clever and fun, and best of all, they were knitted using two pins
Those who couldn't knit, very quickly learnt how to.
Hand knitting became very popular
lots of knitting patterns were available for the the new long straight jumpers
Horizontal colour stripes, and bands or borders of flower designs were very popular
As was traditional geometric Fair Isle
The Prince of Wales is said to have started this particular fashion explosion
in 1922, On september 27th, he appeared on the golf course wearing the now famous Fair-Isle sweater
Patterns for Fair Isle, giving instructions for weaving-in, soon appeared in magazines and fashion journals,
Stranding yarn across the back of the knitting did not become popular until until a couple of years later
Fair Isle knitting has never gone out of fashion, but it reached a real peak in the mid 1920's
There was also a new interest in Lace knitting during the 1920's,
Herbert Niebling worked on reviving and developing the intricate designs
of the Biedermeier period, (1820-48),
His designs appeared in magazines published by Burda.

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