Tempo editor Kate Monahan reports on the recent resurgence in knitting, both here and abroad.
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Last year there Juicy Couture Charm Necklace was a strange sight on New York City's subways.
The click-clacking sound wasn't coming from the trains taking Manhattanites home, but the sound of a trend taking over the city. Young stylish women in their 20s were knitting. Seated in the speeding carriages, fashionable women were knitting flowing scarves and skullcaps adorned with woollen flowers. Needles and extra wool were stuffed into their Kate Spade and GAP handbags.
In one of the most commercial and time-pressed of cities, New Yorkers were taking time out to knit. In the last few years in the US, the grandmotherly art of "knit-one, pearl-one" has taken off. Since 9/11 more people are seeking comfort in home and hearth, and crafts like knitting have become more popular among a generation of younger women. Could knitting be becoming cool?
Erica Peploe, the manager of Knit World in London Street sees the trend taking off in Hamilton.
"I've noticed more younger people coming into the store," she says.
Making something yourself and put your fingerprint on it has become increasingly appealing, with crafts like scrap booking also more popular.
Peploe says wool manufacturers are coming to the party, making more fashion yarns and patterns, which appeal to younger people.
"There are tonnes of patterns for ponchos this season," she says, which like wraps and scarves are relatively easy to make for beginners.
led street lightingKnitting lessons for adults are about to start up at Knit World, for those who are interested.
"Knitting is creative, therapeutic and a real stress release," says Peploe, who has been knitting since she was a child, taught by her mother.
The trend may be going younger, as Knit World is also offering free lessons for school-age children this week. "We want to encourage a younger generation of knitters into the store," says Peploe.
Children will be given a free "Learn to Knit" pack, suitable for ages seven and up, containing eight big balls of colourful yarn and instructions for making items such as bookmarks, bracelets, drawstring bags and purses, and fun toys like woollen clowns and grubs. Kids can make something special for themselves, or gifts for friends, and learn a new skill in the process.
Knitting can be a fun and social activity. Sharyn Kerr, a mother of three, gets together with friends
embroidered patches every Thursday night in Hamilton for a "stitch and bitch" group.
"We take turns going to each other's houses. As soon as the weather gets cold, we bring out our needles," says Kerr, a travel consultant at Calder & Lawson House of Travel. There are 10 women in the group, ranging in age from late 20s to early 60s.
"Some of the girls are so clever. They worked out how to knit scarves with feathers, and cool patterns just from looking at clothes in fashion magazines," says Kerr.
The women in the group got together 10 years ago, all linked with husbands or fathers in the Castle Trust Hamilton Brass. They knit, cross-stitch and sew, while swapping stories and some laughs.
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