Q 01/05

The oldest surviving knitted artifacts, cotton socks from Fustat, date from which century?

A) 5th

B) 7th

C) 9th

D) 11th

Answer · why

D) 11th

The Fustat socks were worked from the toe up, and their fine gauge suggests knitting was already a mature craft in Egypt by then.

Q 02/05

Which single-needle fabric technique, whose Scandinavian name means 'binding with a needle', predates knitting?

A) Sprang

B) Nålebinding

C) Tatting

D) Macramé

Answer · why

B) Nålebinding

Textile historians sometimes have to trace the path of a single yarn through an ancient fragment to tell the two techniques apart.

Q 03/05

Europe's earliest known knitted items were made by knitters of which faith, employed by Spanish royals?

A) Jewish

B) Orthodox

C) Coptic

D) Muslim

Answer · why

D) Muslim

Knitted cushion covers and gloves found in the tomb of Prince Fernando de la Cerda, who died in 1275, are among these early pieces.

Q 04/05

Which artist painted the knitting Virgin Mary in Visit of the Angel on the Buxtehude Altar?

A) Master Bertram of Minden

B) Tommaso da Modena

C) Giotto di Bondone

D) Simone Martini

Answer · why

A) Master Bertram of Minden

In the panel Mary knits a seamless garment in the round on four needles, one of the earliest depictions of the technique.

Q 05/05

Who reputedly gave Queen Elizabeth I her first pair of knitted silk stockings in 1561?

A) Robert Dudley

B) The Countess Montague

C) Mary Stuart

D) William Cecil

Answer · why

B) The Countess Montague

Silk stockings were finer, softer and far pricier than wool, and the queen is said to have refused to wear cloth hose again.