knitting stick

Contributed by Kate

knitting stick

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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.

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1. At 22:59 on 14 May 2010, margy wrote:
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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