Winter in Ontario has been here for over a month and will stick around for at least a couple more. The days of drinking beer on back decks, riding bikes in a skirt or snacking on fresh tomatoe
s feel far away at the beginning of January. (But, as I try to remind myself, so are the days of the humidex going plus 40 or starting my run before 5 am to enjoy the most reasonable temperature/least air pollution of the day.) The season has an impact on what I’m up to and winter is no exception. And one of my favourite things to do in winter is to curl up on the couch, with a cat on my lap, the tv, radio or a fire in the background and knit.
Knitting has gone in and out of fashion and number of times and is currently in a revival of popularity. According to Wikipedia “The latest incarnation is less about the “make-do and mend” attitude of the 1940s and early 50s and more about making a statement about individuality as well as developing an innate sense of community.” Knitting might have the lingering reputation of being a hobby that is done alone and individually, but there is a lot of community building going on with the latest resurgence of the hobby. Here are 5 ways that I think knitting benefits community.
- Social Knitting can be done around other people or spark conversations that you might otherwise not have. You can do it while friends are over, on the subway, during presentations at conferences or with a group watching Canada kick butt at the World Juniors. It can be done most places (except maybe on airplanes). As part of the knitting revival, the social element is one of the driving forces, with knitting clubs, stitch ‘n bitch groups, and knitting cafés. There is also a huge online community, notably Ravelry with over a million registered users.
- Intergenerational/Inclusive Knitting has been something that grandmothers and mothers have passed on to daughters and granddaughters. And that was the case for me. And knitting is something that I feel lucky to share with my mother and mother-in-law. The new revival of knitting is more inclusive and isn’t just for girls anymore (even thought we undoubtedly still dominate). A couple of winters ago I visited a friend’s cottage with a group of his friends. One of them was also a knitter and by the end of the weekend he had a cozy new toque. There is even an online community for men knitters.
- Giving. A lot of knitters don’t just knit for themselves. They knit for family, friends and charities. My tally for this winter is Gifts- 3, Katie-0 (Jim has a new hat, Hopsy has a new lap blanket, and Val almost has new slippers). Perhaps it is because if we only knit for ourselves we’d be wearing wool 24/7. But more likely it is because it is really meaningful to take the time to make a gift for someone else when it is faster and often cheaper to buy the manufactured equivalent. I find knit gifts especially prevalent with babies, which might explain why at least ¼ of any yarn store stocked with baby pinks, blues, yellows, etc.
- Creativity In a world where you can get mass produced anything, knitting offers a chance to make something that is unique and one of a kind. While it is a form of expression that offers a bit more structure than other creative pursuits, (recall those purple dots from my previous post on social painting? that was me and my love of structure), knitting offers the challenge of figuring out how to make a particular yarn work with a particular set of needles to make something that is a particular size and shape. Having opportunities for creativity is an important part of being part of a vibrant community, whether than comes from knitting, painting, cooking or blogging.
- Re-skilling for resiliency As quoted from wikipedia above, the last time knitting was popular before its current popularity was WWII and its aftermath and the reasons driving the popularity of knitting were out of necessity rather than leisure. And, while it is a great pastime, knitting also offers handy skills to make or repair clothes. We’ve only had a couple of generations where clothing has been as cheap and as widely available as it is now. With potential rising costs of materials (pesticides, oil, etc.), energy, and labour, that might change. Knitting is part of a general urban homesteading trend toward more self-sufficiency, which also includes urban agriculture, food preserving, alternative energy and water recapture.
