The history of knitting and crochet as an art

Knitting isn't just a practical and effective way to make things to wear and keep you warm. It's also an art. Apparently, knitting began life in ancient Egypt before spreading to Spain via the Islamic Conquest and eventually spreading across Europe.

In the early days in Europe, knitting was something only the super-wealthy could afford. That explains why the earliest knitted items ever found in Europe came from the tomb of Prince Fernando de la Cerdo, the Spanish leader, namely a collection of stunning silk pillowcases dating back to the year 1275 or so.

Early Spanish knitting also consisted of religious garments made from extremely fine yarn. They often featured gold and silver thread decoration and were delicate things, mainly pillows, stockings, purses and pouches. Then the 1400s arrived and everything changed.

The knitting Madonnas – Dating back to the 1400s

In Italy and Germany, a trend arose for paintings of the Virgin Mary knitting while holding the baby Jesus. Nobody really knows why, but perhaps it was because knitting was becoming more common and also more fashionable among upper-class women. At the same time, the Pope's reputation was diminishing at the time, and the artworks may have been created to strengthen the reputation of the Catholic church.

The Virgin Mary is pictured knitting in the round, so the technique must have been familiar by then. As the trend for knitting took hold members of the nobility each chose their favourite Master Knitters, often highly skilled Muslim knitters who made some incredibly beautiful items. Knitting as art was set in stone, and knitting has been regarded as art under certain circumstances ever since.

Modern knitting as an art

During the '70s and '80s artists like Louise Bourgeois and Rosemarie Trockel carried on the trend for creating art in yarn. They harnessed knitting and crocheting as a feminist tool as well as an art, a way to connect the craft as women's work with domestic repression.

In the decades since then many contemporary artists have carried on using knitting and crocheting to talk about an incredibly wide range of themes, from politics to ground-breaking social change. Other artists have used knitting and crochet simply as a fresh and exciting medium for creating beautiful things, including the legendary Frank Havrah, AKA Kaffe Fassett, probably the best-known knitter on the planet. He's world famous for his stunningly colourful designs in needlepoint, patchwork and knitting.

There's the incredibly talented Haegue Yang, an artist who creates dreamlike sculptures from everyday objects including hand-knitted cosies. And Orly Genger, whose vast crocheted sculptures are more like landscapes, like land art than anything else. Her amazing 1.4 million foot long lobster fishing rope sculpture, for example, was installed in New York's Madison Square Park in 2013. And the Polish artist Oleg crochets powerful political messages, also based in the Big Apple.

Jim Drain started knitting as a student, now he incorporates knitting and embroidery into his sculptures to synthesise craft and art with contemporary culture and technology. His fabulous jumper designs look just like the patterns found in old 1980s video games and early computer tech. He also includes knitted elements in his amazing multimedia sculptures, fascinating angular creations made from webs of yarn that owe a lot to digital networks. And the remarkable Brazilian artist Neto creates huge installations that look like enormous crocheted body parts, using networks of crocheted yarn embellished with heavy things, which droop dramatically from high ceilings.

Next time you knit, remember you're an artist

Every time you create your own knitting pattern, knit without a pattern or knit something off-piste and unusual, you're making art. You might weave beads into your crochet or knits or use unusual materials to knit with, things like jute, string, rope and strips of cloth. If you've got something special to show us, we'd love to feature it here on our blog. Have you made anything exceptional recently, or had any exciting creative knitting and crochet adventures? If so, send a photo!