The Terrible Knitters of Dent

Have you heard of the 'Terrible Knitters of Dent'? Nowadays Dent is a tiny, quiet little hill village near Sedbergh in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, instantly recognisable for its whitewashed cottages. Until the 19th century, Dent would have resounded with the clickety clack of hundreds of knitting needles! In those days knitting wasn't an activity associated with women or hobbies - it was something done by men, women and children and was an essential way to supplement meagre incomes.

Whether from farming or lead-mining families, most Dales inhabitants were poor and needed to supplement their income. The solution was to knit at every opportunity. Children were sent to live with cottagers in Dent so they could learn the trade, in an early kind of sweat shop, being cajoled or whipped to knit as quickly as possible. Women knitted as soon as their housework was done. Men knitted on their way to and from work. The Dales knitters were known for their incredible dexterity.

They used a simple tool called a 'knitting stick', a wooden stick that was tucked into a waist belt, which anchored needles and enabled knitters to knit with just one hand. This meant that knitters could do two things at once, perhaps churning butter as they knitted.

So famous were the astoundingly quick knitters of Dent, people still talk about the "terrible knitters of Dent".

The Dales Countryside Museum has a great collection of knitting sticks. Some of them are quite plain, whereas others are more decorative and probably made as gifts for sweethearts. You can also find out more about them at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh.

Groups of people would often gather in one cottage to save fuel for fires and light, knitting and telling stories or singing as they worked.

Knitters were brought yarn by merchants who also collected the socks, stockings, mittens, hats and jackets they knitted and took them off to market.

​Each Dale would have had their own distinctive patterns, a bit like Fair Isle where complex patterns were handed down from family to family.