Martha Dinsdale, Dales Knitter: BU04708

Knitters model: DCM0029

Knitting was a booming cottage industry in the Yorkshire Dales for more than 400 years from the 1500’s to the mid-twentieth century.

All members of the family would knit - men, women and children, and they would knit while carrying out their everyday tasks. They would knit while cooking their food, while walking around and even after the lights burned down they would continue to knit in the dark. There is a story of the knitters in Dent being reprimanded for knitting during Church services.

Knitters in the Dales even developed their own distinctive form of knitting sticks.