Living

I remember seeing my grandmother with her knitting needles in her hands working almost by themselves, because she could talk, or watch TV, while her hands seemed to have a life of their own. I was always fascinated by the rhythmic way her knitting needles kept clicking on and on as if by magic, while the shape of a sweater, a tunic or a scarf seemed to materialize.

Walking in My Grandmother’s Footsteps

The fascination that my grandmother inspired in me prompted me to learn knitting myself. I took it up as a hobby and found it exceedingly relaxing and satisfying. After a few years of knitting, my hands, too, could move the knitting needles like my grandmother’s. I knew the patterns by heart, and I did not need to concentrate on what I was doing. My hands were indeed moving on their own.

Today, I am a grandmother myself and I hope that my daughters and granddaughters pick up the knitting needles at some point of time so the legacy can continue. However, I doubt that the knitting needles will have too long to live in this modern world. There is too much automation which produces better, faster and more complicated designs at the push of a button. Frankly speaking, there is no motivation for the younger generation to learn hand-knitting.

I only hope against hope that seeing me knitting might get the children interested in knowing about this dying art and make them want to learn it. The fact remains that knitting was a wonderful pastime and hobby because, in the past, women had the time to spare. The majority of women, some three or four decades ago, were housewives with plenty of time on their hands.

Today, women are juggling a full grown career, with their home responsibilities (and coming out successful) for which they do not have much time left for idyllic habits. Instead of “wasting” their time with knitting, which they can get done in a jiffy with their automated/computerized knitting machine, they would rather catch up with the latest bestseller, or spend some quality time with the family.

I do not blame them. The trend has shifted. Women are as busy as they can and successful too. Their priorities have changed, though the goal remains the same. They are still the binding compound of any home; however, the stereotyped man-woman roles are rapidly merging into one another. However, in spite of everything I hope the knitting needles would not end in a museum in the near future.