|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
R.I.P knitting. If no one knitted again, would anyone miss it and who wants home knitted stuff anyway? Whilst we are on the subject, what on earth is there to like about knitting?
Knitting is a well-known pastime for many, but have you ever wondered why? Surely it is only for ‘old’ people and you can only make scarves and baby things.
A bit of history
The art of knitting actually began many thousands of years ago, making nets and clothing in the Middle East, but it when fashion got involved in the 1920’s that the western world finally saw its worth. It found its place in sportwear, swimwear and in high fashion with Coco Chanel launching her knitwear pattern the in well know Vogue magazine. After WW1, the great depression hit and acrylic yarns went into production. This together with a ‘mend’ mentality, knitting became a want, and a need, due to the lack of money to purchase new clothing. The trend has since transitioned into a hobby with many people adopting the skill to help them relax or even creating businesses selling the goods or patterns.
To craft or not to craft?
That indeed is the question. The recent bout of crafting has had a surge due to the pandemic with many crafting stores such as Hobbycraft and The Range stocking vast supplies of yarn and are even beginning to hold patterns in varying levels of expertise to ride the wave of the crafting revolution. There are many websites now even giving FREE patterns, these can be found at Ravelry or Lovecrafts and these can help you to gain confidence in your ability before splurging on a brought pattern. The area where most crafters seem to dwell is in the gift market, now this does mean that you have to sell your work but it does mean that you can start to customize your makes to create bespoke items for your friends and family that really bring out their personality traits.
Giving your time
Once your list of people to knit for has been exhausted, what do you do then? You now have the knitting bug and no one to knit for…. DO NOT DESPAIR! There are lots of people who need someone just like you; a knowledge of knitting and a desire to do it. They are charities. During the recent pandemic, many people had to be admitted to the hospital, especially children and endured separation from their families, which was very traumatic for them. A simple gift through the charities of 2 knitted hearts, one for the patient and one for the family helped to keep spirits up and keep them connected. Simple children’s toys, such as trauma bears, helped to buoy them up and take their minds away from the moment. Dementia patients required twiddle mats to help them to focus on something that felt familiar and newborn babies needed premature special care hats. These items and other similar ones are always needed but do not worry about the cost of materials, charities such as @craftingforcommunities will supply all the materials required through their local hubs (pop over to their social media pages for the locations).
Round up
So, what do you think, have we seen the end of knitting as a craft? Absolutely not! In fact, it has reached new heights and is now a must-learn hobby for all ages and with the help of websites and YouTube, there really is nothing stopping a newbie from knitting learning everything they need to know to get started and start their crafting journey.
So before we say R.I.P. Knitting: the death of a craft, have a go, start to knit and begin a journey into a life changing pastime that will give happiness to many
