Just idly curious. I know that the Amish are renowned for their quiltmaking, but I don’t recall hearing about them knitting…
If not, why not?
Thanks in advance!
I know for sure that they spin, so I’m betting they knit also…what else would they do with all that yarn? 
I can find out for sure in a couple days, probably, if no one else knows.
I would imagine most do. I was recently in Lancaster, PA and saw some beautiful Amish knit sweaters for sale. They were very simple and lovely. I spoke to a few Amish women working at a farmers market and one had a pair of socks otn in her apron pocket. When I mentioned them she was very modest and told me she was just making a pair for her husband. All three of the women knit and explained that they had learned as children. I did a Google search and really couldn’t find anything. I would think maybe the quilts get more attention because they are not as commonplace as knitting. Up until fairly recently (prob the last 50-60yrs) most women knit for their families. I also think that because of their beliefs the knitting wouldn’t be as flashy or intricate as the quilts therefore not as well known or popular.
Yes, they do, and quite imaginatively. I used to do a lot of trading business with a number of Amish families and their knits were always top notch.
Yes, they do!! There is an Amish community about 35 miles south of us. We used to go to the livestock auction there on Tuesdays. The women would sell the veggies and stuff before the sale, then when the auction started, they’d go in and sit by their husbands and either knit or sew while the men were bidding on the livestock.
Oh, I would love to see some of their knitting! If it is even 1/2 as pretty as the quilts don’t you know it’s gorgeous?!
I bet that every little piece of their clothing is mostly hand-made, right down to their socks. So I would say that they would knit and crochet … and probably make the yarn and needles all themselves! Their needle collections wouldn’t be extensive … but they would all be handmade.
There’s something romantic about the Amish way of life…
but…what would I do without knittinghelp.com? :doh:
[FONT=Comic Sans MS][SIZE=3][COLOR=darkorchid]You’d have it real life with knitters/quilters/canners/bread bakers/etc./ of all ages and skill levels. :teehee:[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
I guess that’s true! And, I certainly wouldn’t know what I was missing, either!!
Not quite. Well, I guess it depends on which community and if they’re considered Quakers, Mennonites, PA Dutch, etc. I used to live very close to an Amish community in Upstate NY and you would be suprised to see how much they buy instead of make. It’s not uncommon to see a horse and buggy or two at the local WalMart.
For some reason, that just cracks me up! 
I saw an Amish man at the local grocery store a few weeks ago and his clothing was all hand made (well, the clothing I could see, anyway). I didn’t see any horse and buggy, so he either had someone drive him there, or somehow drove himself.
There are many Amish/Mennonite settlements in the north-east Wisconsin area. I have found that if they [B]need[/B] to use something that we use, they aren’t afraid to try it. I remember one of the young guys driving around on a tractor (helping out a local non-Amish farmer) and he sure thought he was Joe Cool.
Can’t remember where, but I very recently saw some pics of hand-knit Amish socks which were brightly colored and patterned. Apparently they were permitted because they were worn with high-laced boots and hidden beneath long skirts. Different orders of Amish have different degrees of strictness, so this might have been one of the more liberal orders.
Good question. I have Amish family members (my parents both grew up Amish but left before they met each other). I’ve been interested in this question because I learned to knit a few years ago. It seems that everyone learns to crochet, but I and my mom don’t know of any Amish people who knit. There may be some who did in other communities, and probably some who have picked it up in more recent years as a hobby. But traditionally in my mom’s community (Lancaster County PA during the 1900’s) it wasn’t a common thing. I have been curious as to why this is. I don’t know for sure why but I have a few guesses, the main one being that Amish are so practical. Once the knitting machines were invented and you could buy factory made stockings and sweaters relatively cheaply, you would gladly give up your job of knitting piles of dark colored stockings (and Amish often had large families). They had other creative hobbies available to them: sewing (a task which some probably enjoyed and others less so), embroidery (girls would often embroider pillowcases or tablecloths for their hope chest, or make a family record to hang on the wall listing all the family’s names and birthdays), quilting (which was creative, colorful, had a social aspect, and could also be sold for a good price), and crocheting (which was great for doilies, afghans, and baby blankets and layette sets).
When researching online about this, I did see some info about Amish wedding socks. This seems fascinating and I have no reason to believe this is not true, but as noted on one site it likely went out once machine knitting became a thing.
I have no desire to make generalizations in this post; because there is such variety between the Amish communities; but I can say that in one of the largest oldest Amish settlements in the US knitting is not “traditional” (what everyone does and an established part of daily or community life).
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