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Knitting: Not Just for Stay-at-home Moms

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young knittersI really wanted to like this article from the Star-Telegram about younger knitters who were attracted to the craft for various reasons but stick with the craft because of the friendships they’ve formed doing it. I mean, it doesn’t even use the term “not your grandma’s knitting”! (At this point, my bar for a good story about knitting is pretty low.)

But then there’s this description of a Brooklyn-based knitting circle, chatting about “Mad Men” to the clicks of their needles:

But these four friends are not retirees or ambitious stay-at-home moms eager to find an outlet for their free time. All have full-time careers — textile designer, graphic designer, kindergarten teacher — and all are under 34.

Grr. I’m 34, by the way, and have a full-time career AS A KNITTER. Well, as a crafter, anyway. And no one’s writing “news” stories about me.

Maybe I’m sensitive. I grew up knitting and I don’t think of it as anything strange that other people my age and younger do the same. The social aspect of knitting isn’t really anything new, either. It’s great that newspapers and other media outlets want to write about knitting, but I’d much rather it was such a common part of life that it wasn’t thought of as news. What do you think?

[Photo via the Star-Telegram by Columbia News Service/Kerri Anne Renzulli]

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Comments

  1. Thought I was the only one that had that reaction. I have knitted since I was six and for 64 years all I heard was that only grandmothers knit. Still knitting even without grandkids to knit for.

  2. As a knitter I find articles like this one funny. However I do get some strange looks when I pull out my knitting. Whether it’s at work or at the local wine bar, it has brought about some interesting conversations, amazing how many people think I’m crocheting. The men are more fascinated than the women, which I find odd. Of course, everyone wants you to knit something for them and I politely say no. I always offer to teach them and gee so far no one has taken me up on that offer. Love your column!

  3. “ambitious stay-at-home moms eager to find an outlet for their free time” Really?

    Why would a SAHM Mom want to fill ALL that free time with knitting when she can just keep sitting on the couch reading 50 Shades of Gray, watching TV and eating bon-bons?

    Guess I’m sensitive too? 😉

  4. Wendi, you are so right!!!! I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for many years and it’s only been since my kids have left home that I have ANY free time! What is up with people?

    If you’re sensitive then count me in that group. Free time? Ha!

  5. Exactly. I work at home but was a work at home stay at home mom for the first two years of my daughter’s life, and there was no free time. There’s still no free time. 🙂 Glad I’m not the only one, though I do find them funny, too.

  7. It was the “yarn-obsessed females” that got to me. I think someone was upset about their writing assignment.

Have you read?

Knit a Cowl Full of Variations

I love to see variations on knitting patterns. It’s fun to see what knitters do with a designer’s ideas, and as a designer sometimes it’s fun to think about different ways that you could do things and change the look or feel of a project.

Tif Neilan played with this idea herself with a set of two bandana cowls called Variations.

These projects are both worked in five colors of sport weight yarn, and they’re worked flat in interrupted stripes of garter stitch in different colors. There is shaping worked in different sections to give it the shape it has, and you work a three-needle bind off to finish the project and join it into a cowl.

The bind off is meant to be visible, but since the rest of the project is garter stitch you can decide to wear the seam side in if you’d rather.

The difference between the two projects is their size, with cowl 1 being a smaller version and cowl 2 more like a shawl.

The first variation measures about 24 inches/60 cm around the neck and is 20.5 inches/51 cm long and the longest point. The second option is around 25 inches/62.5 cm neck circumference and 28.5 inches/71 long when worn. The smaller one uses 400-450 yards (402-411 meters) of yarn, while the larger calls for 655 to 660 (599 to 604 meters).

It could go without saying that this would be a great stash busting project where you could change colors even more often as you run out of yarn. But if you know me you know I’m never going to go without saying it. So grab your leftovers and get to stitching, why don’t you?

Both of the patterns are on Ravelry: Variations Cowl 1 and Variations Cowl 2. Don’t miss the projects tabs to see all the, uh, variations, different people have made!

[Photo: Tif Neilan]

Giveaway: 60 Quick Cowls

It’s All About Cowls – Free Pattern