Sitting on the couch watching "Project Runway" or spending hours online browsing UrbanOutfitters.com might be popular pastimes at Tufts, but what if you could be making your own clothes at the same time? These days, needles and yarn are increasingly resting in the hands of a younger demographic.
The popularity of a craft once reserved for older generations has steadily spread to college students. According to the Craft Yarn Council of America, from 2002 to 2004, there was a 100 percent increase among women aged 18 or under who knit or crochet. Fifty-three million American women, or 36 percent, know how to knit or crochet. Tufts students say the creativity, flexibility, and portability of knitting projects makes it an easy and desirable hobby to learn.
"I personally like knitting because it's very relaxing and you can do it while you're doing something else," junior Dina Rezvani said.
Knitting also gives fashionistas a chance to create the perfect item: "It's nice to be able to make things for yourself and design your own apparel," junior Ellen Van Dusen said.
Van Dusen also found knitting a great leisure activity. "It's relaxing and if you're not doing anything, it's productive," she said. "You feel like you are accomplishing something."
But knitting and other textile-based crafts weren't quite so popular 10 years ago, explained Ex-College lecturer Seddon Wylde, who had planned to teach a class this semester entitled "Textiles and Culture: Weaving Heritage," which was cancelled due to low enrollment.
"It comes and goes in waves," Wylde said. "There was a wonderful renaissance in the 60s. Weaving was in its height in America; everyone wanted to weave. Twenty years before that, everyone knit. We would knit in line in my school cafeteria. It's not as much like that now, but I do think it's coming back."
Celebrities have been jumping on the knitting bandwagon as well. Celebrity knitters include Julia Roberts, Madonna, Kate Moss, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Winona Ryder, among others, according to crafts Web site Worldknit.com.
Roommates Rezvani and Van Dusen are part of the comeback: they formed a knitting club during their first year at Tufts.
"Ellen came into college and was big into knitting," Rezvani said. "She got me into it and we were knitting a lot, so we decided to start the club."
The club, which Van Dusen modeled after her knitting club in high school, has seen a steady flow of members since the its inception.
"A lot of freshmen are always interested," Van Dusen said. "At the first meeting we have about 70 members, and then around 15 returning members."
Members in the club have varying levels of experience, ranging from Van Dusen, who learned to knit as a sophomore in high school, to total novices.
"It's basically a knitting circle. A lot of people that come don't know how to knit, so we teach them," Van Dusen said. "We provide yarn and needles, so anyone who wants to come should come."
Knitting circles and classes are getting more popular across America as well as at Tufts. Davis Square crafts store Spark Crafts offers no less than eight knitting-related events: six classes, one knitting circle and an open studio.
Spark Crafts co-owner Jan Stephenson said that she has "definitely" noticed an upswing in the popularity of knitting. "It's really hot. People are totally into it," Stephenson said. "Our knitting classes are almost always pretty booked, and our yarn sales are really strong too."
Some of those sales are from Tufts students, too: Stephenson said that the store targets women in their 20s and 30s. "I've had conversations with Tufts students who have been here,"she said.
Stephenson agreed that part of knitting's popularity stems from its relaxing and productive nature. She also suggested unique gift-giving as a reason for the trend, saying that Spark Crafts has many customers "coming in to make scarves and mittens and hats and things as gifts."
Junior Becca Solomont decided to pick up knitting when she didn't feel like doing her homework.
"My grandma had taught me when I was 10, and I restarted my freshman year," she said. "I probably knit five or six hours a week, and I am in the knitting group on Facebook."
The "Knitters Unite!" Facebook.com group currently has 46 members, and Solomont said she has noticed an increased interest in knitting at Tufts.
"You see lots of people walking everywhere with their knitting stuff. It's easy to do, which is maybe why it's growing in popularity,"she said.
Sheep's wool makes up much of the yarn on the market, but manmade textiles have whole other stories to tell. "Today, synthetic yarns have taken over our culture," Wylde said. "Exotic man-made fibers make an interesting fabric."
Wylde cited the exhibition "Extreme Textiles" as evidence of cloth that pushes the envelope. The traveling collection features synthetic fibers like Kevlar and other fireproof and bulletproof fabrics, as well as fabrics for cars and bikes, including Lance Armstrong's.
"Knitting has suddenly exploded into the mainstream," Rezvani said. 'You just throw it into your bag and you can knit while you're watching a movie, riding on the T or waiting for an appointment. It's a great hobby," she said.
