Sometime after I retired, I decided to learn to knit. I thought that the process would be straight forward, and I would soon be successful in knitting in the fashion that I remember my Mom doing. I could not have been more wrong!
Not knowing much about knitting, even in general, I didn't realize that there were two main "schools" of knitting, namely Eastern Uncrossed and Western Uncrossed, with the Combined/Combination method being a hybrid of the other two.
The Western Uncrossed camp contains three distinct methods to form the stitches, namely:
- The Continental method — the working yarn is held in the left hand
- The American/English method — the working yarn is held in the right hand
- The Around-the-Neck/Pin method — the working yarn is held either in the left or right hand, but passed around the neck or a knitting pin first.
So I had to learn all three methods above, and test-drive working the stitches in the Eastern Uncrossed as well, before I could make a rational decision as to which method/style best suited my hands and temperament.
Eventually, it became clear to me that the ancient Around-the-Neck/Pin method was the only method that made sense for me.
And so, Woolly Wisdom will be an eclectic collection of knitting and spinning wisdom from Mediterranean Europe, Middle East, and a few S. American countries that use the Around-the-Neck/Pin method of knitting.
These same countries have a very rich yarn spinning heritage as well.
Hopefully, I can assist in some small way in spreading the good news about the use of this ancient method of making fabric. After all, if it was good enough for the folks in Mary's — wife of Joseph and mother of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior — time, it might just be still good enough for us.
I do hope that visitors to this site enjoy the content, and find it useful.
