The Guardian recently ran an article about how to DIY yourself into the latest fashions, with everything from turning t-shirts into dresses to making pom-poms (!). Along the way they covered knitting, and for once there wasn't a single ageist remark about it. Instead, journalist Lousia Casson called it "the surprise celebrity fad of the decade."
Right, because no-one could possibly get interested in knitting for any intrinsic value it has in itself. It must be proles with delusions of grandeur copy-catting those crazy knitting celebrities. Although perhaps that the fad has lasted a whole decade (bit longer than that, actually, the latest revival is getting on fifteen years now) would indicate there are other forces at work.
Maybe I'm just touchy about it because the article gave Madonna as an example of a knitting celebrity (what, did Julia Roberts give it up, or is that just old news?). On the plus side, the article acknowledges that a full-blown sweater can be daunting for some newbies, and provides a free music player cozy pattern link, plus a link to knitting clubs around Britain.
Overall, not bad. It's easier to fight classism than the feminist minefield the usual "granny" reference brings up — you know, the one I posted about before, where one winds up being very long-winded and saying something like, "Yes, I knit, and I learnt to knit from my grandmother, but to say knitting is for grandmothers alone is both ageist and ignorant of the actual demographics. Furthermore, while being a grandmother is both a desirable and positive role, limiting knitters to a gender straitjacket like that is unfair to knitters of both sexes who are not grandmothers, and..." anyhow, you know the rest.
Besides, the free sewing pattern links in the article look like they'd be good to check out.
Right, because no-one could possibly get interested in knitting for any intrinsic value it has in itself. It must be proles with delusions of grandeur copy-catting those crazy knitting celebrities. Although perhaps that the fad has lasted a whole decade (bit longer than that, actually, the latest revival is getting on fifteen years now) would indicate there are other forces at work.
Maybe I'm just touchy about it because the article gave Madonna as an example of a knitting celebrity (what, did Julia Roberts give it up, or is that just old news?). On the plus side, the article acknowledges that a full-blown sweater can be daunting for some newbies, and provides a free music player cozy pattern link, plus a link to knitting clubs around Britain.
Overall, not bad. It's easier to fight classism than the feminist minefield the usual "granny" reference brings up — you know, the one I posted about before, where one winds up being very long-winded and saying something like, "Yes, I knit, and I learnt to knit from my grandmother, but to say knitting is for grandmothers alone is both ageist and ignorant of the actual demographics. Furthermore, while being a grandmother is both a desirable and positive role, limiting knitters to a gender straitjacket like that is unfair to knitters of both sexes who are not grandmothers, and..." anyhow, you know the rest.
Besides, the free sewing pattern links in the article look like they'd be good to check out.