Knit So As To Turn Water: The History of New England’s Maritime Knitting
Co-sponsored with the Waterford Library

Saturday, February 17, 2024
Waterford Public Library
2:00 p.m.          Program

For February we will co-sponsor with the Waterford Library to bring you a program about the history of New England’s maritime knitting presented by Rebecca Bayreuther Donovan.  It followed the fish, the flight paths of immigrants, the sea-lanes of war: the knitted clothing of New England reflects maritime cultures the world over. Rich with origin mythology and salty with sailors’ yarns, garments like nippers, half-handers, and the infamous fisherman’s sweater each hold a romantic yet real place in our coastal history. Explore knitting a WWI submariner’s outfit with the Navy League! Imagine learning to knit with a pair of whalebone needles you carved yourself! Join Rebecca Bayreuther Donohue, historian & knitter, for an ode to wool and marvel once again at how the sea connects us all.

A PowerPoint chronology comes to life with examples of breed-specific yarns and recreated garments. Ms Donohue of Niantic has knit historical garments while aboard New Bedford whalers, Grand Banks fishing schooners, and O’Day Mariners. After more than 20 years at a major Connecticut maritime museum, she co-founded the Dirty Blue Shirts living history collective, whose participatory programs encompass everything from historic fashion & foodways to maritime culture & shipboard skills. Rebecca’s personal interest in historical hand-knitting stems from always being cold, no matter what century she’s interpreting. With all the plastic in today’s oceans, she thinks it’s time to revisit wool as the preeminent fiber of sustainability, versatility, and global community.