Why Do We Knit or Crochet?

Here is what some of you have shared in the past, as well as some of my own thoughts.
Please share your thoughts with us and we will add them here.

Please note:
Images are not those of the writers

 

I don't need a shrink, i knit. LOL.

Oddly, knitting is a big part of my therapy. ;) My shrink loves my knitting. He always wants to see what I have on the needles, and is always unashamedly angling for a gift. One day, I'll make him something nice. bg.

That being said, I think that I knit because it completes me. Doesn't that sound funny? But I think its true. When I was a girl, I thought that marriage or a home of my own or a corner office would be the one thing that would make me complete. I couldn't have been more wrong. Giving myself over to spinning and knitting these past few years has the feeling of the last piece of a puzzle falling into place. When people stop me in public to ask why I do this, I just tell them that it's who I am...

I knit for lots of occasions; but ultimately, I feel I've come to knit because I can't do otherwise. It's brought me thru my father's illness and death, as well as that of my favorite aunt. Its brought me through two really miserable jobs, traffic jams at the Lincoln Tunnel, and dull status meetings. It has taught me, through perseverance, to be my own person and to shake off the opinions of my mother or my sister, my boss or my current boyfriend if they don't fit me.

Most of all, it has helped me thru a year of leaning how to deal with boring, cyclical depressions, and that's worth a lot. Working thru a down period is still a challenge. But I don't think I'd bestir myself to work on anything else when I'm feeling moody. But all of this is really gravy. As I say, I think I knit because I have to. And I don't mind. I've never felt comfortable with anyone or anything owning me. But knitting owns me as surely as I own myself. (I've also come to be owned by two very very demanding cats this year, but I think the knitting owns me more...)

Susan Gordon Lydon, wonders in her book: "If the devil makes work for idle hands then could constantly busy hands entice angels to whisper in the knitter's ear?"

We don't just knit. We knit our hopes, our dreams, our fears, our joys and our sorrows into what we make. And in that knitting, we become stronger and can carry on with life.
   

 

H. writes: I knit to relax. I like to work on simple patterns using wild yarns. That way, I don't have to think much about my knitting. I feel that I'm almost going into a meditative state as I knit along. It's so soothing! I knit to produce something tangible. I spend my days as a full-time freelance editor, indexer, proofreader, researcher, and writer. I deal with extremely difficult scholarly publications. And when I'm done working on them, I still feel that what I've done is somehow impalpable and intangible. Knitting is anything but. The feel and color and smell of the yarn, the feel and sound of the needles--all of these are extremely tangible. I can see a result, which I often don't see in my everyday work. When I knit, I think of the person for whom I'm making the present, and I feel that I'm putting a little of myself--and a lot of my feeling for that person--into every stitch.

 

  

 

S. writes: Asking a yarn collector when she will knit garments with her stash is like asking a stamp collector when he will mail letters with his. (forgive the sexism) M. writes: I find this is a creative out let for me. And I love to buy yarn....!
   
M. writes: I was in the middle of an asthma attack last night, and while waiting for the stupid thing to calm down, I started thinking. Oh no! (I can't knit after the inhaler, the hands shake too much.) So this is my thought. Several people have mentioned recently how soothing knitting is while waiting at the hospital. I thought of J., knitting and keeping vigil on her Dear Husband, her Dear Daughter, and now her Dear Son In Law hospitalized with a heart attack. I mentally cheered for M, insisting on knitting right after surgery, as a reassurance that she was really all right. Then I thought of J. R, knitting love into hug sweaters for her children, as a tangible reminder of her love. The graduation afghans and hugs sweaters young people get as they go off to college I thought of the lady excitedly knitting sweaters and hats for her 3 new grandchildren from Brazil. And of the moms-in-waiting, knitting for the new arrivals. I thought of D, with the sorrow of finishing her Dear Husband's sweaters for her Stepsons. And I thought of the lady that just recently lost a baby, knitting a project for that child and giving it to someone else. We don't just knit. We knit our hopes, our dreams, our fears, our joys and our sorrows into what we make. And in that knitting, we become stronger and can carry on with life
J. writes: Because I love the very act of knitting, the soothingness of it, the practicality of it. Because I love seeing my loved ones warmly and becomingly attired in garments I made. Because I like challenge & surprise. Because I like having to think, and because sometimes I like not having to think. M. writes: Here are my reasons for knitting: It is relaxing and a great stress reducer. I will NEVER have the same outfit as someone else at a party or really important event. I want to be fashionable, but different from the crowd. It is a great conversation starter and makes people a little more friendly in a not so friendly world. I love to be creative and have fun with fibers!
   
