When Spanish Conquistador, Frances Pizzarro, landed in Peru to conquer the Incan empire, he didn’t realize he was bringing them a gift.  Thankfully, he remembered to pack his socks.

Carrie Brezine, a Harvard educated anthropologist specializing in Andean Textiles (wish she was on G+) tells us the story in the latest issue of Piecework magazine.   Excavations at Magdalena de Cao Viejo reveal remains of knit stockings typically worn by Spanish soldiers, made with European wool.  Further into the excavation, remains were found of stockings in a similar pattern knit with materials indigenous to the Andes, cotton and Alpaca.  Thus, we can begin to piece together the introduction of #knitting  to the New World.   While the native Peruvians weren’t knitters (yet), they were used to using weaving techniques and amazing color combinations, which show up in their version of the stockings found later at the site.

The Peabody Museum provides more info on this excavation on their website here:  http://peabody2.ad.fas.harvard.edu/mcv/Textiles.htm

The best part?   The pattern was reverse-engineered and can be found on page 15 of the magazine!  You can pick up a copy on the Interweave site here:  https://www.interweave.com/needle/piecework_magazine/

Enjoy your day, Everyone! – Christina.

H/T +Yarn Mountain +Dave Bennett +Joy Wandrey
#textiles   #forensics   #archaeology   #sockclub   #knitwithme #knittingtogether #anthropology   #history   #Inca   #yarnmtn