I will knit on a boat ⛵️, I will knit with a goat 🐐
I will knit on a train 🚃, I will knit in the rain ☔️
I will knit in a box 📦, I will knit with a fox 🦊
I will knit with a mouse 🐭, I will knit in a house 🏡
I will knit here and there 🧶, I will knit EVERYWHERE 🌎!!
Saturday June 8th was World Wide "Knit in Public" day! A day that knitters look forward to ... stitching in public with their posse. It is a day when a craft that is usually done in living rooms, coffee shops, and craft stores gets to get out in the open. And you'd be surprised who knits these days ... it's not just your grandmother making doilies. People of all ages and genders can be found with needles in hand. In fact, there is a HUGE conversation going on in the knitting world about the prejudice, marginalization, and stereotypes that exist within the knitting community.
I think one of the more vulnerable courageous ways to break the boundaries and shift the conversation is speak out and make yourself known. One person who is doing this and getting some serious attention and press is Louis Boria founder of Brooklyn Boy Knits. He was cast into the spotlight back in 2017 when a photo of him knitting on the subway went viral. He ran with it, putting a new face on knitting, one that was male.
Louis said in one interview he was afraid of being judged for being a male that knits. Ambrose Redmoon once said, "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." Louis admits that moving beyond his fears allowed him to connect with other men in the fiber community and to help others find their place in the knitting community. Louis continues to knit in public and has gone on to host knitting groups, become a knitwear designer, create a fiber arts program for New York City public schools, and offer motivational speaking.
The joys and benefits of knitting do not discriminate and neither should we.
Louis believes in "building a diverse and unified commu-knitty one stitch at a time". To see interviews and learn more about Louis visit his website www.brooklynboyknits.com
If you want to experience the benefit of knitting, meet other like minded folks who knit and also do some yoga with me join me this winter at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health November 29 - December 1, 2019. For more info or to book click here