Olga Fedorova had created her unique color-coded system in the late 1960s when she became quality-control master for the Orenburg knitting cottage industry.
Peel back the layers of needlework history and uncover more about historical textiles from around the globe in the Summer 2020 issue of PieceWork.
Sewing books from the early 20th century illustrate the shift from teaching sewing at home to providing instruction in a school classroom.
During the Middle Ages, anchoresses and nuns were women who secluded themselves from the rest of society and, often, spent some of their time on handwork.
Needlework often weaves its way into literature. Like Water for Chocolate (1989) combines cooking and crochet in a most memorable way.
In the 19th century, patents for buttonhole scissors began to be filed at the United States Patent Office, and some of these designs are still in use today.
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The history of knitting has been shrouded in mystery, half-truths, and outright lies! Is this because there is so little material, either textiles or documentation, to enable that history to be fully written?
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To undertake polar expeditions, then as now, appropriate protection was needed against the elements, some of the most severe on earth.
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Author James Brown in History of Sanquhar (1891) describes Sanquhar gloves and stockings in the early nineteenth century as “being woven on wires in a peculiar manner,” which presumably means knitted on fine needles.