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History Knit magazine Knitting yarn forward

The Quest for the Popped ‘Un.

Today, I thought I’d take you on the Quest for the Popped ‘Un. Years ago, when I read ‘The Knitting Bishop”s ‘History of Hand Knitting’, I first heard of a little book by Marie Hartley and Joan Ingilby, called ‘The Old Hand-Knitters of the Dales’. I searched high and low for a copy – but […]

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convicts handspinning History Knitting

Stonebreaking, Picking Oakum or… Knitting?

For those of you looking forward to the forthcoming TV drama,  based on Kate Summerscale’s brilliant book, ‘The Suspicions of Mr Whicher’, here’s a little something I stumbled upon. Knitting hasn’t always been a genteel, calming pursuit for nice ladies round the fireside. At one time, it was considered punishment. At York House of Correction: […]

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Genealogy History Leeds local history

“A Real Rogue… A Bad Little Fellow”

How often do you find a direct line ancestor mentioned in a book? Judging by what I found yesterday – it’s not always a desirable thing. I was killing time at York Library yesterday after a fun morning at the dentist’s, waiting for my lift home, when I spied this on the Local History shelf, […]