I first turned to knitting in the first term of my second year at uni. I had been reading the biographies of some musicians I liked and discovered the nearly all them had one thing in common, their love for knitted goods. I enquired at home and before long I had all my mum’s old wool and needles. Things were going well. An australian vet friend of mine, happened to be vetting in the next town and would come to visit me in my student flat. she, it turned out, was a capable knitter and taught me two simple stitches (knit and purl), and I was soon knitting the biggest red scarf I could! from then it was only a matter of putting the hours in. I would arrange to meet friends for coffees and then once sat, would whip out my needles and begin absentmindedly knitting away. It was wonderful, conversation never went dry, friends and even strangers would gather round to find out why I was knitting. I’m certain county bar (the local haunt) began filling with people, all drawn there, presumably, because it’s was the kind of place that allowed knitters to practice their art. I imagine when describing it to friends people would say “county bar’s cool, people even knit in there. It’s that relaxed”.
I realized quite early on that knitting, indeed knitters were probably a type of person and I was as surprised as any to find that I was one of them. Of course at first a few friends were embarrassed to be seen with me, they couldn’t get over their ageist and culturally based social hang-ups that it wasn’t OK for boys to knit. I felt sorry for them and told them so. Soon, however, many friends were asking for lessons and I found myself loaning out my spare needles, even buying wool for people (because I was the only person who knew where the haberdashery was!- there are two places in Lancaster that sell knitting equipment. The first and easiest to find is a stall in the market, on Common Garden street, but I’ve found its stock to be cheap and directed towards my grandma who knits little doll nativities. The second shop is the haberdashery on St Leonards gate. An eclectic mishmash of things that don’t look at all knitting related. The short stout Scottish woman was the jolliest woman I’ve met this year, but she was also entirely incomprehensible).
Before long County was a local knitting haven, experienced closet knitters and virgin knitters alike were making the most of their new found woolen liberties. I’d like to think that I was the instigator the woolen movement but I think I too was being swept up in a wave that was much bigger than us in our little knitting circle in county bar. I’ve read enough magazines and newspapers to know that knitting is back, it’s cool.
The problem came when I finished my scarf. Up until that point I had been slaving away trying to create this big, bobbly, red expanse of loops and knots. I had plans for what was next, id bought some expensive hand dyed, hand spun wool from a hippie in Canada. Her name was, encouragingly, called meadowlark, and the wool was really high quality. But when I tied of the last threads and tidied it up with scissors I realised that I didn’t really want to knit again for a while. It gave my thumbs cramp and the skin on my right index was dry and sore from the wool rubbing against it. I also learned soon enough that I didn’t really like scarves, not big woolen ones anyway, they itched against my neck and the one I had made really was very large, because id just kept knitting for about three months.
I’m ashamed to say I gave up knitting for a good year and a half. i moved on you see. i guess i felt i’d conquered one skill, and needed to attack another. but i’ve since learned this; knitting isn't something you can learn and then just do from time to time, its not like ridding a bike, it’s a pastime, its an art form. no one paints one crap picture and says brilliant, i’ve mastered painting. no, they keep painting till they get better. and till they stop producing crap. i’ve come back to knitting, and this time im going to stick to it! i have big plans for a bed spread!
(nb. the above post is more or less airlifted from some work i did for my degree (creative writing) i guess that explains the cheery story telling tone. i appologise therefore for that, and promise i wont copy and paste future posts... often.)
(nb2. i dont know what you in the blogging world think about men knitting? id like to discus it. i clearly don’t have a problem with it. i understand how in days gone by, men wouldn't knit cos they where out earning “bread”, women however were stuck at home with the kids and so knitted to pass the time, and make clothes (handy!). thus the assumption or stereotype that knitting is feminine. i hate stereotypes. nowadays both men and women work, and as were moving (not quite there) towards more equality within our socially accepted norms and values, i think men (and women) should embrace crafts such as knitting. if only as a fun way to pass the time and cheap source of scarfs (altho its not really that cheap... unless you grandma gives you all her old wool!). the bottom line is this; being able to make your own clothes in a pinch is a skill i’m happy to have. the skill has no inherent gender bias. its just looping wool. and when the zombie apocalypse/ice age comes ill be one of the few men left, wrapped in a mismatch of patchwork scarfs!)
