THE YARNS THAT CONNECT US

INTERWOVEN WITH BRITISH HISTORY ARE TALES OF KNITTING. ESTHER RUTTER SHARES STORIES GLEANED FROM RESEARCHING – AND RECREATING – SOME MUCH-LOVED WOOLLEN GARMENTS

Illustration: ANNELIESE KLOS

Wool has been worn for millennia on every part of the human body. Coated with lanolin, its fibres are waterproof and absorb odour. Wool draws moisture away from the skin, keeping us warmer and dryer than most synthetic fabrics. For several thousand years, humans have spun the hair from sheep, goats and other animals using spindles and spinning wheels. Once twisted into yarn, wool fibres can be knitted or woven into cloth then draped across the floors, walls and windows of our homes, blocking drafts and damp. Wool cocoons our families, and its thread runs back several thousand years through British history. It’s this thread that I followed as I knitted my way from north to south, east to west. SOCKS FOR A VIKING I challenge myself to recreate Britain’s oldest surviving…

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The Simple Things (Digital) - 1 Issue, November 2019

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