We find out how knitting went from frumpy to funky
When you think of knitting, what comes to mind? A silver-haired dear in a rocking chair, knitting booties for her grandchildren? Well, think again. Knitting is now hip. Groups of trendy young knitters on both sides of the Atlantic have wrestled the needles from their grannies and are fast turning knitting into an ultra-cool international trend. Even A-listers Kate Moss and Julia Roberts are reported to have a passion for it.
With the advent of today's wash-and-wear fabrics, machine-knits and Lycra mixes, it seemed inevitable that the old knit-one purl-one would become obsolete. But as fashion moved towards natural fibres and chunky knits, young women (and men) unafraid to hand wash have been clicking their needles together and creating cool, stylish, playful items from wool.
My grandmother taught me how to knit when I was seven years old. Though the ludicrously long, messy, multicoloured scarf I made wasn't fit for use, I was thrilled with my creation. Learning to knit remains a fond and vivid memory - a true bonding moment between my gran and I. Most knitters will be able to tell you how and when they learned the skill and who it was that taught them. The act of knitting seems somehow to reconnect people with their childhoods, and the pleasure of creating something unique from scratch is its own obvious reward.
Rachel Matthews, a founding member of the London-based knitting circle Cast Off, got the idea for the group as she became aware of people staring when she took her knitting out in public. 'I realised that people were interested because it evokes memories,' says Rachel who learned t knit when she was nine years old. 'People were really keen to tell me their knitting stories. I also had friends who wanted to knit, and at the time there were no knitting shops or knitting groups that we knew of, so I set up Cast Off. At the same time I was working in community arts and promoting in nightclubs, and I'd take my knitting along and teach friends to knit when we were out.'
She and her band of fellow knitting fanatics regularly meet in unusual venues, including the Victoria & Albert Museum and aboard the London Underground's Circle Line - they were once asked to leave the American Bar at the Savoy hotel for knitting too loudly. They gather to knit, compare patterns, share advice, chat, and pass their skills on to a rapidly growing number of novices.
Cast Off member Theo Burrow never leaves home without her needles. 'I was dissatisfied,' she says, explaining her love affair with wool 'with the mass-produced acrylic knitwear I found on the High Street. When I started, I knitted bags, hats and scarves with thick wool and big needles. But over time, as my knitting improved, the wool and needles got finer and the pieces became more complicated. Then I started teaching myself from books I found in charity shops, and designing things myself. You can't always tell whether something is going to turn out as you imagined, but it's all part of the creative process. I love the tactile nature of wool - there's nothing like the feeling of knitting with furry angora, or the softest alpaca or cashmere.'
Theo is also struck by the hobby's history and simplicity. The precise geographical origins of knitting are not known, but the craft is believed to have been developed BC. 'People have been knitting for centuries,' she says, 'and in all that time the technique hasn't changed. The same stitches and patterns that people designed and created years ago are still used today. The needles have improved, but the act of knitting requires the same patience and concentration it did hundreds of years ago. It forces people to slow down, which I think is part of its appeal for people who nowadays juggle many different tasks. The wool, the colour, the style and the fit are all up to you. Patterns can be adapted and made into something individual.'
There are now over 1,000 people on the Cast Off mailing list. However, Rachel doesn't think the current trend is really a revival. 'People have always done it,' she says. 'It's just now they're doing it in public. And that's led to a surge of new people keen to learn how.' In her first book, Knit-O-Rama, Rachel explains how to knit everything from fried eggs to a chocolate gateau. On the Cast Off website you can buy patterns for archly absurd items such as a knitted willy with realistic veins, a knitted grenade with the slogan 'Drop Stitches, Not Grenades' and knitted dishcloths.
Debbie Stoller, editor of the usually resolutely undomesticated American women's magazine Bust, has attempted to subvert the frumpy image of knitting and recast it as an expression of feminism. In the introduction to her book Stitch 'N' Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook - a kind of social-history-cum-manifesto - she writes:
'Why, dammit, doesn't knitting receive as much respect as any other hobby? Why is it still looked down on? It seemed to me that the main difference between knitting and, say, fishing or woodworking or basketball, was that knitting had traditionally been done by women. As far as I could tell, that was the only reason it had gotten such a bad rap. And that's when it dawned on me: all those people who looked down on knitting - and housework, and housewives - were not being feminist at all. In fact, they were being antifeminist, since they seemed to think that only those things that men did, or had done, were worthwhile.'
For every trend there will always be bandwagon jumpers (forgive the pun) and social knitting clubs such as Knitter Natter and Stitches & Hos have sprung up all over the country, but Rachel is quick to dismiss those who think the trend is rooted in irony. 'If you're going to start a project and you're going to knit something, you're not being ironic because it's a lot of work to get through a garment. All these people who are making stuff are usually making it out of love. We make things that are funny, but to every comic idea there's a serious side. To actually conceive an idea, make it and give it away, that's a serious thing.'
Rachel's advice for budding knitters
- Find a ball of wool that turns you on.
- Find a friend that you can knit with so you've got someone to advise you.
- Make sure you've got a good stack of movies to watch (nothing with subtitles!).