Let's Knit Magazine - Your knitting, your style

I would love to know why knitters actually knit. They say knitting is the new yoga but I am not convinced-I think some people want to produce an original handmade garment and others like the social scene around it.
Here at LK towers we’re finding out more about our readers but one thing strikes me-they knit for all kinds of reasons-so come on-why do you knit?

I started because I realised that there would soon be nobody in my family who could do it and the skill would effectively be lost. My brother and I gre up on home knits and he was upset his kids would’t have anyone to make things for them. Once I started though I carried on because for me it is very much like yoga. I have to concentrate to make sure that I don’t make mistakes but not so much that it is stressful and the repetition clears the mind of anything that was preoccupying it - much like repeating a mantra. That said, the reason I haven’t given up in the face of frustration is the social support I have received in forums like this and from complete strangers on trains and at train stations who have stopped to comment and encourage me. So I suppose it is an interaction of tradition, social networks and relaxation and without all 3 elements I would not have started and persisted.

My mother taught me when I was quite young, both she and my grandmother are/were avid knitters. I forgot about it for many years, preferring hand embroidery and crochet instead.
I picked it up again because I saw a pattern for a cardi I absolutely had to own as soon as possible and jumped back on the needles. Straight back in like riding a bike, and now I’m designing my own garments.

Crafts are very important to me because I spend a lot of time at home due to my illness, they stop me from going insane from boredom!

hhmmm why do I knit? How long have you got? there is always the fact that you have something no-one else has....why follow the herd?  the cost? well where else can you get a designer outfit for the cost of afew raw materials? The time ??? As the t.v. is one of my pet hates I dont find knitting time wasting as non.knitters do. Then of course there are all the lovely people you meet on forums like this one....the stitching shows....the wool shops. Will that do you for starters?????? GILL

GILL YOU HAVE SAID IT ALL....

thank you OMA one does ones best!!!!! glad you found your booklet they are super designs arent they?

I have knitted since I was 10, am nearly 40 soon. I love to knit and crochet because I cannot sit down without creating something. I hate the tv too, especially the soaps they are all the same to me.  I love to make something for someone who i care about or who deserves a special gift rather than go to the shops and buy something off the shelf.  Theres nothing wrong with that, been there and done that, but sometimes to give a homemade gift is special. I am yet to find a true friend who can say to me “I maded this for you”, but you never know.  Us girls should stick together with our home crafts.  Plus encourage the modern man to take an interest, even if they dont want to learn how to! they should still say “what you making love” or “whose that for”.

P.S.  I just made the cable bag today, been at home with the chicken pox again. Cant believe it knits up so quick. 

SUSAN

Hi Susan poor you chicken pox at your age!! we have just had the spotties in our family...it has worked its way through five grandbairns and various cousins. We have also got a large Polish community of whom some are related to us so I have a feeling we may have gone GLOBAL!!!!

Why DO I knit(& crochet)...such a great question!
Joy..sheer joy..from choosing the wool in a big shop full of colours and textures, and books of wonderful ideas and designs, to sitting in my big chair with the hooks and needles beside me feeling the piece build through my own effort, and yes the meditative, mental relaxation that comes from a focused mind...and at the end..you have something practical or whimsical, or a bit of both to remind you..."I made this” !!!

The question should be for everyone else not knit addicted..why the heck do you NOT knit

HEAR HEAR. nuff said I am off to bed now before HE who nags starts banging on the ceiling !!!!! Night night all.  GILL

I like seeing what the ball of yarn turns into. One minute it’s a plain ball, and next it’s mittens, or a scarf, or a jumper. I must be doing it wrong somehow, I’m never relaxed when I’m doing it, hunched over my needles, so that’s my goal to make it into something relaxing.

I haven’t quite gotten to the stage where I can look at TV and knit as the stitches mysteriously appear when I’m not paying attention. Some day though.

HI, Fergus, keep at it and it will come. Try to relax into it a little as well.

