The wool that binds us
Amidst the uncertainty of the pandemic, many are turning to needles and hooks for a sense of calm and connection.
Ros Ambler Lindley started crocheting in 2016 when she was 63 years old, by learning through online tutorials. When she was younger, her late grandmother and mother had both unsuccessfully tried to get her into knitting and crocheting. Says Lindley: “My generation – and of course I am old, a baby-boomer – always used to think that these knitting and crocheting larks were for ‘old’ people only.”
What eventually piqued her interest was watching her daughters – 32 and 36 years old in 2016 – and their friends stitching at their local park, while watching their toddlers play. “I was astounded, they were all sooooo young! So I thought ‘If they can do it, happily, in company, and in broad daylight, so should I.’”
She asked one of her daughters to teach her. “She popped open my laptop and replied, ‘Madam Google mum.’ Since then I have not stopped, not until Covid-19. I’d started a truly magnificent king size bed throw, stitched out of naturally died and locally manufactured cottons, for my youngest living in Italy. It was a gift for their new home in Tuscany, and nowhere near completion. Then Covid!”
As Lindley tells it, “the throw became my obsession during lockdown”. And then when she was nearly done, she got a case of carpal tunnel syndrome in both her thumbs, and had to take a break for two months. “This was definitely a cosmic plot, but after two months of abstinence, the throw is now finally finished and even more beautiful, awaiting a time when this proud grandmama and mother can safely visit them in Italy again.”
In various places around the world, an increase in sales of yarn, knitting needles, and crochet hooks has been reported. The Madrid-based 32-year-old founders of We Are Knitters, an online wool and knitting gear retailer that also focuses on building a global community around knitting and crocheting, told Forbes.com back in March that “their global sales [had] been increasing more than 75% weekly”, since the onset of the pandemic.
Similar reports abound on various websites reporting in their respective countries, from the UK to Australia. At home, some retailers report a similar trend: “I would estimate that the number of new knitters that have shopped from us since we were allowed to courier has doubled in comparison to pre-pandemic numbers,” says Brenda Grobler, owner of Jaarn, an online store as well as a physical shop in Paarl.
“And there’s definitely an increase in younger customers in their 20s and 30s. There were also many more people buying starter packs, and a lot of those same customers are now coming in looking for new things to try,” she adds.
Jennifer
Botha, the 36-yearold owner and founder of the Yarn Room in Pretoria, reports a similar pattern.
“My store is fairly new and last year I had hardly any sales online before the pandemic. I was lucky if had two sales a month on the online store. But then when I was able to get a permit to trade during lockdown, those online sales went up 3,000%. I also received a lot of enquiries from people who specifically wanted to know what they needed to get started,” she says.
Considering the body of research into the mental benefits of knitting as a hobby, it is perhaps not altogether surprising to hear such reports. One study published by the British Journal of Occupational Therapy, titled ‘The Benefits of Knitting for Personal and Social Wellbeing in Adulthood: Findings from an International Survey’, concluded that: “The results show a significant relationship between knitting frequency and feeling calm and happy. More frequent knitters also reported higher cognitive functioning.
Knitting in a group impacted significantly on perceived happiness, improved social contact and communication with others… Knitting has significant psychological and social benefits, which can contribute to wellbeing and quality of life.”
Many knitters, be they novices or experienced hobbyists, found solace and ways to connect with each other during lockdown in their hobby. Some through virtual knitting sessions; and for others, their craft connected them to the people on the receiving end of their labour, whether they be distant family such as in Lindley’s case, or as a charitable cause benefitting families they might never meet.
For Snoeks Desmond, a response to an advert from King Dinuzulu Hospital in Durban eight years ago to help with clothing and toiletry donations for some of the babies born at the hospital, led to the formation of an informal knitting group and Facebook page, Beanies and Blankets for Babies, of which she is the co-ordinator. “I saw the ad and I thought: ‘This won’t take up much time,’ so I asked a few friends to knit, and they told other friends. The group grew over the years and last year we handed out 3,302 gifts, covering approximately 66% of babies born in that hospital,” says Desmond.
“During lockdown knitting was our lifesaver! There were a lot of people looking for something to do who got in touch with us. When we got to level 3 and people could send things, I nearly fainted.
“We got loads of stuff; bags were streaming in,” says Desmond.
“Has it taken a lot of time? Yes. Worth it? Yes! Every stitch, every row, and every smiling mom and warm baby,” says
Desmond.
The results show a significant relationship between knitting frequency and feeling calm and happy.