Stitch and Bitch.

December 11, 2001 3:33 AM

Stitch and Bitch. Apparently knitting is entering the "underground" culture. Who knew? (Link courtesy of Kristie)
posted by jacobw (27 comments total)

I must comment on my own link. I asked my mom how to knit just last month. It frustrated me, and I didn't get anywhere with it, but it is interesting to think I'm not the only one who shows an interest in it.
posted by jacobw at 3:34 AM on December 11, 2001

Knitting ain't for yer grandma anymore.
(from the link)

What ignorance of the fuming, aggressive, silently homicidal way grandmas knit! You know, like after some comment they didn't care for. The grimace! The sudden, furious spurts of knitting! Those long unidentifiable shapes folding on the foor like giant octopus sleeves! And, scariest of all, that bit when they pointed one one of the needles at you and said "I won't forget that..."
Brrrr... I'll take those nice SF Gen-X geeks any time.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 3:46 AM on December 11, 2001 [1 favorite]

Well that's typical. Knitting is hip now, but I crochet...
posted by jennyb at 4:01 AM on December 11, 2001

Wow. There was a skit in a Norwegian comedy show about just this phenomenon a handful of years ago, but then, of course, it was satire. Truth really is catching up with fiction.
posted by frednorman at 4:34 AM on December 11, 2001

Knitting's really hard, and it always looks homemade, which leads people to believe you're a sap who can't say no to their grandmother.

BTW have Americans totally stopped putting 'of' after 'a couple'?
posted by Summer at 4:36 AM on December 11, 2001

=extreme=! =knitting=!

I'm getting tired of this. Dammit, I taught myself to knit 5 years ago when I found my mother's needles in my grandma's attic (my mother stopped knitting soon after I was born.) =Now= it's trendy. And my precious yarn is now more expensive! Go away!

=sigh=

It's not cool! I swear! You get chest cramps! You get covered in lint! You start pawing people's pretty sweaters...
Ok, maybe =that's= why it's so popular. Another excuse to paw people.
posted by meep at 4:38 AM on December 11, 2001

i always find myself knitting in direct proportion to how stressed i am. out of work - i churn out hats. i have a good friend who in the middle of finals week was seen knitting in a movie.

all of these things that women used to do together (before we were allowed to work outside the home) are having a resurgence. take back the needles! i'm learning to play bridge, which i'm sure will be the next craze.

i always thought that stitch 'n bitches were for quilters?
posted by goneill at 6:06 AM on December 11, 2001

"Fuck J.Crew and their sweaters." Make your own.

DIY or Die.

I, for one, think this is a good trend.
posted by zpousman at 6:07 AM on December 11, 2001

My mom tried to teach me how to knit several times when I was a kid. I could not get my head around it, and haven't tried since. My sister is faring much better and is currently making her boyfriend an afghan, which is a huge step up from the scarf she made last year.

I am however wearing a cardigan sweater my mom knit for me last year. Yay mom!

Crocheting intrigues me, but I don't know if I could teach myself, and I live too far from my mom for her to teach me. I really want to learn to sew, mostly so I can properly shorten pants, but I'd love to make pants too. :)

But I'm meandering here.
posted by melissa at 6:24 AM on December 11, 2001

Knitting was going to be the next hot thing about 2 years ago. I used to make potholders with those loops and plastic frames when I was nine.
posted by sudama at 6:48 AM on December 11, 2001

I am finally hip. It had to happen someday. Of course, the coolest kids knit patterns from Knitwear Architects.

