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When is Knitting Going to Stop Being a Joke?

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knitting warsThis is a little bit mock outrage, but also a lot serious. Guys, when are people going to stop using knitting as a punchline?

You’d think with as many celebrities and young people as knit these days that people would stop treating it as something only old fogies with nothing better to do with their time do. They wouldn’t talk about “your grandma’s knitting” and whether what you’re doing is or is not like that.

They wouldn’t think the fact that men knit is an oddity worth front-page news.

And they wouldn’t decide, when brainstorming about ridiculous reality TV shows that might just be crazy enough to be put on the air, that a show about knitting ought to make the list.

But that happened, as the New York Times reported yesterday. The public television station WNET, as part of its fundraising drive, developed posters for fake reality shows juxtaposed with the tagline: “The fact you thought this was a real show says a lot about the state of TV.”

It really is kind of a good idea for a campaign. Except there are shows about knitting and crafts that are on public television, so they should sense that they’re mocking people who might otherwise be supporters.

And while it’s not exactly Knitting Wars, there is a reality-based knitting competition, The Fiber Factor. It doesn’t even need bad puns stolen from other crafts, which just goes to show how little these people know about the people they’re making fun of.

I’m all for supporting public television, but I’d think twice before joining this station. For real. The least we can do is light up the Twitter page of “Knitter Daisy” with a little reality of our own. Who’s with me? (And hey, if you are with me, you can also follow me on Twitter.)

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Comments

  1. Knitting might stop being a joke about the same time that comments about “old fogies with nothing better to do” does.

    Not your grandmother’s knitting, perhaps, but if you stop and consider, all knitting was once your grandmother’s…and mine. What she knit may now look incredibly quaint, but no doubt it was state-of-the-art at the time and she no doubt hacked a few patterns in her day—she just didn’t have Youtube to demonstrate it. I believe in progress, but I also believe in acknowledging from whence we’ve come. And we’ve certainly built our knitting knowledge on the skills of our elders.

  2. Really well said Linzee. I also wonder why young people knitting and men knitting makes it so much more legitimate to knit? Snobbery and ageism still reign.

  3. Kinda like the reference to low academic expectations for college students recruited at a high price: They get to take “basketweaving”.

    Guess what, I wish the DID! It’s damned hard to get a good looking basket…. one that isn’t misshapen and distorted!

    My mom was an Art teacher who also qualified for K-12, and my dad taught both Phys. Ed and History. They would jump on anyone who mocked crafts!

    “…there are shows about knitting and crafts that are on public television, so they should sense that they’re mocking people who might otherwise be supporters.”

    Agreed! I think the ad campaign is great, but… the REALITY is, I’d LOVE to see this particular show come to fruition! Maybe it can replace Jersey Bore or Duck Die-Nasty!

  5. My sister has leukemia as a child and as her older sister by 2 yrs i spent the first part of my childhood sitting by hospital beds and in the corridors always waiting. My father taught me to knit sitting on his knee during these times. Deep maroon wool my mother had used to make him a cardigan from a pattern of her mothers passed to her by her mother. Thats 4 generations of stories in one pattern. Ill never forget the history in it nor the life story it brought me. 43 yrs later im still knitting and crocheting.

Have you read?

Knits with Sheep

It felt like it had been a while since I’d done a roundup of knitting patterns involving sheep, and if search is any indication, that is true. I found a roundup of patterns for knit sheep from a few years ago, but the only one with v I could find is from 2015. So it’s definitely time to revisit this fun genre of knitting patterns.

This all started with a headband. Alyssa Kaat’s Icelandic Sheep Headband (free on Ravelry) to be specific. Ravelry showed it to me as a pattern highlight and I couldn’t resist taking a closer look. It’s worked with two colors of worsted weight yarn and alternates sheep with stars around your head.

Another great sheepy headband is this one from Loch Fyne Crafts on Etsy. These sweet little sheep are worked in bulky yarn and you can make the background look like field and sky or work it in a solid color.

Or make a headband (or a hat, cowl, or all three) covered with a flock of sheep with this set of patterns from New Age Knitting CA. These pieces also use the field/sky coloring, but you can use whatever colors of worsted weight yarn you like.

Speaking of hats, there’s also the sheep hat from Lynann Knits Designs. The sample was worked in Icelandic wool to make the sheep and the hat extra fuzzy and warm, but any worsted weight yarn will work.

There’s also the Wandering Sheep hat from Kat Hudon (on Ravelry), which features a fun collection of speckled sheep that can be worked in different yarn weights to make different sizes of hats for kids and adults.

And lest you think sheep need to be knit in traditional stranded colorwork, check out the Rebel Sheep Mob blanket by Deborah Moore. This one is worked in mosaic knitting using fingering weight yarn. In mosaic knitting you’re only working with one color per row so it’s pretty easy. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

I can’t possibly share sheep knitting patterns without mentioning the amazing Black Sheep Shadow Shawl by Mark Jamieson. Shadow knitting is a technique I want to do more of, but it involves working two rows alternating in two different colors and the pattern emerges when you look at the design from an angle. It’s so cool and the sheep on this one are amazing! It’s not a beginner project but well worth the work. You can find it on Ravelry or at the designer’s website.