When animator Samantha Moore’s mother lost the ability to follow knitting patterns because of dementia, Moore taught herself to knit through YouTube tutorials and was able to find comfort in knitting as her mother’s health declined.
She began to interview knitters about what knitting means to them and how it gets them through hard times and made the animated short film, “Visible Mending,” which you can view at The New York Times’ website.
The video includes several British knitters and is illustrated with knit characters that either they or Moore designed. The video is full of knit and crochet and stories about how knitting gives us a place to explore and be comforted, to know that mistakes don’t really matter, and to share our love and creativity with other people.
This time of year seems perfect for thinking about what knitting (and crochet if you do that too) means to you, what value you get from it and how you can share that with others in the new year.
Knitting may seem like a simple act of making things, and it is, but it is or can also be stress relief, self expression, a way of connecting with other people, a way to learn new things, hold on to traditions of the past and so much more. It gives us ways to use our talents to be charitable, to make gifts, to teach others.
I know I want more of all of that in the year to come. I’ve been using this in between time to work on some knitting projects to donate to a local warming center, and hatching plans to continue to do more of that in the new year.
I hope you’ll watch the film and think about what knitting means to you, and come back and share it with the rest of us!
[Photo via The New York Times]
