It is likely a surprise to no one here that I knit. I credit knitting with the prevention of homicide. But a piece we are not going to provide traffic to suggest a well known female person of a certain age take up knitting. As a friend of mine point out on Twitter, this disparages both her and knitting.
Knitting is a great hobby. I know people who have even turned it into a bit of a living. But I have thoughts.
Knitting is a great hobby. I know people who have even turned it into a bit of a living. But I have thoughts.
So let's talk about why knitting is great. And people who say go knit suck.
1. Knitting is relaxing. Except of course when it is not, like when the pattern or the yarn have done or not done something or there's a knot, but basically, overall, knitting is relaxing. There are studies that like other repetitive motions, can get people to a state similar to what meditation achieves which is good for you.
2. Hobbies are good for you. Doing a thing that exists entirely on your own schedule and your own whims is kind of amazing. It's not how most people's paid work operates. It's why writers and other crafters who turn their work into paid stuff often find they crave a new hobby.
3. Making things is fun. Knitting is not the only path to making things but it is a fun one.
4. Learning new things is good for you. Learning is a good thing to keep doing. Picking up new hobbies is one way to get there.
5. Knitting is generally considered to be coded female and/or gay. Obviously a love of yarn has nothing to do with who you do or do not love in the rest of your life, but the reality is I have never seen anyone say, ugh, just take up knitting or something to a straight male of any age. I also have a friend who started hauling to the yarn store across town because the yarn store near him told him he must be there to pick up girls and not knit.
6. Context is important here. We also know that go take up knitting is code for go be quiet in the corner. Stop being a person I have to consider relevant. And this is unfair to both the people (who are pretty much always women) it is directed at and to knitting. If you want someone to stop talking say that. No need to involve knitting. And if stop talking seems meaner or you know you will get crap for that, go knit is not the substitute that changes that.
7. Do things that make you happy. Stop telling other people what they should be doing if what they are doing isn't harming anyone.
