Misconception #4: We knit incomprehensible stuff of
questionable value.
People who don’t knit don’t understand why we’d spend 2 days
knitting a pair of socks or 3 months knitting a lace shawl. They don’t see the
difference between what we do and what comes off a machine in China. The
comment Why would you knit that when you could buy it? comes to mind.
One reason is purely for the advantages of knitting as process. We knit stuff we could buy because it feels
good to knit. And it’s good for
us too! Here are some of its health
benefits:
- keeping us calm,
- lowering our blood pressure,
- stimulating the immune system,
- slowing dementia,
- preventing depressing
- not to mention the pure joy of spending time in the optimistic, receptive, perpetually happy right brain.
But in addition to all this good stuff, there is the quality of what we produce. Does this
person-who-does-not-knit know that no more than 1/7th of the
finished price of something can be spent on materials? So what does that say
about the quality of materials in store-bought items?
Solution Tell her what you spend on yarn . . . again! (I know you already did that a few days ago, but it bears repeating.) Do the math together. Then ask her if, on any given day, she could use any of knitting’s health benefits. Then let her try on a pair of your socks, while you wrap your hand-knit shawl around her and tell her that knitting is the constant comfort of a perpetual hug . . . and then give her one!
Misconception #5: We are old and inactive.
Yes, we know about granny in her rocker. With all due
respect to those who are grandmothers (I am one) and who like their rocking
chairs (I have one), that stereotype ain’t us! The growth of knitting (to
upwards of 38 million in the US) could not reach these numbers with only the
addition of the elderly. Baby boomers, young women, and teenagers have joined us.
As for being inactive, knitting’s demographic is generally
female, with the bulk of us between 18 and 64. So take any cross-section of
intelligent, well-educated women with enough disposable income to knit, and
you’ll find a level of fitness that mirrors the population in general. Knitters
run marathons, do yoga, and lift weights in the same proportion of the general
population. We even have Knit and Ski trips!
Solution Knit as you wait for your yoga class? Knit around the fire,
après ski? Wear something hand-knit to the gym? Run with knitting needles? Knit
in public wearing tall boots and a short leather skirt? Not really sure what
more to do about this one? Any ideas?
Misconception #6: We are boring and not very involved
The image of a woman knitting is beautifully solitary, and
we know the blissful state she’s in. But
that does not mean that she would
not readily engage in intelligent conversation if approached. There are craft and chat (stitch and
bitch) groups where women (Yes, believe it!) knit and talk at the
same time!!! With great enthusiasm and on
all manner of topics!
In addition, knitters are fabulous listeners! We (human beings) are generally better listeners if
engaged in a repetitive motion. Why? Because most of us are primarily
kinesthetic + visual, not—as we
might think—primarily auditory.
So for us to listen, we need to
engage both the visual and the kinesthetic, which knitting does.
Solution Pull out your knitting at every opportunity! At the same time, engage in intelligent conversation
with someone. Show how Pythagorean Theorem relates to your knitting. No, wait, scratch
that! Share the names of favourite
celebrities—offering how many of them knit. Discuss the places you’ve both been
over the past year or the books you’ve both read. Make some outrageously
well-informed comment about global economics. Discuss the business plan for
your next entrepreneurial venture. In other words, Tell ‘em who you
are!
I guess that's the bottom line: we gotta tell them who we are, because they don't know, and they should.
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