From watching my own mother knit and crochet “back in the day” I had a sense that there was a meditative element to knitting.  Hilary confirmed that, describing knitting and other fiber arts and crafts as being both meditative and therapeutic.  By way of example, she told me of a customer whose mother had terminal cancer.  Knitting became her therapy.  She learned to knit and met other Nina Chicago customers (their “fiber community”) from whom she received incredible support.  Hilary explained that this is a common experience.  They meet many who are going difficult times, such as Illness, divorce, career challenges and financial hardships.

 

But, how does she experience the tactile act of knitting?  I wanted to know how it made her feel.  And, given that it can be frustrating to learn, and that mistakes are common, how can it be so relaxing?  Not surprisingly, Hilary finds knitting to be wonderfully relaxing.  She explained that she (and many other knitters) have multiple projects going: “With the more complicated patterns you have to pay close attention throughout, but it is still relaxing.  Other patterns or stitches are simple and you can relax and socialize with others while almost mindlessly knitting”.

 

Of particular interest to me, and what I seek to illustrate in my Profiles in Passion, is how having such a passion can be the difference between merely living and being “truly alive.”  I asked Hilary how her love of knitting has impacted her life.  She explained her passion this way:   

 

“My love of knitting as completely taken over my life.  Any free moment I have it seems that I’m knitting.  I love road trips and plane trips – more time for knitting.  It never gets stale because there is always something new to learn and to create.  For me, it’s nearly impossible to watch television without knitting as I watch.  If I could knit and exercise at the same time I’d be incredibly fit.”

 

Thank you, Hilary, for introducing me and my readership to the PASSION of fiber arts.  I enjoyed learning about it and how it can mean so much, to so many.  

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More About Knitting

 

Knitting has an interesting history and place in cultures the world over.  For an interesting treatment of knitting in the United States, and knitting “how-to’s” and “why-to’s” related to techniques and patterns, I recommend Stitch ‘n Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook, by Debbie Stoller (Workman Publishing, New York).  

 

From Stitch ‘n Bitch one learns that knitting is rapidly increasing in popularity with 4 million newcomers in recent years, joining an estimated 38 million knitters in the United States.  It has dramatically evolved from the gender-defined and necessity-driven activity to one embraced by all genders and several age groups.  It is not unusual to see young women knitting on transit buses, trains, subways and car shares or at coffee shops, on lunch lines, at the movies and even in bars.  According to a 2000 survey the percentage of women knitters under the age of 45 has doubled since 1996, and that surely is a conservative estimate for 2019.   Newbies are represented across the social fabric: college students, indie rockers, middle-aged Brooklynites, theater people, political activists, bohemians, academics and professionals.  Men are getting the stitch of it in increasing numbers.

 

Ms. Stoller organized the first Stitch ‘n Bitch group in New York as a forum where men and women interested in learning to knit could mingle, learn and make friends.  Since then Stitch n’ Bitch groups have sprung up in many major cities and small towns in the USA and abroad.  Yarn shops and knitting stores, are making a huge comeback. 

 

From Ms. Stoller, the reader learns:

 

• The meditative and peaceful quality of knitting is an ideal antidote for the stress of daily life or life’s difficult challenges 

• The incredible satisfaction and sense of serenity that could come from the steady, rhythmic click-click-click of one’s knitting needles 

• The portability of knitting yarn and needles makes for an ideal urban activity or coffee break

• An tactile alternative to gaming, watching video and online or other computer use

• Her experience that whatever she was thinking about when she last worked on a piece would immediately spring back into her mind when she picked up the work again, “as though knitting were a sort of mental tape recorder.”

• Many find knitting to be a statement of sorts: the reclaiming of lost domestic arts; freedom from dependence on exploitative corporate culture; rebellion against a culture that rewards the mass produced.

 

“A Stitch in Time: A Brief History of Knitting” is also included in Stitch ‘n Bitch as is a list of “Famous Knitters, Real and Fictional”. The list includes, among others:

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• Audrey Hepburn

• Aunt Bee (The Andy Griffith Show)

• Cameron Diaz

• Betty Rubble (The Flintstones)

• Goldie Hawn

• Hawkeye Pierce (M*A*S*H)

• Hilary Swank

• Jane Jetson (The Jetsons)

• Joan Crawford

• Madame Defarge (A Tale of Two Cities)

• Julia Roberts

• Monica Geller Bing (Friends)

• Kate Moss

• Phoebe Buffay (Friends)

• Marilyn Monroe

• Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan (M*A*S*H)

• Madonna

• Scarlett O’Hara (Gone with the Wind)

• Tyra Banks

• Wilma Flintstone (The Flintstones)

• Sandra Bullock

• Queen Elizabeth II

• Laurence Fishburn

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An online search reveals that German Chancellor Angela Merkl, TV celebrity Vana White (who has her own line of yarns), actors Kiefer Sullivan, Dakota Fanning, Tracy Ullman, Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Sara Jessica Parker, Scarlet Johansson and many others enjoy the click-click-click. 

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On May 21, 2019 the Wall Street Journal published an article written by Ellen Byron entitled: In Mindful Knitting, It’s the Journey, not the Scarf; ‘Medknitation’ aims to get the overstimulated to turn off their phones and achieve flow by stitching, ‘just try to find your rhythm’.

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And, I saw this in a publication.  What’s next?

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