The Knitting Architect
Purpose of This Book
This book is intended for the sole purpose of advancing the craft of knitting in this country.
Of all the developed countries of the world, America falls last in knitting. There is a very good reason for this. America has had no need to knit until the late 1970's when oil prices became so high and oil so scarce that people had to lower their thermostats considerably. There is nothing more comfortable than a sweater for inside wear, and many Americans became aware of this. Designers became aware of this too and started to produce expensive and interesting hand-made sweaters. This added fuel to the knitting market. More and more hand-made sweaters were being shown in magazines, in fashionable boutiques, on celebrities. This new excitement encouraged many people to try knitting. Hence the problems.
- There were not enough yarn shops.
- here were not enough knowledgeable people at the customer, retail, wholesale, and teaching level.
- There were no schools teaching knitting.
- There were not enough yarns available to meet the sudden demand.
Problem number 4 was solved to a great extent. Today America imports a great deal more yarn than it did five years ago.
Problem number 3 is being valiantly attacked by small knitting stores across the country, teaching their customers as best they can to knit and purl. Other efforts are in the works on the part of certain organizations concerned with the advancement of knitting.
Problem number 1 has also been diminished to some extent since there are many more knitting stores today in America than before.
The only problem that has not been touched is that of making people knowledgeable in this craft. There is more to knitting than just knitting and purling. It would be foolish to imagine that a brick layer could build an apartment house from scratch. You need an architect first to draw plans. This is work requiring knowledge, experience, and precision.
In the other developed countries of the world, knitting has been practiced for so long, has been established so firmly, that the customers at the retail level are the architects. All they need is the yarns and the needles and they will custom design and knit. In America, not only are the customers novices, but in many cases so are the shop owners and/or their employees. So what does one do?
Many store owners rely on patterns and books supplied by yarn companies. The success of this method is limited. This approach was originally intended for the more knowledgeable European knitters who can adapt the patterns on their own to their specific needs.
This is what I hope this little book will do. I hope it helps the retail customers — I hope it helps the store owners or the would be store owners and their employees — I hope it helps the designers and would be designers — I hope it helps all the manufacturers and importers of yarns — I hope it helps establish the wonderful craft of knitting firmly in America. So many big hopes for such a little book. Oh well, you know what they say about small packages!