Piecework Topics

Løyesaum on Velevotter
Fishtail Mittens to Knit and Embroider
In Norway, nålbinded mittens with a “fishtail” shape and gauntlet-like cuffs date from Viking times (a.d. 800 to 1200). Beginning in the eighteenth century, Norwegians began decorating fishtail mittens with embroidery. These wool mittens are knitted with the lice pattern popular on Norwegian sweaters; their gauntlet cuffs are embellished with embroidered Norwegian motifs.
By Annemor Sundbø and Nancy Bush

Gunnister Man’s Knitted Possessions
Preserved by the peat of the Shetland Islands, northeast of the mainland of Scotland, the knitted artifacts found with Gunnister Man, now in the National Museum of Scotland collection, provide a rare look at seventeenth-century Scottish knitting.
By Deborah Pulliam
A Bag with Medieval Islamic Motifs to Knit
Some of the earliest known fragments of knitting, many dating to the eleventh century, have been discovered in archaeological sites in Egypt and the Middle East. The brightly colored motifs commonly found on these fragments of knitting inspired the patterns on this wool bag to knit.
By Chris Laning

Knit, Knit, Knit, Sister Sue: Wartime Songs about Knitting
Knitted hats, gloves, and socks were in high demand as the United States entered World War I. Knitting for the war effort became a popular theme for parlor songs that urged people to “knit their bit” and raise money for the American Red Cross.
By Joanna Daneman

A Triangular Warm Shawl to Knit
This lace-knitted shawl has a chain of hearts on the border, a common motif in Russian warm shawls that indicates a gift of love to the recipient.
By Galina Khmeleva

The Lord Grey Banners
In l906, Lord Albert Henry George Grey, then governor-general of Canada, called on friends and relatives to design and embroider banners depicting St. George, patron saint of England, for distribution to Canada’s educational institutions. Although some are still on display today, the banners have been largely forgotten
until they were rediscovered in l996.
By Susan Lightstone

A Lace Border to Tat
A tatted floral edging adorns a square of linen in this project adapted from Tatting from Burda, translated from German by Etha Schuette (Berkeley, California: Lacis Publications, 2002).

Bonus Project
A Victorian Santa to Stitch