Younger People Taking Up Knitting

Knitting, an activity that faded during the 1970s and 1980s, is coming back, especially among younger people.

In an age when people spend hours on computers, both working and playing, some people seem to long for simpler pastimes.

“We have definitely noticed an interest with many young professionals,” said Carol Wiggington, president of the Knitting Guild of America in Knoxville, Tenn. “It is a portable hobby, soothing to the mind, and you wind up with a quality product.”

The guild, which started with 550 members in 1984, now has more than 10,000 and has seen a 15 percent increase in attendance each year at its convention in March.

In addition to attending conventions, many young knitters are coming together in small groups to share the pleasure of the craft and to form friendships.

In Washington, D.C., for example, eight women ages 26 to 34 gather once a month in Georgetown to show off the sweaters they have worked on since their last meeting. In New York, the Big Apple Knitting Guild has seen its membership jump to 176 this year from five in 1990.

Knitting clubs are even appearing on college campuses. Lyndsley Wilkerson, 21, a junior at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa., helped start a group last year that has grown to 60 members, from 25. Recently the group held a knit-a-thon at which 10 members made items to donate to a local homeless shelter.

Knitters can also find camaraderie on-line, where there are more than 200 chat rooms and knitting-related sites.

While many of the new knitters are women, some men are also learning of its pleasures. Scott Overbay, 36, a member of the Eastside Knitting Guild in Seattle, said his grandmother taught him to knit when he was 9, and that he started to knit again about six years ago when he was unable to buy the sweater he wanted. He is now teaching three male friends to knit.

A 1994 survey by Crafts ‘n Things, a magazine, showed that people enjoyed crafts like knitting, with its lulling, repetitious motions, because they relieved stress.

Yarn-store owners are hoping to entice younger knitters with items like novelty yarns, including those that glitter or have fake fur, in addition to classics like cashmere and Angora wool. Many designers, including Donna Karan and Adrienne Vittadini, feature brightly colored yarns in patterns for clothing aimed at younger people, including cropped sweaters and knitted backpacks.

“This is not the knitting your grandmother did,” said Donna Barnako, owner of Wooly Knits in McLean, Va.

To help attract more children, knitting enthusiasts and trade associations are offering knitting and crocheting programs to schools and youth organizations. Even knitting magazines, including Cast On, published by the Knitting Guild, are devoting more space to showing knitting techniques to teach children.