Knitting America: A Glorious Heritage from Warm Socks to High Art

by Susan M. Strawn, Melanie Falick (Foreword)

The patterns and fabrics of American knitting are an intricate, and intimate, part of the nations history, reflecting the styles and the interests, the concerns and the comforts that touched every homebody, every newborn and newlywed, every homesick patriot in the field.

This is the history that Knitting America celebrates. The first fully detailed, full-color, comprehensive history of knitting in America from colonial times to the present, the book conveys the social and historical realities that the craft embodied as well as the emotional narrative that unfolded at the hands of the nations knitters. With vintage patterns and designs typical of each era, Knitting America comprises a knitted history of American society. Here are the trends and the shortages, the historical happenings and the social movements, the advertising and economic developments that affected knitting and style.

Also included are 20 historic knitting patterns for todays knitters. Beautifully illustrated with vintage pattern booklets, posters, postcards, black-and-white historical photographs, and contemporary color photographs of knitted pieces in private collections and in museums, this book is a treasure of history and craft, an exquisite view of America through the handiwork of its knitters.

Genres: Knitting, Nonfiction, History, Crafts, American, Art, Historical

208 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2007

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid little pop history book, would love to see an updated version expanding on the 2010's and how knitting has been shaped by social media.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

In her introduction to Knitting America, author Susan Strawn quotes one of her predecessors, Richard Rutt, in bemoaning the fact that very little information is available concerning the earliest history of knitting in America. Strawn's book does little to expand the historical record, but it is a fun overview of nearly four centuries of this not-so ancient craft (compared to weaving, for instance). The section on the first American knitters spans a mere 21 pages, and much of that space is taken up by photos. The picture Thomas Jefferson's monogrammed slippers shows one of the few extant pieces actually made in the colonies, while most of the others came from Europe. An anecdote from the writing Susan Rowlandson, who was abducted by Indians, tells how she carried and worked upon her knitting during her captivity.

Once the narrative moves into the Victorian period, both factual information and historic examples abound. and by the turn of the twentieth century, readers are treated to a wealth of interesting material. Perhaps the book's greatest contribution is in its wealth of documented photos of ads, magazines, patterns, and the social aspects of knitting. Also included are 20 historical patterns adapted to modern terminology and materials.

Not a book to be read straight through from cover to cover, but to be browsed and enjoyed for its celebration of knitting.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discussion around Civil War-era Southern knitting is pretty problematic in its coverage (or lack there of) of the vast amount of knitting that would have been producted by enslaved knitters. However still a very decent coffee-table style pop history book on knitting, with the history coverage picking up markedly after WWI. Lavishly illustrated, I do not recommend the e-book version though, as it's not well formatted to show off the beautiful photos, posters, and ads.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it. Especially when knitting was put into a historical context more than the fashion of knitting. Really wish there was more on knitting currently and in the past decade.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the author notes, there is very little history of knitting in America (I'm Canadian, but close enough--to a large extent we share a similar milieu), so this is a welcome addition. I'm an avid knitter, but don't read patterns for fun, so really do love having another book for my very small shelf of non-instructional books about knitting. (I'm also an art historian--and can scarcely imagine a world in which 99.9% of the books about art are how-to books, but that's the case with knitting!) 4 not 5 stars because I need emotional involvement (tears, or amazement) to get up to 5, but there's nothing wrong with this one--it delivers what it sets out to do.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).

[Jai · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved learning about knitting in a historical sense. I enjoyed seeing all of the pictures of old knitted items,reading some of the old knitting patterns as well as learning about how women knit during wars.
The author mentioned black knitters but never found any examples or pictures which made me sad.

[Jeanmarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable walk through the history of American knitting. The pictures, the stories all give it life in our knitting culture. I would give it 5+ stars if it came with a URL or booklet with patterns. Just say’n. Knitters always want more.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid history of knitting in the United States. I thought the last chapter rushed the last decades of the twentieth century a bit. That makes me wonder what else was rushed and left out.

Note: this was published in 2007, before Ravelry really took a hold on the knitting world.

[Doug Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it!

I highly recommended this book for anyone interested in knitting. It is a detailed and thoughtful romp through history. Very inspirational.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

B. nonfiction

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Felt each chapter could’ve been an entire book. I could read more about the history of knitting in America.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and beautifully illustrated. Includes a few patterns.

[Paulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

How interesting is the history of knitting!!

