Monday, January 22, 2007
Twenty-somethings have taken their grandmothers' purls without even asking.

They've stolen their knits, except instead of woolly and itchy like they used to be, they're baby-soft merino.

Folks like 26-year-old Beth Taylor are rocking the knitting craze everywhere but in a chair. That includes restaurants, stores, bars and, of course, online. Yes, knitting has hit the blogosphere and social networking sites, too.

Last week from her Brackett Street loft, Taylor gave her take on a knitting resurgence among her peers.

"It's nice to get back to handmade things, and to feel connected to things in your life," said Taylor, walking over to the section of her bedroom reserved for her knitting. "It keeps us busy. It's something to do with friends rather than just sitting at the bar."

She brought out a bright blue knitted bikini with big white stars on it, held up a pair of shorts, then a striped elf hat - Taylor originals.

She pulled a neck-and-face-warmer combo, which she said keeps her warm on long bike rides, over her head.

"I make weird things," she admitted playfully.

In her knitting nook, among the sweaters, socks and baskets of multicolored yarn was something else she said her grandmother never used, yet there was nothing progressive about it.

In her bedroom, under the window, was her very own old-fashioned spinning wheel.

"I like starting from what other people consider trash," she said.

Until recently, Taylor's hand-spun yarn was sold alongside other novelty yarns tucked in wooden cubbies covering the walls of the KnitWit Yarn Shop and Coffee Bar on Congress Street - a shop that opened four years ago.

She stopped selling her yarn because it wasn't lucrative, though neither is knitting for a career, she said.

"Now that knitting is so popular the yarn shops are more fun," Taylor said.

They're also more expensive than they used to be. But the vibrant reds, deep charcoals, and trendy turquoises and pinks are calling Taylor's name.

The color combinations are as endless as the textures - lace, silk, cotton and cashmere, to name a few.

Beside them in KnitWit are racks holding hot reads like Vogue Knitting, Knit Simple and Knitscene, and popular hardcovers like "Debbie Stollers Stitch 'n' Bitch," which hit shelves in 2003 with the onset of the knitting craze. (Since the publication, a movement of "Stitch'n'Bitch" groups, where all ages convene to knit, have developed around the country).

According to the industry group Craft Yarn Council of America, the number of women knitters between ages 25 and 35 increased 150 percent between 2002 and 2004. By 2005, celebrities like Cameron Diaz and Julia Roberts were being featured on covers of glossy knitting magazines.

Knitting had gone from fad to trend.

"To some extent, knitting is cyclical. But it's also part of a do-it-yourself trend," said Anna Poe, owner of KnitWit. "More young people are making their own things."

Now, people of all ages crowd classes held at KnitWit, from basic knitting 101 to how to make cable and bobbles - that's when they're not crowding the Web. The newest addition to the knitting trend is knit blogs, which have surfaced all over the Internet and also offer pattern sharing.

"Knitting blogs are especially popular. The Internet really pushed knitting forward," said Poe. "It's hard for shops to stay ahead of those trends being discussed on blogs because they're always changing."

Possibly, the most popular is a blog by the Yarn Harlot (www.yarnharlot.com), who is also known as Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Pearl-McPhee made a name for herself last year when she challenged nearly 4,000 in the knitting blogosphere to a knitting contest that lasted the duration of the 2006 Olympics in Torino.

Other blogs include Buxton resident Jodie Foster's personal favorite, subwayknitter.com. "The Subway Knitter talks about how she isn't afraid to knit in public (taking every opportunity to knit in public is referred to in the knitting community as Guerrilla Knitting)," said Foster. "I follow about eight or 10 knitting blogs."

Most recently, through a social network site called Meetup.com, Foster launched the South Portland "Knitaholics" group. The first meeting will be held at Panera Bread in South Portland tomorrow at 7 p.m., and then monthly.

"Anyone can come. Just show up," Foster added.

Others can sign up for the knitting group by searching "Knitaholics" on meetup.com or craigslist.com. Of course, other knitters like Taylor also pride themselves on finding knitting groups the traditional way.

"One of the best things about knitting is getting to know the community centered around knitting in Portland," said Taylor.

Taylor has established public knitting spots through word-of-mouth. In the past she frequented such events as the Fiddle and Knit group, once held at the Bramhall Pub on Congress Street. (The event, which was recently discontinued, encouraged knitters to come and listen to traditional old-time music sessions.)

Taylor said she now knits at the Space Gallery, an alternative arts venue on Congress Street, or at Rosie's, a bar on Fore Street.

She said she's shared her interest with public knitting with her friends, who have taken up the habit.

"I'm a teacher by nature, so I've helped a few friends learn how to knit," Taylor said. Among them was her old roommate, a 26-year-old guy who most prominently defied the stereotype of an elderly knitter in her rocking chair.

"He liked to make socks," Taylor smiled. "It was sort of a source of pride for him, being a straight man who knitted."