- Sock
- Enlarge image
Sock
- Place of origin:
Egypt (made)
- Date:
1100-1300 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Unknown
- Materials and Techniques:
Cotton, hand knitted
- Credit Line:
Given by Mrs Russell
- Museum number:
T.201-1929
- Gallery location:
In Storage
This is the earliest example of true, or double-needle, knitting in the Museum’s collections. It was made in North Africa, about 1100–1300, during the period of Islamic rule. The blue and white abstract design echoes the colour combinations and patterning found in Islamic ceramics. The sock was worked from toe to top, and a break in the pattern on the left-hand side suggests a join characteristic of knitting in the round. There is evidence on either side of insertions for a heel. The gauge varies from ten stitches per twelve rows per inch at the toe to 7 stitches per ten rows per inch at the top, suggesting that shaping was achieved by changing the size of the needles as the knitting progressed.
