Younger women are giving knitting a new edge and energy

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - Three years ago, Jennifer Bayliss busted her knee. She then went on a family trip to Yosemite. It didn't seem to her like she was going to have much fun.

She decided to learn to knit. And no, she's not a grandma in her 50s.

Bayliss, now 31, got her mother-in-law to teach her to knit. "Then I taught my mom to knit, and that was sweet," she said. By February 2004, she formed Long Beach, Calif., Stitch 'n Bitch, an e-mail list that now has more than 150 subscribers.

Every Wednesday, 10 to 20 Long Beach SNB members meet at either a coffee shop or Banana Berry, a local yarn store (that's "LYS" in knit-speak).

In the past five years, knitting and crocheting has enjoyed a surge in popularity in North America and the United Kingdom. According to surveys commissioned by the Craft Yarn Council of America, a trade group whose members sell 85 percent of materials in the knitting industry, the number of knitters and crocheters in the 25-34 age category jumped 150 percent from 2002 to 2004, to hit 5.7 million women.

Overall, 36 percent of American women know how to knit or crochet, a 51 percent increase from 10 years ago.

Banished are the acrylic yarns and afghans; this new generation of knitters loves high-quality and textured yarn, one-of-a-kind sweaters, and the occasional novel project like felted knee-high boots, iPod cozies, fingerless gloves, or a skimpy bikini.

"I never thought I'd be a fiber geek," said Renata Fossett, 43, a license administrator at an IT company. "If you asked me five years ago what hobbies I have, I'd say more active things hiking, juggling. But now, I'll say knitting."

SKEIN ZEN

You start with a skein of yarn. Pick up a needle, make a bunch of slipknots. Slip, loop, slip, loop.

It can be incredibly repetitive, and therein, lies the appeal. For fans, the creative process beguiles. You start with a linear piece of yarn, and turn it a three-dimensional sculpture. You create order, you give string use.

"It's really kind of like yoga. When I'm knitting, all of a sudden, my breathing slows down, my worries go away. It's really relaxing," said Bobbie Crouse, a manager at Suzoo's Wool Works and the organizer of Orange County SNB.

The hobby is portable. Woolly yarn satisfies a certain need for tactile enjoyment. And knitters love indulging in their anti-commercialism streaks.

"I hate it when people say, 'Why knit socks when you can by them?' " said 63-year-old Margaret Louise.

"Why do people do anything?" chimed in Gloria Franklin, a chemicals saleswoman. "If you use the excuse, you won't do anything. Why do people grow stuff if you can buy food? Why go fish? At the end of the month, I've got something to show for it instead of just saying, 'I watched TV.' "

THE KNITTING BOOM

OK, so reasons for liking knitting are clear, but why the resurgence now?

For one, there's the Internet. As with fantasy baseball, antiques, niche dating, or conspiracy theories, knitting blossomed when its practitioners realized there were other people just like them.

Bloggers blossomed. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee of yarnharlot.ca, for instance, drew more than 500 responses when she posted an entry on a complicated shawl she finished in October. The Web allows knitters to buy fancy and high-quality yarns they can't find at Michaels or Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts.

Many new yarn stores, like La Petite Knitterie in Ladera Ranch, Calif., market to trend-conscious clients and host lots of classes and yarn clinics. La Petite Knitterie opened in 2004 with polished interiors and an emphasis on natural fibers, including in-house hand-painted, hand-spun merino wools. Yarns go up to $50 per skein for pure cashmere.

"The whole industry has updated itself," said La Petite Knitterie owner Kat Garcia, 39. "I was just at Anthropologie and they have knitting needles on the tables. It's for young people; it can be hip and classy."

There's a wave of hip knitting books, and the most popular is probably "Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook," the sassy 2003 blockbuster by Bust magazine editor Debbie Stoller. Patterns in the first "Stitch" book had punchy names like "ribbed-for-her-pleasure scarf," "punk rock backpack" and "powerful wrist protection."

Stoller has since released two follow-ups and will lead a "Stitch 'n Beach" cruise from Long Beach to Mexico in January 2007.

Most knitters no longer worry about being perceived as old-fashioned. "All those people who looked down on knitting and housework, and housewives were not being feminist at all," Stoller wrote in her first "Stitch" book. "In fact, they were being anti-feminist, since they seemed to think that only those things that men did, or had done, were worthwhile."

GROUP THERAPY

As meditative as the hobby is, many knitters and crocheters love the social aspect of knitting in groups.

Psychologist Melyssa MacQuarrie taught her college-age daughter Rhiannon to knit on chopsticks when her daughter was about 5. But they still like to meet others to share patterns and tips.

When asked if there was a generational gap, the mother shook her head. "I wouldn't say so."

Rhiannon raised her eyebrows. "I don't like your colors. I like blues and greens, and she likes outrageous purples and blues. And sparkly! Me, I like mine to look contemporary."

Different tastes aside, knitters agree that they love the diversity in the clubs.

"I've learned so much from the older knitters. They teach you how to take care of yourself, you know," Bobbie Crouse said. "They say, 'Make sure you do this, make sure you take your calcium.' They say, 'You've got to slow down in life.' "

If your mom nags at you, you get that "death ear," Crouse said. "But when another women says, 'This happened to me,' I feel very cared for."

All types of advice is exchanged, and as with fishing and other hobbies that require patience, sometimes advice for knitting sounds like it could apply to other aspects of life.

"I guess there's an old phrase: 'As you knit, so shall you rip,' " Jennifer Bayliss said. "If you knit something, don't be afraid if you have to rip it out. That's always hard for a knitter. But as one of the knitters said, it's just string. It's not the end of the world."

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(c) 2006, SqueezeOC. Distributed by Mclatchy-Tribune News Service.