Delle (delle) wrote, @ 2008-03-24 22:48:00

Inexplicable?
This post has got me thinking. In it, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (for the non-knitters who read this, and possibly for some of the knitters too, she is a "celebrity" knit blogger, who has also published books about knitting) is talking about the way non-knitters struggle to understand the things knitters do and the way you can't pigeon-hole them.

I don't think I agree. I mean, I agree that you can't pigeon-hole them, but a) that's hardly unique to knitters and b) I'm pretty sure there are a lot of non-knitters out there who would imagine that you can.

It's like anything really. Take people who watch a sci-fi show like Buffy. Most people who don't watch sci-fi, would guess that sci-fi watchers are male and geeky. That's the stereotype. Through being a sci-fi fan and a member of the WD, I've met people of different ages and genders. Ask a non-knitter about knitters and you'll find that they expect them to be older women. That's the knitter stereotype. It's why people get confused when they see younger people knitting and men knitting.

The thing is, knitters are not really any different to anyone else. Except they like to take yarn and needles and make fabric.

cyndisision 2008-03-24 20:59 (link)

I don't think its so much that non-knitters struggle to understand, more that they dismiss and make no attempt to understand, then are kinda baffled when things fail to live up to their preconceptions. And yeah, it's the same with sci-fi, or gun collecting, or any kind of hobby you can think of, but knitting is where she's on the receiving end of that, so she notices it. I mean, yeah, I guess it's true, but it's no major insight. "Wow, people have stereotypes about each other, and I only just now noticed because someone did it to me!" (Reply to this) (Thread)

delle 2008-03-26 18:44 (link)

You're right. I think this was just one of a string of things that has me flummoxed a little. I guess it's because I keep coming up against people talking about knitters as if they are some special and unique group, unlike anything else ever, anywhere. There are plenty of knitters out there with whom I have nothing in common other than our knitting. Knitting is a way of getting to know new people, but then so has everything I've ever been interested in been. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

callie_demeter 2008-03-25 08:30 (link)

I'm surprised she's never noticed the pigeon-holing before, or with other activities. Take golf, or stamp collecting, or even something like riding. And what really strikes me as odd, is that she mentions it now, at a time where if anything, knitting's become the in thing to do, and embraced by a generation of younger women. Yes, it used to be that the only knitters I knew were my Mum's age, but now, I can think of several people - you, Caz, Annika, Cassy, Leone, just to name a few WDers (plus other friends I've met through 12 of 12) who do it, and all are young females. Yarn swaps, ravelry - it's the internet helping bring young knitters together. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	callie_demeter 2008-03-25 08:32 (link)
	Not saying any of you guys are doing it because it's "in" - a few years ago, celebs started to be seen with knitting, and magazines reported it as the latest fad. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)