Mad Knitters Unite!

In the last few years my generation of women have taken up the call to knit, bringing the art form back from the brink. Knitting for loved ones, charities, and just for fun is like a fever heating up our blood and driving us to knit everything we see. We look around and see a world waiting to be covered in wool, and wrapped in cozies and scarves. Knitting is an interest that unites us as a distinct generation and separates us from our mothers, who believe that partaking in feminine arts like knitting is subjugation to male domination. Knitting also brings us in closer contact with our grandmothers which brings with it the transference of knowledge from them to us.

I must be honest and explain that I only know the knit stitch. However, this hasn't stopped me from knitting scarves and a patchy blanket. I am currently making plans for full lessons because I fully intend to become a knitting master. I really like the feel of yarn, and how it feels against my skin. I like that when I knit something I am in control and can choose any colour I want. A freedom I don't get when buying a premade garment at a store.I like the comforting clack of the needles as I knit and the feel of holding my work in my hands. I absolutely love that feeling when you've finished a project and you can look at the object and say I made that. I feel proud when I wear something I knitted even if it is a bit amateurish because I know it is totally unique and that no one else has anything like it in the entire world and my husband doesn't dare say a bad thing about because I made it for him.

The reason knitting has become so popular is the simple economics of it. To be able to knit a jumper that in the store is £60 for half that or even less is a bargain. Someone who can take a resource as cheap as yarn and turn it into the latest fashions has money left over for other things, like dancing, films, restaurants, or even rent.  Our generation is one that is defined by hard reality. We were raised in the reality of chaotic divorces and explosive relationships. We are looking for something to find some kind of sense, and something comforting in a world that really hasn't been all warm and fuzzy for us. When we ventured into the workplace no sooner had we arrived only to find a system imploding on itself sending unemployment spiralling. We realize that thrift and economy are essential to our survival and because of this, we endeavour to learn the skills that not only allow us survive but to thrive and eventually blossom into a self sufficient group willing to put in the hard graft that our elders currently don't believe we are capable of. It is this determination to overcome our adversity that will define us in the long run even if it is not the most obvious in the present.

The only difficulty with knitting is figuring out what to knit. Do I knit socks or stockings? What kind of jumper? Should I knit a tea cozy and if so in what colour? As a knitter you look at your cat and think he needs a sweater and because you only want the best it should be argyle. You realize that your husband/boyfriend/partner/ person of interest cannot possibly go on wearing that old grey hoodie he may get mistaken for a charv.  Your telly needs something to cover it and before you know it you've knitted a bus, or a telephone box, or a house. Knitted fruit start floating around your flat, colliding with knitted blankets, Afghans, and sheep pillow. From the top of your head to the bottom of your feet you wear nothing but knitwear, and that's fine because unlike caravan enthusiasts you are not harming anyone.