A Short History

Knitting and Protests

Fun fact: knitting as a hobby is a relatively recent activity, although traditionally it already comes with some baggage. For the last 100 years it has brought with it images of comfort and home-making, and is seen as a genteel pastime enabling women to feel they’re doing something useful and productive with their spare time.

It has had its moments however: in No Idle Hands, Anne McDonald looks at the important role that knitters and female crafters had to play in the American War of Independence through the creation of garments and home furnishings to help break UK dependence. Back in old Blighty, from the Boer War onwards, women were urged to knit for the men fighting abroad, while the Second World War gave the activity a sense of innovation as yarn was rationed and clothing was unravelled to be recrafted into new items.

As it became cheaper to buy clothing instead of making it, and lack of spare time rendered the hobby a less useful activity for busy women, knitting faded from popularity along with sewing and other textile crafts. In addition to economic practicalities, the image of women sitting at home knitting did not fit in with the modern feminist movement’s challenge to traditional female constructs. Happily, the recent post-technological craft revolution has seen a new wave of makers coming through who want to subvert the conservative image presented by knitting and to take it out of the realms of the passive into a more active arena.

In 2005, a Houston-based group of knitting individuals formed the group Knitta Please. With names inspired by hip-hop stars (LoopDogg, SonOfAStitch, The Knotorious N.I.T.), and their method of “tagging” their work, they conjured a more challenging attitude. They took to the urban streets with their own brand of knitted graffiti, decorating lamp-posts, railings, fire hydrants, and anything else they considered would benefit from a bit of woolly beautification.

This fun, edgy version of knitting took off worldwide, and hundreds of cities and towns saw increasingly ambitious knitted graffiti springing up in the streets. The term “yarn-bombing” was born, lending the craft a more aggressive slant.

Fast-forward a decade and sadly, women once again feel they need to challenge their role in society. As the liberal western world faces a battle with the political right, we are motivated to provide a loud reminder of how hard we have fought to gain some gender equilibrium. The beauty of this method of subversion is that instead of ignoring its feminine roots, it both uses and challenges them at the same time. On the one hand, a woman knitting? Great, she knows her place! On the other, an activist woman using the craft to knit protest slogans? Wait, what’s wrong with this picture?!

The Pussy Hat is the perfect embodiment of just that. It first came to the attention of the media at the beginning of 2017, along with a leaked audio-clip of the recently-inaugurated POTUS Donald Trump discussing women: “When you’re a star they let you do it. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” As a result, the pink Pussy Hat was born – an instant, easy to make visual statement which, when worn en masse, has enormous impact. Dare you to grab this pussy! Keen not to be lumped in with this image of outdated sexism, men joined in the protest and wore their own versions.

This new chapter in the rich histories of both knitting and protest movements sees a perfect blend of activism and grassroots craft – viva protest knits!

I can’t believe we’re still protesting this shit