The quote below is the earliest dating that I have heard for knitting and
crochet in Northern Europe. Can anyone confirm or deny using other
archaeological sources? There is, of course, the possibility of
translation error in the article and that they are referring to
naalbinding or some other technique.
Beth Matney
Well. I can't do so using archaeological sources, but I can tell you that
"crochet with a small bone needle" is a weird way of phrasing things. Is it
crochet or naalbinding? I'd guess naalbinding. Is it a bone needle or a bone
crochet? Again, I'd guess bone needle, which would again lead to
naalbinding. It references sources in another language, which makes it very
possible that the translator used what he thought was a generic word -
knitted - for what we think of as a specific term. Unless someone can read
the original and let us know, I'd put a big warning on the text if you want
to use it as proof that knitting existed.
"That knitting has an old tradition in the Baltic states is evident from
archaeological data of Latvia and Estonia (Peets 1987, 105-16; Zarina,
Caune 1980, 60-9). In cultural layers of Riga, dated to the 12th-15th
centuries, woollen gloves and mittens were found. Some of them were
knitted and others were crochetted with a small bone needle."
( from pg 283, "Holiday Clothing of Lithuanian Country Women in the
15th-16th centuries" by Saule Urbanaviciene in NESAT 6)
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