Knitting is the best way to quit smoking ever invented.
posted by kristin at 6:52 AM on December 11, 2001

Ah yes, but kristin, how does one then manage to quit KNITTING? It's a vicious circle.
posted by bcwinters at 7:00 AM on December 11, 2001

Knitting has been "cool" in Wellington, New Zealand for a while. But that could be because it's full of fashion design students and hip people who make their own clothes. I used to knit as a kid, and because I'm unemployed I'm going to take it up again.
posted by animoller at 7:04 AM on December 11, 2001

Knitting has been "hip" for quite some time—look at some past issues of Bust magazine to see bikini patterns, Stitch 'n' Bitch stories, and so on. Knitting is very easy after you get the hang of it. One of these days I'm going to knit a television cozy.
posted by acornface at 7:22 AM on December 11, 2001

I started knitting when I got a phone that had a headset (you know one of those things that receptionists wear with the microphone boom). Well I had nothing to do with my hands, so I took up knitting. Now I have taught numerous friends as well as running a successful little side business knitting stuff for people. I'm really surprised that it has taken this long for knitting to come back and be reclaimed as a cool thing to do. However, I can't afford to buy yarn at my local store anymore; so I got a business license instead to get it wholesale. That's my suggestion to cut your costs for all of you stress knitters out there.
posted by raintea at 7:34 AM on December 11, 2001

There's a cute exchange in the I Saw You section of the Washington City Paper personals this week, two souls searching for each other after a knitting-related encounter. I should've known it was a trend.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:10 AM on December 11, 2001

Acornface, I was just about to comment about bust having a number of articles about knitting over the past year. But I guess in light of all the drama surrounding the continuation of that magazine, someone has to spread the stich'n'bitch word to the masses, right?
posted by disaster at 8:11 AM on December 11, 2001

Knitting fever comes with a nomenclature that indicates why it's so attractive to the drug-taking, bar-hopping set.

Can anyone verify for me that this article isn't an extended piss-take? Because it sure reads like one.
posted by Skot at 8:18 AM on December 11, 2001

Next big trend: Extreme barn raising.
posted by MegoSteve at 9:06 AM on December 11, 2001

I think this is just an excuse to carry large pointy objects in public. I have enough trouble with a cross-stitchng SO who carries small pointy things.... *ouch*
posted by dwivian at 9:44 AM on December 11, 2001

Dude, I used to be in to knitting back in like '94, before all the poseurs got into the scene. Now it's so commercial, man. It's all corporate knitters now, just out to make a buck. They've forgotten that it's supposed to be about the knitting
posted by jeb at 10:26 AM on December 11, 2001

Many knitting resources:
- Dangerous Chunky
- Russell Crowe knitting
- The Julia Roberts sweater and instructions
- More about Julia Roberts' knitting fixation
posted by timothompson at 1:52 PM on December 11, 2001

wonder if rug hooking will ever become popular.
posted by kliuless at 2:47 PM on December 11, 2001

Um, yeah. This sure isn't happening where *I* live. Sounds like yet another desperate writer stretching a couple of anecdotes into a previously-undiscovered global trend.

-Mars
posted by Mars Saxman at 4:40 PM on December 11, 2001

Yeah, hipster knitting has been going strong on the Brooklyn-bound subway lines for quite some time. But as far as I'm concerned, knitting will NEVER be cool.
posted by edamame at 6:20 PM on December 11, 2001

edamame, gotta disagree with you on that last point. Anytime someone makes something on their own, it's cool.

I remember my grandmother teaching me how to make afghans (the blankets, not the people) when I was little. I wish I still knew how.
posted by chiheisen at 8:46 PM on December 11, 2001

I can safely say that I am above this "trend." I've been crocheting since I was about 6 years old, knitting since I was about 8 or 9, and doing other craftsy stuff along the way (cross-stitching, needlepoint, embroidery, sewing, quilting, etc.). I am now 21 years old and am working on a scarf for my husband, and just finished an afghan for my cat (I know, it's a little weird, but she loves the thing.)

It really pisses me off that this stuff is falling out of tradition. Which would you rather get:

--some gift that came from a store that you'll be sick of in about a year

--a nice handmade item that is useful (and oft-times, attractive), and was made by someone you care about

??????

This is such a sore spot for me.
posted by Totally80sGirl at 9:34 AM on December 31, 2001