I stumbled across a great book the other day at the library, No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting, by
Anne L. Macdonald (Ballantine Books, 1988). I haven't checked to see if it is still in press, but I doubt it... sort of a limited target
audience, but boy, am I it! A social history of women -- and knitting! How domestic sphere can you get!

I've just started reading, but already I have a whole new appreciation for sock knitting (which I confess, was an area of knitting that I had little interest in). Think about it: with no hand-knitted socks, you were stuck with something woven! Sure a knit hat is nice, but the original knitters in America were busily making socks. Now you know.

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