I grew up believing knitting and crocheting were activities for the old ladies to pass the time at nursing homes, and when I was in third grade, my mom registered me for a crocheting class. As a nine-year-old, I wasn’t too interested or talented in learning to crochet, but I did figure out the basics. When I was fifteen, I randomly decided to pick up a crochet hook and some yarn, and after a couple of YouTube videos, I wasn’t half bad. As I was crocheting, I began to remember the stereotypes I learned when I was a child, and I became embarrassed to admit that I liked to crochet. I share this story because as we begin learning about the world of craftivism, perhaps what I found most interesting was its goal in lessening this stigma surrounding needlework—to make crafting less about gender roles and more about having a positive impact on society. If this stigma continues to dissolve, more and more people will have the opportunity to discover what these readings describe as a “quiet and small-scale form of activism.”
Hi Lauren! Much like you I grew up only believing older women would knit and crochet. My reasoning for believing it was for older women came from my grandmother crocheting nearly every piece of clothing in her closet and blanket in her house. She had A small group of friends who would get together once A week to have lunch, catch up, and crochet at each other's house. Most of the time they would crochet blankets or mittens to take to the homeless shelter or the Ronald McDonald house here in Birmingham to give to the children. I remember her trying to teach me how to crochet but I was never any good at it because it just did not seem exciting to me. Before she passed late last year, I sewed her A pillow which she proudly displayed on her couch and never let anyone touch it. I feel learning to knit will make me feel closer to her in spirit by being able to share the joy of one of her favorite pastimes. Much like her, I would like to make A small difference and share my new found talent with people who are not as fortunate as me as well as promote activism through craft!