Just like Great (times eight) Granny used to make

It's gone from two pins to computer-powered machines
that could probably guide a rocket to the moon. It's
gone into fashion, out of fashion and now it's coming
back again.
Where did it come from? It came from a wooden frame
with pegs sticking out of it. Great (times eight)
Granny would be amazed by it today, but she'd
recognize the basic technique. Peg knitting may be
forgotten, by most of us, but it certainly hasn't
gone.

Up until the 19th century peg knitting was the
standard. It had other names (like ring; box or reel)
but it is probably best known, today, as French
knitting. In Victorian times two pins took over and
now machines do the job. These are fast efficient, and
expensive, but they still wind yarn around lots of
little pegs.
Not everyone has forgotten the knitting frame. Tess
and Les O'Connor of Sutton, Surrey, make them and use
them. They also breed angora rabbits and spin their
fur into yarn. Don't worry, they get the fur by
grooming; no rabbits were harmed in making this
article.
Of course you can peg knit with any yarn, including
spun dogs hair, but if you're going to take the
trouble to spin and knit by hand you might as well use
something special.
"We have forty rabbits, and they're all part of the
family", says Tess; who does most of the spinning. Les
does most of the frame making. They both do the
knitting.
"You'll be amazed at how quick it is", says Les as he
slips thread over pegs without looking. The O'Connors
demonstrate their craft all over the country; and they
usually take a couple of the rabbits with them.

If you don't have forty angora rabbits to hand the
usual yarn to use for peg knitting is wool, or a
manmade equivalent. Any similar thread can be used,
though, including cotton; macramé string; and even
strips of cloth. You can make anything from a hammock
to a hat.

First you need a frame. It's a simple thing made of
wood; either a circle or a very long rectangle. Both
shapes have thin pegs (about 5mm diameter) sticking up
around them; set anything from 10mm to 50mm apart. Big
gaps make more 'open' knitting. You can either knit
all the way around to make a tube or, on the
rectangular version, to and fro to make a sheet.

Tie the end of the yarn to a peg. Take it to the back
of the next peg (left or right to suit yourself) and
wind it around once. Then to the next peg in line and
wind in the same way, and the next and so on, until
you either get as far as you want to go for a sheet;
or all the way around for a tube.

The next bit's even easier. Just pull the yarn against
the front of the pegs, above the loops you've already
made; either going back the way you came for a sheet
or around again, in the same direction you went to
make the loops, for a tube. Then pull each loop up, in
turn (starting with the one you tied on) over the free
strand and the top of the peg, and let it go.
This makes a stitch and a loop for the next row. Carry
on until all the loops are over their peg, and then
pull more yarn against the pegs and make another row
in the same way.

It's a job that's easy to do with your fingers,
although some people prefer to use a hook; a crochet
hook is ideal. If you're working around a rectangular
frame you can, with a bit of practice, pull loops over
pegs along both sides at once.
If you're working to and fro, to make a sheet, you'll
lose one stitch from one end of every other row. Don't
worry about this, it happens to everybody; you get it
back on the next row.

To cast off you pull the loop off the first peg and
over the next one until it's below the loop that's
already there. Then pull the loop that was already
there off, which takes the new loop with it, and put
it over the next peg and so on. This leave a line of
loops threaded through each other. The last loop won't
have anything through it, though, so cut the yarn;
push the end through the loop and pull it tight.

This method is called 'plain', or 'close' stitch and
is a good basic. As with most very old crafts there
are many variations. If you want to improvise, and
have a go yourself, you already know enough to get
started. If you want to find out more about 'The Great
(times eight) Grandmother of all knitting' you can
contact Tess and Les O'Connor at: Silkwood, 23 Cedar
Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5DG Tel 020 8643 6140
Fax 020 8661 6577
email jaquin@oconnorles.freeserve.co.uk