Levushka's Pattern

The down-knitting craft has always been considered an exclusively female occupation. However, this difficult craft has not done without men's participation. Certainly, making and sharpening needles, combs and spindles has been done exclusively by men. This requires quite a large set of skills and abilities. By the way, good makers of tools for the down-knitting craft have always been worth their weight in gold. Such craftsmen deservedly enjoy honour and respect among down knitters.

Surprisingly, men have also made a huge contribution to the history of knitting Orenburg down items. Among the famous masters, mention should be made of Ivan Vladimirovich Shevtsov from the village of Cherkassy in the Saraktash District, as well as Konstantin Petrovich Tosherev, a resident of the village of Krasnogor, who was disabled and knitted all his life until his death. According to old-timers, there were families in the villages in which only men knitted, since not every woman managed to master the skill of down knitting.

The legendary names of Leonty Nikiforovich Maksimov and Yermolai Stepanovich Fedorov, who lived in the village of Zheltoye in the Saraktash District at the beginning of the 20th century, are known to very many people. But let's take it one step at a time. In the village Leonty Nikiforovich was simply called Levushka. According to the village old-timers, Leonty himself came from a very poor family and then married a rich girl. To somehow feed his family and children, he took up knitting together with his wife. At that time merchants came to the villages and bought down items from local craftswomen. One of these merchant women offered Leonty to buy down shawls for her and keep the accounts. After all, he was not only an unrivalled master of down knitting but also knew everyone in the area. Perhaps the merchant woman took pity on Leonty because of his poverty and large family. History is silent on this. The craftsman served diligently. For his work, the merchant woman bought him a house, and he and his wife and children began to live decently. During dekulakisation, Leonty was declared a speculator profiting from other people's goods and was taken into custody. While in prison, the craftsman missed his beloved craft, so he asked for knitting tools and raw material to be passed to him. Having knitted a shawl of unprecedented beauty with his golden hands, the craftsman was baffled: what had he been imprisoned for? According to legend, it was this very shawl that was passed to Stalin himself, and soon the craftsman was released. He returned to his native village, where he lived until his death, creating ever new masterpieces. It was he who first knitted a shawl in the so-called "pancake" pattern, which the old-timers call "Levushka's". This pattern is still considered one of the most beautiful and unique openwork knits.

Yermolai Stepanovich Fedorov is known as the author of the largest Orenburg shawl. He was the choir director at the church in the village of Zheltoye. Having a truly magnificent voice and ear, he also became famous for his down-knitting skill. Because of his meagre church salary, in 1927 Yermolai Fedorovich joined the down artel. The craftsman knitted during the day and sang in the church choir in the morning and evening. His creation – a magnificent "beaded" shawl of 1000 stitches – was taken to Orenburg and recognised as one of the largest Orenburg down items.

In 1930, Yermolai Petrovich received an offer of work at the musical comedy theatre. Because the craftsman did not want to leave the church choir, he was arrested by the NKVD and taken into custody. Exactly a year after his arrest, his relatives received news from Kemerovo of his death. Only in 1964 was the case closed and Yermolai Petrovich's good name restored.

Orenburg masters of the down-knitting craft glorify their region in our days too. The Orenburg Museum of Fine Arts is proud to have an Orenburg shawl knitted by male hands. It was knitted by a 14-year-old boy, Roman Gumerov, the son of the famous knitting craftswoman Roza Sakhabovna Gumerova. She tried to teach the craft to her elder son, while little Roma, at the age of eight, sat down to knit in imitation of his elder brother. Since then it has become his hobby. Although Roman is now a specialist in electronics and knows computers very well, he has not given up the craft.

As we can see, the down-knitting craft has never done without men's hands; men have always helped women comb out down and make tools. Only a few succeeded in the art of knitting. Their names are woven forever, like a refined pattern, into the gripping and fascinating history of knitting Orenburg down shawls.