J. writes: I knit because I find an inner pleasure in making something myself. I knit because I put a portion of love in every stitch. Should the work go to a family member or a stranger, they need that love of something made "just for them".
   
C. writes: My mother knit when I was young. Unfortunately, she passed away when I was 8 years old. It seemed to me in these early years that to present someone with a beautifully knit garment was a strong statement of love, and looking at it now, a statement of love which is not painful, but very satisfying to give. I now get up at 4:30 in the morning to have an hour and a half knit time, listening to classical music, before the troops descend. (My husband and 3 boys) It is a great way to 'center' myself for the day.

A. writes:

I knit for the unique experience of turning one dimension (a line) into three (a sweater). I knit because, at the end of the day, I have a hard time letting go of all my nervous energy. It helps to give my hands something to do while my mind finishes worrying. I knit because, with all the gorgeous yarns out there, it's almost guaranteed I'll end up with something beautiful. I knit for the bragging rights once I'm done. ;)

 

 

 

 

Luanne wrote: 3 separate projects immediately came to mind that have memories attached or reasons to have worked on them at that particular time.

My sister-in-law was dying of cancer 15 years ago. During the time I spent with her in the hospital, I made my 6 year old grandson a red "Wallaby" sweater (sweatshirt like garment from Cottage Creations pattern.) Since then each of his younger brothers has worn it, and each time I see it on one of them, I remember how special Marilyn was.

While I was recuperating from my hysterectomy, I knit my husband an attractive textured, striped pullover in 3 shades of brown that to this day we call his "hysterectomy sweater."

Last summer we took a trip to Norway and Sweden to celebrate our 50th anniversary. While on the trip I worked on a pair of socks in self-patterning yarn. Each time I wear them brings back memories of the wonderful trip, which included a lot of sight-seeing, but also allowed us to connect with 5th cousins who still work the family farm that has been in the family for over 500 years!

 
   
 

A few years back I was asked to address our local Chapter of the Knitting Guild about Why Do We Knit? Members from the Internet Knitlist helped me out with their thoughts. Here are some excerpts with my thoughts at the beginning:

" I have always had a great desire to knit and crochet. It's what kept me busy during long nights at Children's Hospital when our young son was dying of cancer. I wasn't necessarily good at it, I just LOVED doing it! So I was always looking for more yarn! Through a series of circumstances, I got the idea to sell yarn at a Swap Meet. When we would tell friends and acquaintances that we sold at the Fair Grounds on weekends, they were interested and asked WHAT we sold... yaaaaarn??!!! Their faces said GAG ME!! But when people came down the isle and got the first glimpse of our booth, their eyes lit up and they exclaimed: YARN!! Like they had been deprived all of their lives!

What we learned then and still holds true to our experience today, is that people are not looking for CHEAPER yarn, but WONDERFUL yarn. A fabric that pleases all your senses! Something that you can TOUCH and STROKE and FONDLE and CREATE with. Colors and textures that play with your imagination. A raw material that can provide you with endless hours of creativity and returns to it's original state when you hit a dead end. When my customers have to "frog" (a term from the Internet meaning: rip-it, rip-it) I tell them that they now got twice the fun for the same price! Knitting is like decorating.. you can move things around and watch shapes and colors interact. You don't have to invite people to your house to see what you have dreamed up, but you carry it proudly, on your back, for the world to see! Knitting is an Art Form.. Just like quilting. No one makes a quilt today because they really need some warmth. They quilt because they enjoy the challenge of combining blocks of different shapes into something beautiful and worthwhile! Some may enjoy the intricacies of a complicated fairisle, aran or intarsia pattern, some are not satisfied to make a sock from the top down in all sorts of patterns, but must now figure out a way to knit from the toe UP. Some, like myself, just enjoy the textures and happily knit in stockinet stitch on big needles while the mind is busy with other things. Besides being therapy for the soul, knitting (and crocheting) can be therapy for the body as well. One lady had awfully knurled hands.. her fingers pointed sideways from the Arthritis.. Her eyes lit up when she told me how knitting helps her to keep what little mobility she had left in her hands. One of our customers who had just suffered a stroke was told by her doctor that she would never crochet again. She worked and worked to prove him wrong, finally completing an afghan for the Doctor. He confirmed that working with her hands helped her to regain the use of both sides of her body.

So now we ask ourselves: WHY DO WE KNIT?? I have asked my customers in the store and one lady just BLURTED out:

Peer pressure!! All my friends knit!!