May I interest you in some miniature knitting?
The balm we need in these trying times
After this week, of all weeks, allow me to hold out my hands and gently present you with a beautiful reminder of the importance of following your own interests, embracing your unique voice, and fully engaging with the thing you feel most passionate about in the world. Even if—nay, especially if—that thing is knitting miniature sweaters.
Here is an interview with Julie Steiner, who is called to knit miniature sweaters using sewing needles and thread (🤯). “My hands want to make tiny sweaters, that’s all there is to it.” She’s in the midst of a series called “iconic knits in miniature,” making wee versions of pieces like Princess Diana’s black sheep sweater or the Wicked Witch of the East’s striped socks. You simply MUST click through for the pictures.
Every piece of the interview is more delightful than the last, but I’ve been thinking for days about this part on an unexpected fountain of our shared humanity:
I like to hand a sweater to people rather than just talk about them because invariably what people want is to put their fingers inside them, like a puppet. People of all ages, from children on up, everyone wants this. They always want to try to “wear” the sweater on the only body part that will fit. Many ask, “May I?” and I always say “yes” because it thrills me how similar we all are, and makes me marvel at how powerful this response is that these little scraps of knitting provoke in people. People are simply compelled.
SIMPLY COMPELLED. I know I would be!
Steiner also offers a beautiful reflection on the power of making and living with handcrafted objects, whether they are functional or whimsical or something in between:
Living with handcrafts feels like being surrounded by other people’s care and appreciation. And creativity is healthy! Creative minds, by definition, are thriving, so living with handmade craft is reveling in the output of other people’s best selves, their strongest, most healthy, flourishing, creative energy.
I’m not about to argue that knitting miniature sweaters, or the equivalent, is the same as engaging in political resistance. But crafts are not a way to shut out the world. They’re a way to engage more fully with your own unique experience of it. The drive to knit miniature sweaters, and the humanity nurtured and revealed by sharing them, are exactly what they are trying to grind out of you. Don’t let them.