Knitting hones skills Woollen Yarn Manufacturers in analytic geometry, abstract algebra and topology argues Esther Rutter, tracing the history of wool and knitting throughout the British Isles. Having grown up on a sheep farm in Suffolk where she learned to spin, weave and knit, Rutter is well qualified for the task. She is also an academic who studied English in Oxford. She points out that a gansey takes even experienced knitters more than a hundred hours, an average adult size made from rounds of at least 250 stitches and many have more than 300 stitches per round.
Over the course of a year, she knits her way across Britain, her journey taking her to the Shetland and Channel Islands, Jersey, Wales and the Border counties, all the while accompanied by her needles and wool as well as a sharp pen and inquiring mind. Mixing notes on the garments she is crafting along the way – sometimes perhaps too technical – she uncovers the history of the communities whose lives were shaped by sheep and their fleeces.
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