april fools' knitting pranks

I've been researching the history of knitting as it was used in April Fools Day pranks, and have uncovered these amusing facts:

• In 18th century England, April 1st was the day that young women would select which beau they wanted to court them that season. They would gift each of their potential suitors with a sweater; the men they were interested in would receive a perfectly fine sweater, but the spurned ones were given a sweater with sleeves that were much too long for their arms.
• Scandinavian women in the 17th and 18th centuries knit humorous (and sometimes very raunchy) verses into knit caps that they would give their husbands on April 1st.
• Marie Antoinette was particularly mean-spirited, and was rumored to have given Louis XVI a sweater whose sleeves were sewn together as an April Fools' gift.
• Knitting as an April Fools' prank was banned by the Pilgrims, with the reason that "the labour of our industrious goodwyves' hands muste not be spente on frivolity and idle sinfulness."

Hope you found these tidbits entertaining, because not a single one of them is true!

Happy April Fools Day!