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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?

Golden Peak Media Acquires CreativeBug

Throughout the saga of the closing of Joann, I’ve been wondering what would happen to CreativeBug, the subscription-based online craft learning platform that Joann acquired in 2017. 

Golden Peak Media has announced its acquisition of the company in a media release. 

Golden Peak is “one of the largest media and education companies serving art and craft enthusiasts in the United States,” according the release, and includes in its portfolio brands like Interweave, Sew Daily, and nine print magazines including Love of Quilting and Interweave Knits. They have daily newsletters, magazines, digital patterns, on-demand classes and host live events.

David Saabye, CEO of Golden Peak, calls the purchase a “very natural fit” supporting crafters in their lifelong learning journeys. 

CreativeBug general manager Liana Allday will stay on and the company will retain its headquarters in Berkeley, Calif. 

Abby Glassenberg of the Craft Industry Alliance collected reactions from some CreativeBug instructors and others with a history at the company, and heard lots of optimism about the news. Ursula Morgan, who was CEO of CreativeBug when the company was acquired by Joann, said Golden Peak is a “perfect home” for CreativeBug as they’re getting an owner that “deeply understands the craft consumer.” 

I, too, am relieved to see that this platform will be able to continue. I’ve been a subscriber for years and I love that it has solid instruction in a wide range of crafts (including knitting, of course!) and is always adding new content to keep the platform interesting. It’s also a great service that CreativeBug is available to many for free through their local libraries, so be sure to check on that where you live if you don’t already subscribe. 

This feels like the last piece of the puzzle in the story of Joann that’s going on all year, along with the announcement that Michaels had purchased Joann’s intellectual property so its private label brands can live on, but of course I’ll keep watching to see if there’s more to come.