Unconventional wisdom
Articles about knitting's popularity and/or resurgence are an everlasting renewable resource. Search Google News for "knitting", and I bet you'll find one with relative ease. They all tend to hit the same points: "not just for grandmothers", it's cool, celebs are doing it, even some men knit.
It is unusual to find a piece about knitting's decline, so I was surprised to come across this article filed from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. The hectic pace of modern life is one reason given for women there not knitting. Machine-knitted items are more affordable and less time-intensive. Television viewing is a preferred way of spending one's down time.
The article really threw me for a loop. I knit because life moves so quickly and I could stand to slow down. I knit while watching television and when I might otherwise be bored. (I'll grant the point that purchasing machine-knit clothing requires less money and time than doing it yourself.) Is knitting now a luxury and an indicator of a country's prosperity?
Labels: knitting
posted by the secret knitter @ 10:52 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I think so. Knitting yarn here is expensive. I can purchase a sweater made in China for a tenth of the price of decent yarn.
Also, if you are working 16 hour days to put food on the table, then you don't really have that much leisure time.
Also, as standards of living increase, it can be a status symbol to own something new and 'factory-made' rather than made in the traditional ways - a visible sign to the neighbours that you've stepped up so to speak.
Just my thoughts.
I could definitely see it having evolved into a status symbol for many of the reasons that Ruth postulates. It is intriguing though to see it come full circle in that regard.
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