By Caroline Homet — Contributor

Recently, I have seen more people taking part in the centuries-old crafts of knitting and crocheting. I think that, like me, young fibre artists are searching through their squishy piles of wool for a moment of connection with themselves and with each other. The (painfully) slow art of knitting helps us to think clearly and to breathe in our fast-paced environment.

The (painfully) slow art of knitting helps us to think clearly and to breathe in our fast-paced environment.

“People are searching to be connected, to be reconnected … with actual, real things,” said my mother, who initiated me to the fibre arts with crochet. She gave me my great-grandmother’s crochet hooks last New Year’s when I finally rejoined the quiet family festivities after a covid-induced isolation.

I asked my mom to teach me how to crochet not only because I was bored but also to reconnect with my family and my heritage. Every time I use these hooks, I can picture my great-grandmother, who I have never met, sitting in a plushy chair, just like me, finding joy in what my mother still calls her fantasies. 

Then, my friend and roommate, Mar Paquette, taught me how to knit before last November’s finals to help me de-stress. When I took my knitting needle in my hands, my fingers were busy making something beautiful, which calmed my fidgeting body. Like meditation, it helped me to pause and breathe following the rhythm of knitting. I felt more in tune with my thoughts. 

Not only are we connected to ourselves, to our craft, and to the moment while we knit, but we are also connected to a community, whether it be family, friends, or strangers on the internet. 

“There is a huge [online] community of crochet and knitting and spinning and Tunisian crochet, and … all the fibre arts,” said Paquette, who is a self-taught “youtube [knitter]”, as they call themself. 

Paquette and other artists are challenging the stereotype that knitters and crochet artists are all old white women. Knitting has become activism. Fibre arts benefit mental health, and there is an ongoing intentional diversification of the community. Artists fight to include people of all shapes, sizes, genders, and ethnicities to their platforms. The slow process of creating a wardrobe by hand teaches us the real work and worth of clothes, hidden by the fast fashion industry. 

For those of you who are searching for a community beyond the internet to learn fibre arts with, Bishop’s has a knitting club, which hosts weekly meetings to gather and work on projects. You can find more information on the Instagram page @buknitcommunity