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Getting the itch to stitch again
Angela Kelly25/ 8/2006
IT'S being hailed as the "new yoga" by stars like Sarah Jessica
Parker and Julia Roberts but - as your granny will tell you -
knitting two and purling one was always a way to cast off the cares
of the world.
Nor are the A-list celebrities alone in discovering the joys of
being crafty as "stitch and bitch" groups become the new gossip
centres for women around the UK.
"It's only like going back to what our mothers and grandmothers did
- getting together with other women to chat while you make things,"
explains Fran Goddard.
Just two months ago, the Wythenshawe librarian and a couple of
friends started a lively group called Complete Knitters, which now
meets on the second Wednesday of each month at The Eighth Day café
in Oxford Road, Manchester.
"There are about 10 of us now of various ages and including
students," said 53 year-old Fran.
She was originally taught to knit at school in her native Scotland
at the age of five - "badly, by a temporary teacher, but it did
start me off," she recalls.
Fran returned to it later when her three sons were young and she
knitted clothes for them. "But it can be a lonely business so I
mentioned it to some colleagues recently. They told friends and it
went from there."
The informal, productive sessions run from 5.30pm to 8pm. "I like
to go after work, have something to eat and perhaps a glass of wine
and then get out the knitting and have a good gossip," says Fran.
She commutes to work from her home in Derbyshire, where she is a
member of another knitting group. "Oh, they're all over the
country," she adds. "And they do seem to be springing up around the
Manchester area now."
She is currently knitting a trendy trouser dress but says that
anyone can knock up a pair of fingerless mittens in a weekend or
create a pair of socks on four pins.
The group encompasses a range of skills, too, from experienced
knitters to complete beginners. "It's helpful to have other people
around if things go wrong," says Fran. "I'm not surprised that it's
being called the `new yoga' as it's very therapeutic to chat as you
make something. It gets rid of stress."
The satisfaction of creating personalised fashion is another strong
pull towards this particular handicraft.
"You go in the shops these days and it's mostly throwaway fashion,"
she says. "Everyone buys the same clothes, but something you knit
can be an individual item that lasts. The other day I wore a cotton
knitted jumper I made years ago, and it still looked fine because
it's a classic."
Improved quality is another by-product of hand-made items. "And it
feels great if someone asks where you got something from and you
can say `I made it myself' because the next question is often `Will
you make me one?'!"
Another knitting fan, Andrea Thompson, started the Trafford Centre
Knitting Group after surfing the net and realising that "stitch and
bitch" groups were thin on the ground locally.
She put a notice on one of the internet's knitting forums and got
enough e-mails back to arrange regular meetings. Now she has around
19 members with a steady eight to 12 members of all ages and
expertise meeting each month at Starbucks in the Trafford
Centre.
Members are aged from their early 20s to mid-50s and knit
everything from scarves to intricate jumpers. "We tend to start by
looking at each other's work and talking about that, and then it
progresses to general gossip," says Andrea, a 35-year-old mum of
two from Oldham.
She became interested in knitting as a child "making clothes for my
dolls" but really got the bug when ponchos were all the fashion a
couple of years ago and she couldn't find anything suitable for her
daughter in the shops. "So I got a pattern from my local wool shop
and got knitting," she recalls.
Even in the past decade, knitting has grown up. "I was amazed at
what there is now from when I first started knitting," says Andrea.
"There are proper fashion shoots in the magazines and all these
expensive yarns available and now, of course, there are loads of
websites where you can buy wools online, even chatrooms and
knitting blogs."
What has not changed, however, is the relaxation involved and
Andrea believes this is the main pleasure of knitting groups.
Her group meets around 7.30pm and meetings often go on until
10.30pm although some may have to leave earlier. "It's lovely - the
knitting is enjoyable and we have a good old gossip over a coffee.
It's a gentle, natural way to pass the time," she says.
Knitting has certainly changed over time. Earliest examples date
from Europe and Egypt in the 14th century but the first knitting
trade guild was started in Paris in 1527 - and it was
men-only.
In fact, knitting was male-dominated for decades and only became a
household occupation owing to the growing popularity of knitted
stockings. By the end of the 1600s, up to two million pairs of
stockings were exported from Britain to other parts of
Europe.
The invention of the knitting machine in 1589 by English cleric
William Lee - he was so tormented by the clacking of his wife's
needles that he came up with a device to speed up the process -
pushed hand knitting into the area of a craft alongside quilting,
spinning and needlepoint.
But its popularity has gone in and out of fashion many times in the
last two centuries, enjoying a revival in the late 1990s which saw
a 400 per cent increase in the number of knitters under 35.
As Fran Goddard astutely points out, in 2006 "young people want to
learn it all over again, to enjoy making items that are distinctive
and different."
Certainly, while the basic elements of knitting remain unchanged
probably since the Egyptians knocked out a fancy shawl or two
between cat-worshipping, the equipment used has altered
dramatically.
Needles are still available in plastic or steel but now you can pay
quite large amounts for polished wood or glass needles. Yarn itself
is a revelation.
As Sharon Berkley, from HMK wool shop, in Flixton Road, Urmston,
explains, there are now some fantastic hairy yarns around that
offer even beginners the chance of accomplished-looking work.
"That's the beauty of the new textured yarns because youngsters,
for example, like quick results and these yarns not only grow fast
on big needles but often have their own pattern actually in the
wool."
Sharon keeps to the cheaper end of these at £1.99 to £4 a ball but
you can pay far more. Last winter, everyone was knitting hairy
scarves but a new type of mohair is set to become the latest
knitting must-have this year.
Children are getting the knitting habit, too. Sharon has been
linking up with local primary schools to give out free needles and
wool for sponsored knitting projects.
"The dinner ladies have helped the children, along with grandmas
coming into school, to get the children knitting," says Sharon, who
is just setting up the Urmston Knitting Group.
She says that some adult knitters are even using knitting groups to
help with weight-loss and to stop smoking - presumably, focusing
mind and body on making the needles fly rather than reaching for
the chocs or a packet of cigarettes.
And adventurous knitters who are keen to customise their own
outfits are also knitting necklaces and bracelets with the latest
metallic yarns.
It is even possible to start knitting without buying any wool at
all. One of the members of Complete Knitters scours charity shops
for knitted garments, unpicks the wool, washes it ... and then
knits it into something else. How's that for recycling!
Complete Knitters can be contacted on 07906 919219, the Urmston
Knitting Group on 0161 748 5971 and the Trafford Centre Knitting
Group by e-mailing andrea@andreathompson0.wanadoo.co.uk
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