Some people call quilting, knitting, crocheting, tatting and other handiwork the lost arts. Is there a place for them today or are they just archaic methods that have been replaced by the more efficient machine? I'm knitting a pair of socks right now that are so cute and so magical. That's what knitting is to me. Magic. Turning string into something warm and wearable. The socks I'm making would have cost about 13 bucks for the pair (had I not bought the yarn at 50% off) and they will take me probably a month to make. I can buy a pair of nice socks at Wal-Mart for under 5 dollars and modern sock making equipment can turn out a sock in about 3 seconds (I'm guessing here). So why would I want to knit a sock when I can buy it for a fraction of the cost (figuring in my time)? Maybe I'm a little loony...(this is probably the case) but I think a book I read recently puts it more eloquently than I ever could.
There is tremendous power when women hold on to the traditional skills of women who went before us. In the developed world, knitting is at once a reminder and a connection to the struggles of our collective past, when warm clothing was a necessity that could be made only by hand, and a joyous celebration of the ingenuity and creativity of our mothers and grandmothers....And it's just plain fun.
And it goes on...
Every knitter stitches with love, even when they're just starting, all red-faced and frustrated. Why else would we create? Especially in a world that doesn't need homemade anything. That's when we need homemade everything. Every moment is a work in progress; every stitch is one stitch closer. When you wear something you've made with your own hands, you surround yourself with love, and all the love that came before you.
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (no known relation)
2 comments:
Was that a good book?
Wow, I am makin my way through your blog...you are a real knitter! You've made some cute stuff. I need a hobby like that. I bet it's realy easy to take anywhere!
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