Millennial
Craft-Makers Embrace Arm Knitting
Forearms Take Place of Knitting Needles to
Produce Chunky Yarn Creations
By Rachel Dodes in the
Wall Street Journal
When it comes to
knitting, Lydia Schoenbein thought she had seen it all. The 73-year-old retired
nursing-home supervisor from Morton, Ill., learned to knit
and crochet when she was growing up in Germany and can make everything from
socks and shawls to cable-knit sweaters.
So when her
22-year-old granddaughter, Carly Hill, visited and showed off her own
creation—a crude-looking, ropelike cream scarf—"I was flabbergasted, to
tell you the truth," recalls Ms. Schoenbein. The accessory hadn't exactly
been handmade. It was the product of a new cultural yarn: arm knitting.
An increasingly
popular activity among younger do-it-yourself enthusiasts, arm knitting uses
the forearms in lieu of knitting needles.
The resulting scarves
and blankets feature rows of loops that are 2.5" to 4" wide,
depending on the diameter of a given knitter's arm. Owing to the large, holey
rows, an entire project can be completed in less than 30 minutes—a fraction of
the time needed to whip up a scarf using knitting needles.
Arm knitting combines
several things that are appealing to millennials: crafts projects, chunky
knitwear (featured on the fall 2013 runways), social media and instant
gratification. It just so happens that a popular item to make is a so-called
infinity scarf—a circular accessory that slips over the head.
Handily, the hobby
doesn't require a kindly elder to show novices the ropes. Unlike traditional
knitting, which has been passed down from generation to generation, the arm
knitting craze has spread via technology.
"I learned how to
knit and crochet from my grandma," says Ms. Hill, a substitute teacher
from Chandler, Ariz. "I learned how to arm knit from the Internet."
While the yarn cage
appearance of arm-knit items may not have universal appeal, there is
demonstrable demand. Currently there are about 300 boutiques selling arm-knit
scarves on Etsy.com, the online marketplace that promotes handmade goods. Most
go for under $50.
Not everybody is
convinced that the arm-knit aesthetic has staying power. "It seems like a
thing for kids in a rush," says Rita Bobry, the proprietor of a well-known
Manhattan knitting-supply boutique, Downtown Yarns. "It's probably not an
enduring tradition."
Yet the trend has
legs. Even folks at the Knitting Guild Association, a Zanesville, Ohio-based
nonprofit dedicated to knitting education, are embracing it. "Our staff
members often gather at lunch with socks on our needles or baby blankets,"
says program coordinator Debby Johnston. This year, she says, they are meeting
to arm knit scarves for quick Christmas gifts instead.
Many arm knitters say
they picked up the technique from a video tutorial that has been disseminated
on Pinterest, the social networking platform popular among crafters. Shot by
Amanda Bassetti, a part-time nanny in Uncasville, Conn., known for her blog
SimplyMaggie.com, the 10-minute video goes through the entire scarf-making
process. It begins with "casting on," with a slipknot on the right
arm, then shows how to create rows of stitches, looping them from one arm to
the other. Thus far, Ms. Bassetti's tutorial has been viewed about 500,000
times on YouTube, earning her $1,400 in advertising revenue from Google for the
month of November alone.
Having so many
comrades in arms "has been quite overwhelming," says Ms. Bassetti,
25. She has received so much feedback from viewers that she posted a follow-up
video—"Arm Knitting: Your Questions Answered"—to respond to some of
her acolytes' most pressing concerns. Among them: what to do if one has to use
the restroom while in the midst of a project.
"You can always
just move the stitches to one arm. That way you have another free arm to pick
up the balls of yarn and go about doing what you need to do," she says.
Chloe Vignola, an
19-year-old college freshman from Wasilla, Alaska, threw up her hands in
frustration after two failed attempts at arm knitting last April, during which
she watched Ms. Bassetti's video tutorial. On Twitter, she posted a picture of herself shrouded in
an unruly cocoon of gray yarn. The caption read, "Currently a
representation of my arm knitting skills and life skills."
After untangling
herself and taking some deep breaths, Ms. Vignola eventually figured it out.
Ms. Bassetti's tutorial "makes it look so easy," she says. "But
arm knitting takes a lot of resilience."
Indeed, Jessica
Morgan, co-founder of the Go Fug Yourself celebrity fashion blog, says the look
indicates that the makers must be "very resourceful."
"Whoever figured
out how to knit with just her arms is going to do way better than I will once
the zombie apocalypse comes," says Ms. Morgan.
The call to arm
knitting most likely came from Italy—home to master textile weavers like the
Missoni fashion family. While it is impossible to finger just one person for
the trend, the technique's rise can be traced to an Italian-born aspiring
designer named Andrea Brena. Last year, the 25-year-old student turned arm
knitting into performance art for a project, called "Knitted Army,"
that he presented at a design festival in Berlin. In a sort of reverse Edward
Scissorhands routine, he used strips of high-end fabric coiled around the
length of his arm to create beanbag chairs, pillows and rugs. The technique
generated lots of attention.
"The moment I
started knitting in public I became very embarrassed, but then I realized it
was an incredible tool to talk to people," says Mr. Brena.
A sped-up video of his
installation was picked up by the architecture website Designboom.com, after
which it went viral, generating about 45,000 views on YouTube. Ms. Bassetti
acknowledges that Mr. Brena's video was one of a few that she closely examined
to teach herself. ("She could have mentioned me!" says Mr. Brena.)
The noodle-y look of
the scarves has baffled some observers. "Am I the only person who thinks
this looks like a bunch of knotted rope?" asked one poster to Lifehacker,
a blog—linked to Ms. Bassetti's video—that features tips for doing things more
efficiently.
While most
arm-knitters typically stick to making scarves and shawls, online commenters
suggest using the craft to create everything from a hammock for stuffed animals
(real pets might get tangled in the wide stitches) to a cargo net and a
G-string.
Ann Denton, an
associate professor in the textile development and marketing department at New
York's Fashion Institute of Technology, is somewhat puzzled by the droopy,
wide-gauge style. "I am a cable person," she says.
Ms. Bassetti,
meanwhile, insists she has only racked up compliments. "Normally people
say I am a genius," she says.
The original link (with a video) can be found
at:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304011304579220660554732336?mod=trending_now_4
A YouTube video on arm knitting, about 28 minutes long, can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=070qaUxEyp4
There are many shorter videos (including the Andrea Brena video) on arm knitting, also.
A YouTube video on arm knitting, about 28 minutes long, can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=070qaUxEyp4
There are many shorter videos (including the Andrea Brena video) on arm knitting, also.
No comments:
Post a Comment