The Knitting Fiend

Gosh, sometimes that knitlist drives me nuts!

Some of you are probably familiar with Yahoo’s email lists, and the knitlist in particular. I usually love the list. People ask questions about knitting. They mention great new yarns, and describe popular patterns. It’s a fount of information. But, some people can be such…. oh, decent words fail me.

Ok, here’s an example: One woman, describing herself as a new knitter, asks what the next “hot” item for hand knit gifts might be.

It’s not a question I, “Lucia the unfashionable”, would ask, but it strikes me as a sensible one. After all, if you like to knit, and you like to give friends hand made gifts, you’d prefer to find out what people might be excited about rather presenting them with something that was popular in, oh say, 1843. Right?

But someone wasn’t content see it this way. No, someone had to lambaste the new knitter for asking about fashionable items. The respondent suggested that, if you are interested in knitting “what’s hot”, you are knitting for “the wrong reason”.

Well, shoot! I thought knitting was a craft and a hobby. What is the “right” reason for knitting? The wrong reason? Is it a sin to knit because it’s “in”?

Oh, and I’m tired of people complaining that new knitters like fun fur too much and wailing that the new LYS are stocking too much novelty yarn. Don’t those new LYS owners know they should stock nothing but elite, sophisticated, whoppingly expensive yarns for elite sophisticated knowledgable knitters who knit “for the right reasons”?!

Yeah, well, ok. Fun fur is not my favorite. But, you know, it can be fun! Who doesn’t sometimes want to trim a purse, gloves or neckline with something outrageous? Does every project on the planet need to be a time consuming, complicated lace, cable or fair-isle pattern? What’s wrong with new knitters liking to knit garter stitch scarves in relatively inexpensive fun fur?

Oh.. I guess I don’t always “get it”. Despite my years of knitting, I must not be “real knitter”! I just have fun making things that fit, are fun, and hopefully, flattering. Ok, I’ll admit, sometimes, I like to knit things that are just cute and silly. I figure other people like to knit things they like. So what if I’d never knit it? Sheesh!

In the end, I just keep wondering: How could a knitter having fun knitting something fashionable be wrong?