Why do I knit? For me theres many reasons, but I started knitting again this time because of dolls clothes! I have two young sons (aged 3 and 4) and everytime we went to playgroup they always played with the dolls and prams. My SIL runs the playgroup so saw this (she has a son the same age and he also loves dolls)and bought them a doll each for their birthdays. Hubby was not impressed by this so we reached a compromise where they were boy dolls (no pink was a big stipulation). Trying to find boys dolls clothes that weren’t expensive was a bit of a joke so I ended up digging out my pins which had been resting for a few years and knitting some instead. After they had more clothes than they could play with I realised I really enjoyed it and didn’t want to stop. So I sold a fair few on Ebay. Then The art of Knitting came out. I hadn’t realised how much the patterns etc had changed. So I started to knit for myself the kids and the home instead of dolls clothes, although the boys do still put in constant requests for baby or teddy if they see me knitting something they like!

I suppose it’s my mental and emotional bolthole. I
don’t have a physical place I can go like my hubby who has a garage, an allotment or even the dribble fountain once a week. But when I knit I can switch off. The fact that I’m pretty good at it and can make something that is mostly practical, occasionally whimsical but nearly always beautiful is a huge bonus and justifies any money I have spent on the materials. Over the years I’ve had huge gaps away from knitting but the way things stand at the moment I don’t see that happening again in the future.

Heres to the future of knitting and long may it carry on. Hip hip horaaay!

Nicky

I knit because I can, and I thoroughly enjoy creating something different from the run of the mill stuff that is out there.

It helps me think, I can zone out snoring hubby, dogs doing tricks to attract my attention, ringing phones, and buzzing mobiles!!

The TV can not replace the pleasure, contentment or satisfaction of clicking needles, growing projects, or how the softest of wools can feel in your hands, the squishyness of it, and the smell of new wool.

The warming feel of birch needles that ease aching hands.

And when you have finished, the joy of sewing your work together, and admiring how it all just falls into place, decorating or using new embellishments to make it stand out. 

And best of all, the envious looks on the faces of non-knitters, and the compliments from other knitters who appreciate the work and effort that has gone into the project.

There is something spiritual in the rhythm and yarn and the creation, I’m not sure how to best express it.  I feel connected to a greater female vibe somehow, like my ancestors are not far away and I am tapping into an ancient secret.  If I think about it too much it makes me tearful.  Don’t ask me why!
There is also the fact that gifting people is always wonderful and that it means I have something constructive to do while I’m resting so I don’t feel guilty for watching back to back crime progs or long films/DVDs.  I’m afraid the box and I have not completely fallen out yet! 
Everyone needs an obsession and I love the achievement of learning something new as well.  Yarn shops are up there with old bookshops too.  So much to discover! 
Every project is a journey and an expression of healthy curiosity and love.  It’s a wonderfully comfortable thing to do that softens me no matter how prickly I feel, and that can only be good.  And my man does ask what I’m up to and encourages me in all I create cos it’s all a strange incomprehensible art to him, and I have tried to teach him!  He’d rather write though, and that’s cool too

knitternicky - 02 April 2008 09:21 AM

Why do I knit? For me theres many reasons, but I started knitting again this time because of dolls clothes! I have two young sons (aged 3 and 4) and everytime we went to playgroup they always played with the dolls and prams. My SIL runs the playgroup so saw this (she has a son the same age and he also loves dolls)and bought them a doll each for their birthdays. Hubby was not impressed by this so we reached a compromise where they were boy dolls (no pink was a big stipulation). Trying to find boys dolls clothes that weren’t expensive was a bit of a joke so I ended up digging out my pins which had been resting for a few years and knitting some instead. After they had more clothes than they could play with I realised I really enjoyed it and didn’t want to stop.
Nicky

Nicky your little boys sound so endearing....isn’t it amazing how boys at that age love dolls and playing house and such..I know mine did (not that he will admit to it now in his 30’s)
I can see you have your hands full with those little darlings..treasure them as they will grow up so quickly as you know from your older kids.

I certainly do Oma. The fact that the older two grew up so quickly makes me appreciate them all the more. I count myself doubly blessed that Mark(hubby) really wanted me to stay at home with them rather than me go back to work. Its hard financially but very rewarding. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.( I just wish we had room for me to have some more babies), Max starts school in September and I’m starting to feel the clock ticking. I kept saying I was looking forward to the peace (he’s a chatterbox, never shuts up) but as it gets nearer I’m dreading it more.