Sock-Knitting Techniques from Armenian Knitters: Grafting Without a Tapestry Needle

Armine Gasparyan, a knitter from Hadrut, taught me how to graft stitches together without a tapestry needle. She uses this technique to finish inserted sock heels. As with grafting with a tapestry needle, you will need to have an equal number of stitches on each needle in order to carry out the steps correctly. After you have completed the last stitch, you can push the yarn through to the inside of the heel using the tip of your knitting needle, or you can use a crochet hook to pull it through to the inside.

Armine works at the Hadrut Creative Center in Yerevan, Armenia where she teaches knitting, weaving, and other crafts to refugee children from Hadrut as well as their peers from Yerevan. The center was originally based in the town of Hadrut in Nagorno-Karabakh, but it was relocated to Stepanakert after the 44-Day War in 2020. Soon after, a branch was opened in Yerevan and other locations around Armenia to provide a gathering space for refugees from Hadrut to maintain ties with their community, dialect, and culture. Since the exodus of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh during the most recent war in 2023, the center’s headquarters in Stepanakert has relocated to Yerevan.

In the past, hand-knit socks were an important part of attire and cultural life for people in Hadrut. Women knit dozens of socks to include in their dowries and for their family members to wear and give as gifts. However, like in other parts of the world, old-style knitting began to decline with the introduction of factory-made clothing and changing fashions. Ira Tamrazyan, the director of the center, noticed that younger women in Hadrut were not knitting the old-style socks that her grandmother used to knit. In order to preserve this style of knitting, she decided to teach a handful of women, who in turn could teach the next generation of knitters through the Hadrut Creative Center’s classes. Armine was one of her students and is now a knitting teacher at the center. Armine welcomes students from around the world who visit the center while on vacation in Yerevan. Please reach out to the center if you are interested in learning directly with Armine and her fellow Hadrut Creative Center teachers in Armenia.