Sprang

Archaeological evidence indicates that sprang predates knitting; the two needlework forms bear a visible resemblance and serve similar functions but require different production techniques.

In principle, sprang may be regarded as a practical application of the fiber manipulation techniques used in the children's game known as cat's cradle.

[5] The natural elasticity of sprang makes it suitable for stockings, hair nets, sleeves, bags, scarves, and other purposes where pliant material is required.

The Paris World's Fair of 1889 included an exhibit that duplicated ancient sprang, which led to renewed interest in the technique.

[5] Sprang is, however, largely a historical technique that has been supplanted for most purposes by the later invention of knitting, whose earliest known example dates from the third century A.D.[1] During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries a military fashion of decorative sprang sashes in silk known as faja in Spain gained international popularity among generals as a distinguishing ornament of rank.

[5] In a study of folk textiles of the Peloponnese in Greece, Linda Welters identifies the zonari as a long fringed belt constructed of sprang.

From interviews conducted during the 1980s, Welters found that the technique was practiced by elderly women and regarded as a specialized skill which they worked on pairs of beams.

Their vocabulary had no special term to correspond with sprang, so they referred to it with descriptive phrases such as knitting with sticks, plaiting, and weaving without passing through.

The zonaria are made from sheep's wool hand spun with a drop spindle and dyed red, blue, or black depending on local custom.

Zonaria are a custom in much of Argolida and Corinthia where they are traditional dowry items worn by women from marriage onward and associated with fertility and donned on ritual occasions.

[2][5] Additionally, sprang remains in use for making silk trouser drawstrings for male and female attire in Punjab in India and Pakistan.