[Brook]

Dnf only because the formatting of the ebook on hoopla is weird. I’d love to get my hands on a hard copy of this.

[Briar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked that you didn't need to have technical understanding of knitting to get a lot of good information from this book.

It really made me think about *how* material culture is used to impart different ideas about society, behavior, and morality. Would highly recommend this book.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through war and peace, bad times and good, Americans have knit and purled as though it were an inalienable right alongside life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Here now is the history of knitting in America from pilgrims to pioneers, slaves to First Ladies, the Amish and Shakers to Native Americans, Here as well is the rise and fall of mohair, the ongoing passion for ethnic knitting, the never-ending quest for warm socks, and the brave new world of art knitting.

Quite a bit more interesting than one would first think. There are over 300 color and B&W photos of knitters and knitwear from collections around the country. The book also includes the rise of yarn mills, the marketing of knitting and the explosion of printed patterns.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book outlines the history of knitting in America from colonial times to the present. I enjoy it because of the plethora of vintage photographs of knitting in American culture (old photographs, advertisements, pattern books, etc) ~ from the patriotic knitting of WWI to the craft knitting of the 60's, to the resurgence in knitting popularity and the "knitting art" of the present. At first glance at least, this book seems a worthy compliment to Richard Rutt's "History of Handknitting," which traces knitting's history from it's initial beginnings and touches on knitting in America but not in great detail. I haven't had a chance yet to actually read this book since I just recenty purchased it, though, so the jury is out on how it stacks up to Rutt's work.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy I found this book! I like the way the author puts the knitting in context with what is happening politically/socially at the time. It is definitely the tip of the iceberg, so much more research can be done, but the biblio/references are very, very good - which was helpful for me. The patterns themselves are kinda blah, just because the author makes no effort to put them into current knitting vernacular. This means that you are left guessing as to what some instructions mean. For example, we are told to "knit plain". Is that garter stitch or stockingnette? Without further research, you are left guessing. BUT, I didn't buy this books for its patterns, I bought it for the pictures, the timeline and the references, so I am happy nonetheless.

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fairly thick book, not quite coffee table sized, yet I kept feeling that each section was being rushed through. I found it a bit disconcerting and yet, I don't know how much longer a knitting history should actually be.

Most of the handful of patterns were left 'as is', so that you can try to puzzle out the original 'documentation' (such as it was), with a couple translated into modern terms so that they can just be knit straight out. I might try for the civil war or WWI socks at some point (as uninteresting as they are) just to have done it.

Very readable, left me wanting more. Well done!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed this entire book. It's a fascinating and extremely detailed examination of knitting and handicrafts in America. My grandma always tells me she doesn't understand how I can knit with circular needles (she only uses double-points), but in this book I learned that the first patent for circs was in 1916, before my grandma was born! I'd like to spend some time reading this book in detail when I get a chance.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting review of the reasons for knitting in America throughout history. The biggest disappointment for me was that few of the provided historical patterns include good photographs, and many of the photographs which contained interesting items I would have made did not have an accompanying pattern. Perhaps it is beyond the scope of this book to provide modern recreations of the items that were shown, but that would be more worthwhile to me.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful friend gave me this history of knitting in United States. This beautifully illustrated and detailed book is one to pour over at leisure. I read it through but refer back to it every once in a while. The book takes you through the earliest reminants of the 1700s to modern day.

For everyone who would like to know more about the history of knitting in the U.S.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool book. Didn't read much of the text, although there is a ton of history included, if you're so inclined. Lots of photos and a few patterns. My rating is based primarily on the patterns, photos, and sidebar text since I didn't read the meat of the book.

[Mauri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource, though it stops well short of being scholarly. Of course, it glosses a bit over the 90s and the 21st century. *sigh* Nobody wants to call history till it's over.

[Eliza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I've read it several times. I loved learning about others through history who knitted. If your not a knitter it might not be quite as intriguing but still a good read all the same.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was mesmerized by the photos--quite a collection.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really enjoying this. Learning lots of new things. A wonderful way to combine History and Knitting, two of my favorite things!

[Jennifer]

I saw this at Joann's and sat on the floor to check it out. Santa, pretty please??????

[Bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saw this at work and had to have it! A book that combines history (and mainly women's history at that) and knitting is like a dream come true. :) Finally getting around to looking at it.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book even for the non-knitters. Rich in American history.