Historical Tidbit #1
I haven't seen a verifiable source to this story, but apparently, in the late 16th Century, King Christian IV of Denmark outlawed knitting!  He thought it made women too "dreamy".  Pshaw, your highness! 


His mother, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Gustrow, did not think much of this edict either.  She would gather some of her ladies in waiting, and they would row out to an island and knit the day away!  If anyone wishes to do a little research and find out if this really happened, I'd love to know about it. [via knitgrrl] 


Historical Tidbit #2
Take a listen to this brief audio clip from A History of Handknitting: The Compelling History of this Ancient Craft by Richard Rutt, read by Melissa Hughes.  It's about when the term "hand knitting" began to make its way into English-language books and dictionaries in the early 17th century.  The book itself explores the history of knitting from ancient times to the present.  There's a 1987 edition of the book available up on the 3rd floor in Art & Music under the call number q746.432 R (The 'q' doesn't mean anything, only that the book is slightly oversized.  You'll be able to find it with all the other 746.432's) [catalog link].  BPL also carries the 2007 edition as a downloadable audio book [catalog link]