Picture the Delhi Metro…women’s compartment…cold January evening…solitary knitter in one corner.
After spending the entire day explaining to learned people that abstinence usually does not work for preventing the spread of HIV in youngsters, I was knitting the minutes away in my corner. This cabled sweater was coming along nicely and the magical, addictive quality of cables ( I always want to knit one more row to see the cables crossing) suited my mood perfectly.
Someone sidled up beside me, and I could feel her eyes staring at my fingers. It can be hypnotic, watching someone knitting smoothly and swiftly, with the yarn sliding effortlessly over the needles, loops being formed and freed, and the fabric growing in front of those watching, hypnotised eyes! OK, ok, do give some artistic licence to this besotted knitter !!
A gentle tap on my shoulder, while I was thinking the preceding paragraph, and I turned to see this college girl beside me. She smiled, leaned over and whispered, ” Aunty, nowadays you can buy exactly the same pattern from the Monte Carlo shop in Lajpat Nagar. You don’t need to knit sweaters by hand anymore..And Aunty, they are not very expensive either”.
This was not the first time that I was hearing about the wonder of machine knit sweaters. I know friends who prefer their smooth and slim finish, I know mothers who love their easy washing instructions and till a year ago, I had quite a few of them in my wardrobe too.
Machine knit garments have a lot going for them. They are easy to acquire, shops have a wide range of sizes, ease and fit, patterns, colours, designs and shapes. They usually fold into neat bundles, and can be stuffed into luggage easily. The fabric is smooth and uniform in texture and it can drape beautifully.
All this can be found in a perfect hand-knitted garment too. By perfect, I mean the correct gauge and tension for the knitter, the appropriate pattern and texture for that yarn, and excellent finishing. No knots, no bumps and no threads poking out at the seams and edges. It takes time, patience, and the willingness to learn new techniques for a good knitter to emerge. Perfect hand knitting, therefore, is uncommon.. ( We have some perfect knitters at needlestosaymore.com, though!!)
So therefore, why do we love hand-knitted presents of caps, mufflers, socks, sweaters and everything else in-between? Why do knitters keep acquiring yarn and knitting and knitting? Why do hand-knits cost the earth, when there are so many cheaper, machine made, smooth textured garments available?
At one level, I use the simile of an original painting and its prints. A hand knitted garment is unique and unrepeatable. It will have some quirky aspects of the knitter– the method of casting on or casting off, the texture of the knitting, the way the cables are crossed, the loose or the meshed feel of the fabric. I tend to have a tighter hand while purling, which gives an illusion of self striping in plain knitted fabric. In a slim yellow poetry book gifted by my Uncle-from-Wales, the first poem, “The Symbolism of Ancient Sweaters, says it all..
When a hand knitted present arrives, it brings with it hours of toil by those ten fingers on that knitters hand. It brings all those thoughts and good wishes ( hopefully), which kept the knitter company while the busy fingers did their magic. It brings the calm and peace which descended on the knitter while the knitting happened. Many knitters habitually think about the person they are knitting for, wishing them well and wishing them joy. Every stitch has good thoughts woven into them. So what if there is an error in the design, or in the decreasing row of the cap, or in the length of the cable? Its uniqueness is embedded in those errors.
Hand knit garments tend to take the wear and tear of life in their stride. They remain for generations, if given a little care. I have seen sweaters being worn by every child in a family, and then moving on to the grandchildren. The texture of the garment remains firm, except in areas covering impatient knees and elbows, or the heels and collars of energetic bodies. Knitters are good at repair and reworking those worn out areas, so that the garment keeps being used.
When yarn has been carefully wrapped around needles, knitted with concentration and care, and finished with attention to detail, there will be that extra mile in it…that mile which would have been lost in a garment factory, with automated machines and workers checking on the progress of the knitting, not actually doing it. When tens and hundreds of garments are churned out of those efficient machines, they will be of a different genre to a garment which may been knit over tens and hundreds of hours, by a pair of human hands.
Full time knitting for the past 7 years has made my sweater wardrobe change into a completely hand-knit collection. I am very fortunate to be able to wear them all. Hand knitted presents have become the norm now. From weddings, to precious visits, to friends and family…there is something knitted for all of them. It never ceases to amaze me, how someone shows me something I had knitted for them long ago, and then proceeds on this long story of how much they have used it/loved it/remembered me!
Makes the day a little more brighter, and makes my mind smile a little more wider.
I started writing today with the idea of explaining the charm of hand-knits…I find that I have written my love story with knitting! After reading this, readers might still be at sea, wondering why do they need hand knits in their life. But, after writing this through the morning, I know why I need knitting in my life!
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