History

How did it start?

In my mother’s generation almost all women knew how to knit -they could do it masterfully almost in their sleep! It was a Latvian national tradition and a necessity of life. My mother learned knitting when she was six-seven years old. She was knitting socks while grazing cows in summertime, later to dress herself at school time. After the World War II, in the end of 40ies my mother together with her sister and mother had a small home workshop. They were knitting cardigans to sell, to earn a living. They bought country sheep-wool, dyed it, and knitted. My grandmother was knitting the back, my mother did the most complicated part – the front part with different ornaments, and my aunt knitted the sleeves. In parallel to their studies and work, they were able to produce one cardigan per week. About 40 years later, in late 1980ies, before the collapse of Soviet Union that came together with loss of all life savings and threw her into abject poverty, my mother returned to this business – knitting to earn her living. She knitted beautiful woolen mittens and with the help of our Swedish relatives sold them in Sweden.

My memories from my childhood: in winter – I always had to wear knitted (snow-proof!) woolen pants, socks and mittens, and caps that made my body itch. I had a crocheted swimming suit for summer, fancy beret and gloves for spring. In those days, the variety of available yarn was very limited. Either it was pure “country type” sheep wool, or some industrial “remains”. Also, we were very good in “recycling” the wool – unraveling old knitted things and making something new from the recycled yarn.  This approach required a lot time, patience and creativity.

In my childhood, knitting seemed so natural. All the women of my family knitted, and there was no question that I could not do it, too.  The first steps in knitting I made under my mother’s supervision, then came the lessons at school. Only years later I learned that most of my classmates did not knit themselves…their knitting homework was done by their mothers and grandmothers. However, that was not my case. I have always been a “good girl”.  I stubbornly did it myself, and this way I learned a skill of my life. Acquiring any type of skill in childhood, makes it long-lasting and stable. This is probably why knitting for me is easy, relaxing and brings so much joy.

I knitted my first pair of socks when I was 10 years old, and my first mittens – when I was 11. In addition to watching my mother knit, we were taught knitting and crocheting at school, and knitting a pair of socks and mittens was a part of a girl’s handicraft education.

I remember my first pairs very well. The socks were grey, with blue stripes, and I gave them as a present to my grandfather. Later I asked him to lend me the same socks to participate in an exhibition at school. I felt very bad about asking for the gift to be returned, but when it was over, he got them back and wore them for another two years before he died in 1977.

My first mittens were red, with white and black flowers. I remember where I knitted them – I was sitting at the bank of the Daugava River near the town of Skriveri. Usually I spent some summer time there, in the countryside, together with my relatives, who had farm there. At that time, knitting went very slowly, but I learned this pattern so well that it is hardwired into my fingers. I wore these mittens until wool moths consumed them during summer storage.

When I had my own kids – they all got the knitted things from both – mother and grandmother, so they took it for granted, and very often, they found some bright colored industrial products more attractive than the home-made ones. The consumerism harmed the knitting tradition, not only in my family, but in the entire society. The knitting tradition has faded in the following generations. Very few young girls are interested in knitting. I hope that one day I will have a grand-daughter,  who will be interested in knitting and to whom I can forward my skills and knitting passion.

What has changed since my mother’s generation is that we are no longer limited to knitting with allergy-inducing “barbed wire”.  The materials that are available today, blends of wool and silk, or bamboo fiber, are able to produce the lingerie that even baby bottoms can tolerate. Also the variety of color palette is remarkable – one has to learn to choose from tens of yarn types of the same color. The knitting needles are made of new materials and very easy to use. The new technologies have played an important role in this hobby industry.

Knitting is no longer a necessity of life. One can buy inexpensive, beautiful machine-knitted mittens and socks, cardigans and caps. Today the motivation for knitting is different. My knitting is not only with hands, but with the heart and soul. Every piece of my knitwear is personalized, it holds a part of my soul and spirit, which will stay after me.