3 ms·

I never considered that knitting might be so relatively new. Knitted wool clothing seems like an essential item for staying comfortable in cold wet weather. Did

• adrian_b 3y ago
  No, they used woven wool garments (or felt). Any Roman male would use only woven wool clothes. Thinner fabrics, like linen or expensive imported silk or cotton were normally used only by women. Men who used them were derided as effeminate. Moreover, knitted wool is mostly suitable only for undergarments, as it does not offer enough protection against water and wind. Knitting provided more comfortable clothing, but it was not a necessity. There is no surprise in its late development.
• hprotagonist 3y ago
  there are other ways to make yarn into flexible clothes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A5lebinding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%A5lebinding is fairly old — mid-bronze age Felting and weaving (or both) are also quite old. Interestingly, the spinning wheel isn’t: woven textiles produced in europe before the 13th century would have been produced with yarn or thread made on drop spindles: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindle_(textiles) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindle_(textiles), and anything spinning-wheel-esque probably developed no earlier than c. 200-1000 globally.