Maybe your idea of a good time is sitting around all night scratching your belly, eating Snickers bars and watching prime-time television.
Why not do the same things, minus the belly scratching, while knitting mittens, a scarf or a roomy hobo bag?
Some may wearily mutter, “Oh no. Not the belly scratching. I love scratching my belly.” Well tough cookies, lazy bum.
Making things of substance is exactly what our marvelous mechanical hands are for. And boy oh boy do hand-knitted objects have substance.
After long periods of ho-hum restlessness and mindless inactivity among the young adult set, highly revered pastimes such as knitting have been making a strong comeback amongst those of college age.
Surprisingly enough, knitting and college have gone hand in hand for decades.
In all of its stressful beauty, a place such as college is the perfect atmosphere to use the art of knitting to deal with frustrations such as homesickness, term papers and exams.
Campus knitting has been around since the late 1800s. According to Kate Solokoff of Interweave Knits magazine, the 1930s brought a knitting craze to campuses that was perhaps fueled by the depression and the need to economize by making things for oneself.
The 1940s saw college campuses brimming with women knitting in order to contribute to the war effort, and knitting activity continued to remain popular through upcoming decades though its popularity greatly diminished in the 1980s as women were more focused on building careers.
In the 1990s a knitting craze began once again and continued to grow on into the 21st century.
In case you’ve been living under a rock you might not have heard about what is happening on college campuses across the states.
If you haven’t heard, have we got news for you. Knitting isn’t just for grannies in rocking chairs anymore. No way Daddy-O. It’s cool and hip and a whole lot more fun than watching TRL or playing with your awfully whiny cell phone.
According to a 2000 survey by the Craft Yarn Council of America, young people account for the greatest increase in new knitters.
Across the vast United States and in other distant lands, young women and men (yes, men) are getting goosebumps thinking about double-worsted wool and vintage celluloid needles.
There are knitting circles on college campuses and new ones starting every day. From Mount Holyoke to UC Santa Cruz, from Reed College to Bowdoin, and from Harvard to Yale, knitting clubs are venerable institutions, some boasting as many as 70 members. Many have sold their souls to the gods of knitting, and it’s perfectly fine and dandy with them.
Even if you may be one that cringes at the thought of crafts, knitting may still work its way into your little heart.
Once you get the hang of completing the stitches, it’s all repetition thereafter, and soon you have for yourself something tangible, durable and structured — something you made with your own two hands.
“Knitting is something that I find enjoyable,” said Lauren Rasnake a third-year speech major who has been knitting since she was 10 years old. “It’s relaxing and is a good way to wind down. For me it is also a stress reliever.”
Whether they find it a solitary or communal activity, many ETSU students use knitting to let go of their tensions that tend to accumulate throughout a semester.
“Maybe it’s the repetitive motion of knitting that makes it so relaxing,” said Monica Kenny, a senior majoring in digital media who is currently working on two scarf projects.
Many college knitters have noticed knits becoming very in vogue and have seen chunky scarves and matching sweaters being marketed to them, all the while confident that they can make those same items themselves.
“It’s great to see something at a store and know that you can make it,” said Rasnake, who has taught many of her own friends to knit.
Knitting has hit the hipper- than-thou 20-something college set abruptly and is spreading faster than “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.”
Books like Knitting Pretty, geared toward this group of youngsters, can be purchased, along with classic reads such as Get Stoned and Read this Book and Everything Tastes Better with Bacon.
Other great reads like The Urban Knitter by Lily M. Chin profile the “most inventive, diverse and inspiring young knitters in the country who are giving the craft a fresh look.”
As for starting a knitting club on ETSU’s campus, the interest is there amongst those that already have a passion for the pastime.
Who knows what is ahead for the prospects of an ETSU knitters guild and Rasnake herself who said she would soon be teaching a knitting class through the ETSU craft shop.
She has set her sights on other upcoming knitting projects as well.
“I just finished a comforter for a double bed, and I have made scarves, hats and gloves in the past.
“What I’m really working on is completing a sweater,” she said, sounding anxious and excited about undertaking her next project.

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