|
Recently one of my sisters told me that the New Forest town where we grew up was once famous for making knitted gloves. Ringwood gloves are mentioned in ‘A History of Hand Knitting’ by Richard Rutt including mention of the Ringwood Stitch used in the making of them. All of my family are knitters so it seems strange that we didn’t know of this local cottage industry that started in 1814 & carried on in to the 1940s. The gloves were famous for being very warm & hardwearing and were a favourite choice of coachman & riders. The original pattern’s notations were almost indecipherable, but luckily the talented Rebecca Blair translated it into a modern pattern in a selection of sizes which can be found on Knitty.com or Ravelry. As you may know from the first ‘Making Notes’ newsletter I’m very interested in knitwear that is closely connected to a particular town or region; some, like Fair Isle, are still known around the world while others that were once famous are now almost forgotten. One of the great joys of knitting is the opportunity to not only exlpore its history, but also wear it.
|
