Ellen posted this link to a Newsweek article affirming, yet again, that it's hip to knit. It features Debbie Stoller of Stitch N Bitch fame, who is quoted as saying, "Crafting is the new rock and roll, baby." My question is, This is news? It's now been at least 3 years since I starting seeing "knitting is the new yoga" articles.
I have had somewhat mixed feelings about the hipness of knitting. I started knitting about 10 years ago as a teenager, and always got a lot of strange looks. So I think that, like many longtime knitters I'm sure, I had this sense when knitting became trendy that the new knitters weren't "real" knitters, or were doing it for the wrong reasons or something, whereas I had paid my knitting dues or something. Which is really rather ridiculous. Now I'm quite pleased that knitting is enjoying a renaissance - we have nicer yarns widely available now, and my classes (particularly beginner classes) are filling up and therefore making me more money. But I still have this sense that knitting isn't about being hip - it's just a really excellent thing to do, and finally some other folks my age have figured that out.
Another trend I've noticed that I think is cool is that traditional knits, or updates of them, seem to be coming into fashion more and more. The brightly-colored Fair Isle line at the Gap last fall is a good example of this. Today I noticed that Candice, a woman in my office who I consider a barometer of fashion, has worn ready-made sweaters with some traditional-knitting element (lace, fair isle) for two days in a row now. (Both sweaters gave me design ideas for handknits.) I think this is a great thing.
What it comes down to for me is that in this high-tech, fast-paced automated world we crave something made from scratch, something that ties us to tradition. But of course we're also such an individualistic society that we must make it modern, make it our own.
On another topic -
For those of you in the NYC area who are planning to head over to School Products and buy some of this fabulous bulky cashmere, I would suggest that you go soon. I have no idea how much of it Berta has, but I do know that when she gets cashmere in good colors, it tends to fly out of there.
And it's flying off my needles as well! I'm already up to the armhole. Crazy progress for someone who doesn't often go above a size 6 needle... (no wonder I don't consider myself a very fast knitter).
Hi! I'm a new poster here....The editor of said article is a good friend of mine and he and I spoke of the resurgance in knitting's popularity well over a year ago (when we met). When he told me Newsweek was finally jumping on the bandwagon he prefaced it with "This is classic Newsweek style, we do a piece at least two years after everyone else has." Anyway, just some advice for NOT using Newsweek as a true barometer of what is really "news" right from the editors mouth :)
Posted by: Debi | January 27, 2004 at 11:57 PM
I couldn't have said it better myself!
Knitting in Cashmere sounds heavenly, wish I lived in the NYC area.
Posted by: Meredith | January 28, 2004 at 08:57 AM
Hey Alison! Our knitting group was just written up in the Star Ledger. I thought they were kind of late jumping on the bandwagon as well. (Although it was cool to be quoted in the newspaper!) And I find that most of the knitters I know, even the new ones, don't knit because it's "trendy". I think that angle is not only played out, but flawed as well.
Posted by: Jen | January 28, 2004 at 10:23 AM
Debi, that's so funny! Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks these articles are getting silly.
But then again, good press is good press... and it's kind of cool when small papers write about local knitting groups - I would imagine that for some people, it's the only way they find out there's a knitting group nearby.
Posted by: Alison | January 28, 2004 at 10:36 AM
Hey Ms A, there's a reception this Saturday for a knitting newsletter from 5-7pm, somewhere around Habu Textiles...wanna go?
Posted by: Kitty | January 28, 2004 at 07:55 PM
I have the same conflicting emotions about the popularity of knitting as you do - my least favorite thing is when people tell me about celebrities who knit. Right, I forgot, that's why I knit, because they do it in hollywood :)
I wish I could stop by School Products - I can't wait to see your sweater - it sounds heavenly.
Posted by: gwen | January 29, 2004 at 02:49 PM
Nope, you're definitely not the only one who finds these articles amusing. It's as if they are taking the same press release from years ago and recylcling it over and over again across each city very gradually.
Posted by: Stacy | February 02, 2004 at 02:18 PM