Day of X: June the 13th: World Wide Knit in Public Day

Image via Wikipedia

On June the 13th 2009, knitters will be exposing their naughty yarn in public places all over the world. Actually the World Wide Knit in Public spreads itself over two weekends, but June the 13th is the major consensus Day, so we're going with it.

Like many harmless pastimes, knitting actually originated as an art of war. The first ever knitting needles were in fact eighteen-foot-long poleaxes favoured by the Qin warlords of China during the Warring States period (the word "knitting" has evolved from the ancient Chinese Ni Ting or "Impaling Rod")

After the Battle of Julu, when the Qin Dynasty finally came to an end, Qin soldiers were driven underground, fighting a losing guerrilla war against the warriors of the rising Han Dynasty. Naturally any weapons they carried had to be easily concealed, so over time the Ni Ting became smaller, eventually evolving into the small, thin rods we are familiar with today.

Like the Viet Cong in more recent times, the Qin armies had considerable underground support in the civilian population, in particular from the older generations who retained fond memories of life under the Qin Dynasty. The old women of Qin were feared for their secret Ni Ting skills, luring Han soldiers into their homes with the offer of a bowl of rice and a warm fire then executing them with a well-placed needle to the jugular or eye.

In particular, scrolls held at the British Museum speak of Lóng Pó, the "Dragon's Grandmother", who would reportedly use her Ni Ting needles to weave chainmail from steel rods, and once killed 47 Han warriors in a blind rage after one of them trod on her cat.

The skills of the Ni Ting were passed down over the centuries from grandmother to grandmother, and have finally evolved into the harmless craft technique we know today. But this Knit in Public Day, maybe we should take a moment to look back on the years of bloodshed that contributed to our nice warm mittens.

That's your Day for today.