I am not K2, P2 you

When asked who taught me to knit I always go back to one memory. It isn't even really a knitting memory. We were visiting my Great Grandma G and she was teaching my brother and I how to do the chain stitch for crocheting. I don't even know how to crochet to this day. It is one of my last memories of her. A few years later I am in 4th grade and my mother teaches me how to make a scarf. From middle school to college I don't knit. Not even a little.  Then some where along the line after graduation day I start knitting, like crazy. Starting with scarves I learned from books to askin my aunt for advice. I was learning not only out of love for the craft but of need.

I was, and still am broke, they become gifts, things for me and on occasion I sell something. I needed ankel high brown socks for everyday work and the only ones I could find were knee highs. I couldn't afford 19th century period mittens and sontags for my historic costumes for work so I made them.

My modern things I used or based off patterns but for the historic stuff I used no patterns.  Here is the thing, yes there were a few knitting patterns then but most girls learned to knit from their mothers and once you know the basics which is only two stitches knit or purl you can make anything with a few increases or decreases. The blue mitts was completely trial and error for me same and the first thing I knitted thst wasn't a scarf. I went by judgement with the sontags, and hat you see above.

We don't even know where knitting comes from some saying Egypt others say Early Europe.  We do know all of the earliest pieces are done in the round, meaning with four or more needles going in a circle until at the earliest the 19th century,by my research, then we see the two needle stitching. All this stitching is done with the knit stitch,  which is at the back of the needle. Around the 12th or 13th centuries we start to see the purl stitch which has the looping at the front of the needle. It also goes from being a housewives task until it becomes a mens trade. Then there are knitters guilds all over Europe keeping the knittig secret with the widows and orphans doing the simple knitted pieces. This continues until I would say the Industrial Revolution. After that it is women's work again and prior to the Civil War housewives knitted on average 10 pairs of stockings a year.

Today most garments are knitted on straight needles and pieced togeather. We use patterns,and create beutiful designs with cables and a multitude of colors. A new knitter is like that person who figured out knitting years ago discovering that with a little persistance, two or more needles, yarn, two stitches Knit and Purl, a few decreases and increases and a lot of friends they can make anything. And I am not k2,p2 (ribbing) you.

Sew buttons

When I was 5 years old I had this favorite little white dress with animals on it and I recall the Whale button on this dress falling off. Now to some five years olds this was the end the world however to this 5 year old Mommy would fix it, or so I thought. I remember bringing the button and the dress to my mother asking her to fix it. Instead she goes to her sewing chest picks up a needle, thread, and scissors sits me down on the couch and teaches me how to mend my button.

It is such a simple memory but a powerful one. Since then my hobbies have grown but sewing is still the essence of who I am.I have a number of circle skirt, shirts, and dresses that I have made,given away a number of hand sewing projects and it all goes back to that button.

For centuries mothers have taught their daughters to sew and it all starts with something simple. It is a skill every housewife need in her bag of tricks and most of the time she is mending. Since the dawn of sewing, which may I say is the oldest form of art, most of women's sewing has been mending, from buttons, to patches, to darning and even re hemming, mending is the chiefest of sewing. On occasion a housewife might get to make her own clothes yet she still going to be mending.

At my day job I do a fair amount of sewing in front of visitors and I can't even tell you how many ask, "what are you knitting?" For me both have been so much a part of not only my life but my families lives that I have to remind myself that everyone has a different up bringing and I know nothing about sports. So I explain that I am sewing, mending an apron, pillow bear or what ever it is I am working on and then say "I can't knit for it is a mans trade or a widow woman or orphaned child's task." (I'll explain that in a later blog.)

Today clothing comes so cheep that when we tear a shirt, loose a button or just get tired of it we throw it either away or in the donation pile. Yet up until the 1950/1960s cloth was so expensive that every piece was cherished. A jacket became a vest, a shirt became a hankerchief, socks became legwarmers and a dress became a quilt. Everything was patched or darned until it couldn't be anymore. You can even tell the prosperity of a people and era by how much cloth was used. Even in not so prosperous time people found ways to make it look like they could afford more, hoop skirts (crinolines) where not only to make a more defined large hoop shape but also so you weren't carrying around 3-6 layers of petticoats, bigger the look equals the more cloth meaning the  more afluet you were and less likely you were a laborer. I have hauled around that many petticoats can tell you I slept well that night.

 So tonight I leave you with the house wife's task on your mind... and sew buttons...

Where do we begin?

For some time now I have been trying to figure out where to begin. The thing is history has no beginnings or ends it is a great big ball of time filled with events so I guess that is where I am stuck. So my first blog will be a look at who I am and what to expect.

I am a historical interpretor. I take history and help people understand it. You would think history would be pretty straight forward but for some history with all its dates and people can be confusing but also we tend to forget the why. Dates and people are useful to know but useless if you can't understand the whys.

There are also many clues that history gives us to understand our world. Science, math, language, culture and relations all feed our souls as much as they did our ancestors. We tend to forget other things too. Food, clothing, possesions, skills, nature, and so many other things can teach us about who we are and about our ancestors.

That is what I am about when I teach history. I strive to show that we are no different then our ancestors.  Yes we have technology but so did they.

So follow me and learn about the arts of our ancestors and the cultures they created.