My mother June Hemmons Hiatt, wrote The Principles of Knitting in 1989, and finished the second edition in 2012. Some call it ‘The Joy of Cooking’ for knitting. It is one of the most comprehensive and thorough books on the craft and is considered by many to be the standard reference.
For the second edition of the book, I created or manipulated over 800 illustrations and photographs, a project which took over three years. After the book was released, my mom set out to reintroduce a traditional knitting method that had fallen mostly into obscurity. Before the industrial revolution, professional knitters in Europe would knit using a ‘knitting belt’, which is a small leather pouch filled with horse-hair. They would use this belt to secure the right knitting needle, allowing them to knit much faster and with better ergonomics. For more information on the history of ‘supported knitting’ click here.
After a year and a half of research and design, I came up with a novel re-design which was awarded a utility patent (US 20150167211). I also created numerous custom molds, jigs and fixtures that I use to manufacture them. I am still making these knitting belts by hand today, and they are available here.
