Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Is Knitting Becoming a Lost Art?

by

Is knitting a dying skill?Ordnance Survey is a British mapmaking company, but they’re interested in a lot of different things, including thinking about and talking about skills that seem to be in danger of dying out in the modern world.

Of course knowing how to read a map has become less important in the days of GPS navigation on our phones, but there are a lot of skills that we’re in danger of losing, according to a survey the group conducted, and knitting is one of them. As is knowing how to darn socks, a skill that should go hand in hand with knitting (at least among sock knitters).

The group came up with a list of 20 endangered skills, based on a survey of 2,000 Britons. The full list is:

1. Reading a map
2. Using a compass
3. Tie a specific knot
4. Darn socks
5. Looking something up in a book using an index rather than ‘Googling it’
6. Correct letter writing technique
7. Understanding pounds and ounces
8. Knowing your spelling and grammar
9. Converting pounds and ounces to grams and kilograms
10. Starting a fire from nothing
11. Handwriting
12. Understanding feet and inches
13. Knitting
14. Recall a friend or relative’s phone number from memory
15. Recall a partner’s phone number from memory
16. Identifying trees, insects, flowers etc
17. Touch typing
18. Baking bread from scratch
19. Taking up trousers
20. Wiring a plug

I can maybe do 12 of these; what about you?

I don’t really think we’re in danger of losing knitting, since so many people do it and are eager to teach the next generation, but some of these could certainly be on the way out. What do you think?

(Hat tip to the Grimsby Telegraph, which reported on the survey.)

Comments

  1. Sadly much of that list is true although as a knitter I won’t stop. Add civility and manners to the list!

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.