Over winter break of my sophomore year, I took up knitting. It was the most free time I had in months and I was looking to learn something that I could do when the new semester started. I wanted to find something that I could do to relieve stress; ideally it would be something where I wouldn’t have to be on the computer or plugged in somehow else. I have always loved reading, but I have sadly found myself with less time to do it and less patience for something that requires my full attention. Especially after starting college, I needed a hobby that allowed me to multitask. I tried coloring; I bought one of those adult coloring books and everything, but it didn’t really “click” with me. I tried journaling, but that required more attention than I wanted to give to this hobby, so I kept looking. Eventually I thought of knitting. Actually, knitting came to my attention because I watched an episode of Criminal Minds that showed an elderly woman knitting. It’s a strange source of inspiration, I realize.
So I made my mom drive me to a Michael’s craft store and I bought my first yarn and set of needles. I didn’t know anyone who could point me in the right direction, so I just followed instructions on Google for picking supplies. To actually learn how to knit, I consulted YouTube. I tried and failed. Then I bought more yarn and bigger needles after reading that a bigger size is easier to use. I consulted YouTube again. I tried, and I could make a few stitches, but something would go wrong and I couldn’t get any further.
I asked my grandmother on my mom’s side and she had never knitted before. She learned to crochet and needlepoint as a little girl, but didn’t know how to help me. I asked my grandmother on my dad’s side, but she had never knitted either. Both of my grandmothers were career women, both worked in jobs they loved and were incredibly reluctant to leave the workforce. They are amazing role models to girls, they showed me what a self-made woman looks like. They broke gender roles of their generation by working longer than their husbands. And they didn’t knit. Knitting is stereotypically an “old lady” thing to do. But the old ladies in my life worked, not knitted. So I asked myself why one excluded the other.
Just short of accosting people on the street to ask if they could show me what I was doing wrong in my knitting, I packed up and went back to school. At this point, I did start pouncing on people, asking if they knitted. Low and behold, my best friend Tessa learned to knit as a child and was able to pick it back up and show me the error of my ways. It’s still beyond me that I didn’t know she knew how and that she didn’t know I was trying to learn until I asked her out of sheer desperation.
Now, I have completed several scarves and I fully intend to make one for everyone I know at some point in time.
So what exactly is the moral to my rambling story about knitting? One, being a strong, career woman should not isolate you from doing things that are thought of as stereotypical “woman” things. Feminism isn’t about shocking men with our power; it’s about freedom to do the things we want to do and feeling safe doing them. Two, knitting is a dying art because it is thought of as being for “old ladies”. Our generation could potentially lose the knowledge of how to do this and many other things if we keep thinking that it’s too old or too boring for us. And of course, three (the easiest point to make), knitting is a great form of stress relief. Trust me, your grandmother (and everyone else) will love to receive a hand knitted gift from you, which means you may never have to buy another gift- just lots of yarn.