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Here’s why I’ve become addicted to knitting

A hobby many people probably think of as old-fashioned, can be youthful, therapeutic, political, even subversive

There is laughably little we can control in this life, but a pair of needles and some yarn are three things we can absolutely rule over. Photograph: iStock

Maeve Higgins
Tue Nov 1 2022 - 16:52

I’ve become addicted to knitting and I’m clearly not the only one: I’ve seen people knitting on the subway, in college lectures and even, once, in a bar.

I’m not surprised. Knitting is a fantastic way to fight anxiety, keep one’s mind occupied, and – by making clothing for yourself and those you love – fight fast fashion.

Knitting, a hobby many people probably think of as old-fashioned, can be youthful, therapeutic, political, even subversive. It can be anything you want it to be. Some people knit in honour of refugees or Holocaust survivors.

As a writer, I sit for long stretches of time making tiny repetitive movements with my fingers. I’m constantly looking for hobbies that will keep me doing exactly that – which is how I found knitting. Now, here is what I’ve learned:

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Knitters’ night-time internet searches become extremely specific. You will search for ever more esoteric videos, unable to sleep until you’ve got what you need, feverishly typing strange phrases like “German short rows, super slow, real easy” and “fisherman’s rib stitch, three ways” or, after a particularly difficult day, “stranded fair isle colorworks, long”.

You will have intense conversations about the advantages and drawbacks of knitting with metal or bamboo needles. The soft clack of the metal is addictive, true, but the grip of the bamboo on mohair is unbeatable. These conversations will happen exclusively in your head for up to 45 minutes on the floor of a Michaels craft store. Children, your own or others, will shriek and spin around you, unheard and unseen, as you invariably decide to buy both.

More than once, you’ll accidentally order a pattern in Norwegian and send it to a translation service only to find it is in Danish. Soon you will begin to pick up a number of foreign words because the genser looks so cosy and you’re sure it’s the perfect genser. You need to make the genser! So you learn new languages and buy new wolle and keep right on strikke!

You would cut out your tongue before you would ask a fellow knitter how much money and time they spent making their perfectly average raglan sweater.

You watch Outlander repeatedly with the sound down, scanning back over certain scenes, even when Jamie isn’t in them. You see, it’s not the strapping Scotsman that keeps you coming back for more, it’s the hand knits. The cowls and rent shawls and wrist warmers will leave you speechless except for two words ... both of them hubba.

You wish a loved one would take mildly ill – not so ill that they lose consciousness, but ill enough to stay in bed. Then you can sit by their bedside and knit quietly. Or sit by their bedside and knit and talk to them soothingly about knitting. Maybe you can knit them something – a sweater or a hat – to help them recuperate. They can admire and even touch your work-in-progress, as long as their hands are clean.

Within the drama-filled online fibre arts community, you position yourself as an outsider-insider, a powerful social identity fluid enough to understand the latest gossip (are the sheep on that Welsh farm really as happy as she says?) but safe in the knowledge you will probably never say the words “fibre arts community” aloud.

If you don’t like how a specific piece is turning out or if the pattern you’re following gets too difficult, you can set fire to your work. Alternatively, you could simply “frog” it, meaning you take the work off the needles and rewind it into a ball of wool.

There is laughably little we can control in this life, but a pair of needles and some yarn are three things we can absolutely rule over. Besides, it’s very relaxing to knit in a nice slow rhythm while cuddling what feels basically like a tiny lamb in your hands. You feel your mind get still, and your status with your nieces grow.

Knitting is for aunts. That’s not to say you have to be a literal aunt, you just have to bring a strong aunt energy to everything you do, and that will eventually lead you to knitting.

The people who work in yarn stores always seem bashful at first. They smile but they don’t make eye contact, they stammer, they blush. But ask them their thoughts on the magic loop method versus double pointed needles and you will witness an extraordinary transformation. Their shyness vanishes and they become magnificent and unstoppable before your very eyes.

Of course, you have never used your knitting needles as a deadly weapon, but the whole time you’re holding them, which is all the time, you’re aware that you could kill somebody with them. That awareness brings you great peace.

We’ve discovered the joy of knitting. Join us. — The Guardian