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Dentdale was at one
time a veritable power-house of hand-knitting, the profits from
which provided an often essential addition to their meagre farming
income. The knitting boom
was an endless supply of warm clothing such as gloves, socks,
jerkins, pullovers and caps for the fighting services.
The tale of the
"terrible knitters of Dent" the were the most famous
hand knitters of the Dales, and their amazing dexterity is recounted
in full at the Centre, together with displays of the special
tools involved and a collection of old photographs of the last
few practitioners of this sadly now dying craft.
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Click here
to play a sample of the video footage that will be playing in
the centre.
<
video footage by Jim Bownass
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the early 19th century the dalesmen would knit, as well as the
daleswomen and children. By holding one needle or 'prick' in a
wooden knitting stick protruding from a belt, and the other in
the right hand, the left hand was free to do another job, such
as churning the butter or wrapping the cheeses. So knitting provided
a welcome second income. But when 'off-comers' began visiting
the dale for the novelty of seeing farmers knitting with one hand
and milking a cow with the other, the men became self-conscious
- and left knitting to their women-folk.
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The Dentdale Story
