So far down the rabbit hole, I had a hard time seeing my way back!

It was going to be a quick search on the benefits of knitting in groups. A little tidbit to add to my "Knit Night Tomorrow Night" post. But I ended up so far down the rabbit hole!

It's amazing how quickly one little Google search can lead you so far into another direction. 

This morning, I arrived at work early with the intentions of posting something, quick, about the benefits of knitting in groups. So I googled "benefits of knitting in groups" and found a great article on the Knitting For All (www.knittingforall.com/) website. "Knitting the Group Together." (bit.ly/2LmaxpY) 

I read the first sentence, "All creative arts have been said to be ‘the purest way to present authentic self’¹, but knitting has some other features to its name." I noticed an endnote indicator, the little "1" after the word "self." So I scrolled down to the bottom of the article, and found a list of references. Rather than reading the article, I ended up googling each reference to see what I'd find. 

I googled the reference "Corkhill, B., Hemmings, J.,Maddock, A., & Jill Riley (2014) Knitting and Well-being, Textile, 12:1, 34-57" and found this fantastic article! Now, who wouldn't want to read an article with this cover!
www.researchgate.net/profile/Angela_Maddock/publication/263480653_Knitting_and_Well-being/links/55e6d93d08ae3ad5dab2a845/Knitting-and-Well-being.pdf

I read thru the first paragraph and came across this sentence: 
​
”This article explores the varied ways knitting can contribute to our well-being. It brings together the authors’ individual presentations from the well-being panel at the 2012 conference “In the Loop 3: The Voices of Knitting,” now reconfigured and reordered as a coauthored paper."

In the Loop 3? What the heck is that. So I googled it, of course. 

I found this program from a 2012 conference "The Voices of Knitting: In The Loop 3." It's a wonderful, 3 day conference put on by the University of Southampton in England. After reading thru the keynote and session descriptions, I came across this link:
www.soton.ac.uk/intheloop and had to follow!

The University of Southampton has an entire Knitting Reference Library and Knitting Collection! I have to explore this site. After clicking thru the tabs, I clicked on "Reading Matter." 
(library.soton.ac.uk/ldu)

"The Knitting Reference Library holds a large collection of printed books and journals, including a collection of 19th century knitting manuals which have been digitized and are available online." 
​
Wait. . .what. . .19th Century knitting manuals?!? Whoo hooo! 

I clicked on "Knitting Reference Library" (lower right) in hopes of finding the 19th century knitting manuals. (archive.org/details/knittingreferencelibrary)

Come on, mountain internet, go faster!

And then the clouds parted, the wind stopped blowing, the birds flew away from the towers, and the spiders crawled out of my internet switch box. The Knitting Reference Library, with its vintage knitting patterns,  appeared. 

​I swear I could hear angels sing!​

Look at all these digitized knitting manuals. Manuals as early as 1835 thru 1971! Some of the pages have been marked, indicating the readers favorite pattern, some talk about yarn in a way that I've never heard of (six-thread fleecy, eight-thread fleecy), some give instruction on stitches, and others offer instructions on bent iron work, torchon lace as well as knitting and crocheting. 

​Click on "Victorian Knitting Manuals" archive.org/details/victorianknittingmanuals
or "Knitting Patterns" archive.org/details/knittingpatterns
to find a plethora of information!

Before I knew it, I looked up and realized I had spent the last two hours looking thru these patterns! 

See, I went so far down the rabbit hole, I completely lost track of time, and even why I started this search in the first place!

Oh yeah. . .that's right. . .the benefits of knitting in groups. 

"Whereas knitting is often a solitary activity, it is also a vehicle for making social connections both virtually, thru the rise of internet knitting sites, and in real time through local knitting groups. Indeed, knitting as a social activity is not new. Black (2012) documents the historical importance of knitting in rural communities where groups of knitters gathered to knit and talk after a day's work." 
Corkhill, B., Hemmings, J., Maddock, A. & Jill Riley (2014) Knitting and Well-being. Textile, 12:1, 34-57

Knit Night, Thursday nights, 111 Crescent Street, Downtown Greenville, 4:30 - 7:00 pm. 
And on the menu: Watermelon, Mint, and Feta Skewers. 

I hope to see you tomorrow night!