Knitting Makes a Comeback on Campus

Here's a little yarn about knitting. A young girl once learned it at her mother's knee, but these days she's more likely to pick up the art from a roommate or classmate, for knitting's making a comeback on campuses across the country, including MHC.

Karen Hatch '97 learned two years ago from Laura Fitts '97, and was soon turning out scarves, afghans, sweaters, socks, mittens, and hats. "I get teased about being grandmotherly all the time, but often people look a little closer and then they want to learn," Hatch says. "It's spreading like wildfire." She mostly knits in front of the TV after dinner, and occasionally knits in class. "John Grayson allows me to knit in his course, because he says it harks back to an early MHC time when he believes students were encouraged to bring needlework to class." According to Hatch, it was apparently thought that keeping students' hands busy freed their minds to learn.

Anna Ross '97 is known as one of the most experienced knitters on campus. "It's funny, because people think I know all about it and I'm asked to teach others, but I'm the youngest and least-experienced one in my knitting class at Northampton Wools. When I learned as a sophomore, no one was knitting but me. Now a lot of people in my dorm do it." So far she's made a sweater for herself and hats, scarves, and mittens for friends.

<<< Experienced knitters demonstrate the craft to newcomers during a recent workshop in Mead Hall.

In addition to being practical, some students find knitting therapeutic. "Knitting takes off during exam time," Hatch says, "because it takes your mind away. And because it's easy to do well, it's a confidence booster, too." Ross says people shouldn't look down on knitting just because it's something women traditionally did. "It's important to keep the tradition going," she says.

There's certainly a tradition of knitting here on campus, as alums told archives librarian Patricia Albright recently. Sue Fliss '82 and Kathleen Norton '83 recall that knitting was strictly forbidden in their classes. Reggie Ludwig '37 remembers one of her professors saying that knitting in class was okay as long as they didn't drop the needles. Sandy Ward '65 says she liked to knit in a biology course because it kept her from taking too many notes. (If she needed to put down her needles, then she knew the note was important.) Ward also remembers the "horrid clatter" that dropped needles made in Hooker Auditorium. It seems that knitting loudly has always been a surefire way to provoke a professor's scowl and ... um ... knitted brows.