300-500
Egypt
Wool (knitted)

These socks are the earliest knitted items in the V&A's collection. Made in 300-499 AD, they were excavated in Egypt at the end of the 19th century. They have a divided toe and are designed to be worn with sandals.

The socks are knitted in stocking stitch using three-ply wool and the single-needle technique. This type of knitting is a slow technique more like sewing. It was a forerunner of the faster method of knitting with two or more needles.

Textile historians often find it difficult to tell whether early knitted objects are made using a single needle, as here, or using more than one needle, as the finished articles are so similar in appearance.