fivefeettall: The Timeless Tradition of Knitting

Think about how easy it is to pop into Target when you need (or simply want) a new scarf. Think about how we simply toss two socks away when one gets a hole. Years ago these items weren't so easy to come by, and acquiring a new hat, a scarf or a pair of socks, meant making them.

This was a time when idle hands were seen as sinful, and women spent every spare minute sewing and mending and stitching and knitting. Barbara Levine has compiled a lovely tribute to the virtue of knitting throughout the early 19th century through the '50s and '60s. People Knitting: A Century of Photographs recognizes a time when every minute was precious.

Whether it was their duty during wartime, or simply a matter of supplying their own goods, knitting was (/is) a virtuous skill. And people managed to continue knitting, regardless of what their day entailed—they knitted as a form of socializing, they knitted at the hair salon, they knitted in prison, they even knitted while they walked...