Why I Knit

I had hoped some day to write elegantly on this subject, and perhaps I still will in the future, but for now, I wanted to share with you all a letter from Eunny Jang, knitter extraordinaire and Interweave editor.  This note accompanied the announcement of the release of the Interweave Knits Weekend 2011 issue, and while it does, of course, plug the new issue, it also sums up beautifully how I feel about knitting and why I do it:

Living a Handmade Life

Ever since we started producing Weekend in 2008, I've delighted in collecting cozy, casual knits that represent the kinds of things we really wear. There's a comfortable, satisfied feeling that comes of making something that is at once beautiful and eminently functional—these aren't dressy or finicky pieces, but garments and accessories that feel homey and relaxed, familiar.

Every piece in this issue is informed by the everyday life of its designer, her own wishes and needs for useful, purposeful knits that look and feel good. It's fun to catch a glimpse of their lives through their sweaters.

And I do think a lot about this handmade life we lead as knitters, people who make usable things out of sticks and string. It's an extraordinary thing in a larger culture that praises speed and disposability—our craft is methodical, meditative, thoughtful. Its gratification is delayed. But we do it for the joy of making wonderful things with our own hands, adding usefulness and beauty to the world with every stitch.

Of course, there are as many shades to the knitting urge as there are knitters, but I think that most of them boil down to this: We love being creators. Our knitting studs our lives with creativity; because of it, we're good problem solvers and thoughtful analysts, we know how to judge and take risks, we are at peace with the fact that you sometimes just need to start over again. We knitters are forces that add. 

So keep on knitting—and not just on swanky projects. Knit slouchy Saturday market sweaters, snowballing mittens, toys even for children who haven't quite outgrown bibs yet. Knit things you'll use every day. Wrap your loved ones in wooly armor and fill your home with beautiful things.

And enjoy them all, let them wear out, remake them into something else. Make your knitting part of your real, everyday life. Get your issue of Weekend 2011 now and fill the world with more good knitting than it knows what to do with—!

The Knitter's Life—creating, laboring, letting go. It is all fine and right.

Cheers,
Eunny Jang