Knitting all the rage now in NYC
NEW YORK-- Two strangers meet on a subway platform and bond about where to buy yarn as their hands loop black and white, and blue and gray strands. Young women gather at a Brooklyn coffee shop, tossing a freshly made turquoise cap to the manager as t
MIRANDA LEITSINGER
May 21, 2001 Updated: Aug. 18, 2017 3:47 a.m.
Forget scented candles, feng shui and yoga, Gen Xers say the latest therapy to stomp out city blues and stave off the pressures of a dot-com world is none other than an incredibly low-tech activity: knitting.
"I work in the computer industry where you create virtually. This is something that I can create with my hands," Rebecca Hartranft, 29, and a former marketing manager for an Internet services company, said as she wove dark gray thread at a Manhattan knitting class. "You're going from a string and two sticks to make a beautiful piece of art."
The number of knitters and crocheters under age 35 has soared from 3 percent nationwide in 1998 to 15 percent in 2000, a 400 percent increase, according to the Craft Yarn Council of America.
The knitting craze among the twentysomething crowd appears to be cyclical.
"Everything is just going round and round," said Arnetta Kenney, an adjunct assistant professor in textile-surface design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. "Young people knitting is reminiscent of the 1970s and 1980s."
Knitting began its most recent comeback with star power in the late 1990s, when Julia Roberts and Daryl Hannah picked up their needles and sparked a resurgence of interest in the craft.
Celebrity appeal aside, new knitters described it as rhythmic, comforting and sensual, with the Zen-like qualities drawing them to it -- some admit obsessively -- time and again.
"Just knitting, I can go into another zone, calm myself down and then approach another task," said Ann Chung, 27, a project director at the Center for AIDS Research. "I'll go through periods where I can't put it down. When the needles become too clenched in my hands, I have to put them down."
"It's the perfect therapy ... for living in the city, definitely," 26-year-old Gretchen Cooke, an educational researcher, said while riding a Manhattan subway train.
Some knitters approach the age-old craft with a distinctly modern flair.
"I can multitask while knitting," said speech therapist Lauren Meiner, 28, admitting that she uses a headset for her phone so she can knit and talk simultaneously.
Looping the yarn through the needles and using various stitches, designs and colors also give their creative spirits free rein, knitters said.
"I'm not an artist in any way, but this kind of allows me to be one," Cooke said. And, she added, "The fashion trend is moving to the homemade effect. If you do mess up, it's a creative twist."
And depending on what the intended final product is -- sweaters, scarves, afghans -- and what type of material is used -- pricey handspun wool or less-expensive acrylic -- the craft can be portable and affordable.
"One draw is that all you need is a pair of needles and a ball of yarn," said Victoria Jameson, 24, a model who now works part-time at an East Village knitting store. "You could spend $10 and be occupied for two weeks."
And most knitters said basic stitches are easy to pick up.
"I've tried sports, different artsy things, but knitting is right up my alley. I can't paint a picture, but I can knit," said librarian Amy Ballmer, 24. "The process is formulaic, so if you can do the formula, you can make up your own (designs)."
"In a few days or weeks you can have a product, it's so satisfying," said 26-year-old Se Sook Dyer, who seeks out unusual color combinations for her knitting projects.
Knitters said that although they enjoy its solitary aspects, socialization is also an important factor.
"It gives us an excuse to get together," Chung said to a group of knitting friends who meet about once a month.
"It's more fun than doing yoga together," agreed Dolin O'Shea, 27, laughing.
On the Net:
Craft Yarn Council of America: www.craftyarncouncil.com.