This is a knitting stick / love token from the Borders. It is a functional, a decorative, and a sentimental object. Knitting sticks were used to hold double pointed needles, and were particularly useful if women were knitting standing up, outside, outside, or on the move. This one is a love token, and was carved for Jane Brown by her sweatheart in 1825. I like the knitting stick because it is an ordinary and an extraordinary object. It also illustrates how knitting was a mobile (not a sedentary) activity -- an activity that took place beyond the fireside or drawing room.
knitting stick
Contributed by Kate
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About this object
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- Location
-
Borders
- Culture
- Period
-
1825
- Theme
- Size
-
- H:
- 15cm
- W:
- 2cm
- D:
- 2cm
- Colour
- Material
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Comments
I love this object, I knew that they existed, but had never seen one. A scots friend of mine had and used a knitting belt which I guess works on the same principle as the knitting stick.
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