1) Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg was the guy who introduced printing with movable type to Europe in 1439. He is more important to who you are today than your great-to-the-25th-power grandmother who lived at the same time.
She gave you her nose, or at least a hint of it, but HE . . . he opened the door to you and your ancestors sharing information across time and social classes.
STOP. Imagine yourself without the written word (or running water but that’s a different subject).
Without him, unless you are descended from an elite royal/political/religious class, your total skill set would be the ones you learned from your family and neighbors. You would know how to survive physically for a while. That’s about it. (Knitting probably wouldn’t be one of those skills though felting, spinning, and weaving would probably be there.)
2) Google
Google exploded the literacy that Gutenberg birthed. Anyone reading this has, at her or his fingertips, access to more information than a person can absorb in thousands of lifetimes. (Probably closer to a billion lifetimes but I’m being figurative here.)
3) Coins Have Two Sides
I just Googled “YouTube knitting” and in less than half a second I had 24.5 million results. I chose YouTube because, in my latest analysis of survey results, 88.4% of you consult YouTube when you need knitting help.
THE GOOD NEWS IS . . . you can learn practically everything there is to know about knitting for free with an internet connection.
THE BAD NEWS IS . . . you have 24.5+ million options on one source . . . and there are many sources
Let’s say you were crazy-dedicated to mastering knitting on YouTube and you vowed to watch 20 videos per day . . . it would take you only 342.4 years to get through the ones that are there as of this moment. Another thousand hours of knitting programs will be uploaded by tomorrow.
Too much of even a good thing is too much.
4) BREATHE, It’s Simpler Than it Looks
English has over 1,000,000 words. How many of those words do you need to know to satisfy 90 to 95% of everyday conversational needs? About 2500. That’s 1/4 of 1% of the total words.
Knitting is the same. Ma used to say, “If you can knit and purl you can make anything.”
There are other skills, of course, like increasing and decreasing, but she had a gift for simplifying things.
With a limited number of skills and some practice, you can become the greatest knitter in your neighborhood and the most beloved grandmother/auntie/friend who makes sweet gifts. And isn’t that easier that sitting through 125,000 years of YouTube videos?
5) I’m Glad to be Old
I grew up in the 1950s in a household where two languages were spoken, English and Knitting (Cooking too but that’s not relevant here). I don’t remember my mother ever having empty needles.
Ma was the neighborhood knitting expert and she taught anyone who showed up at the door. When they got stuck there was no local yarn shop. They came to our house and Lena fixed it. Always. Every yarn challenge had a solution. It might be ripping it all out (seldom needed) but there was always a solution.
I’m trying to figure out the best way to be like Ma, but in a bigger neighborhood . . . like the world. I realize that’s kind of a silly idea but it’s my guiding light for now.
Thank you Cheryl for the history and personal reflections. It gave me a moment to think about my childhood. I realized I didn’t learn any practical things from my Mother and Grandmother. I did learn how to have fun with games, creating crafts (not knitting) and enjoying travel.
Thank you Laurie. I think learning how to have fun and games an enjoying traveling are a wonderful gift that they gave you.
Cheryl. I love your insights and your gift of giving. Just yesterday I was wondering when we would receive your next email.
I love your ease of showing us ways to make our knitting easier, by knitting needles or by machine. Thank you. Mary Ann
You are so welcome Mary Ann and thank you for this kind comment.
There is a statue in Bethesda, MD
called ‘Madonna of the Trails’. It shows a pioneer woman, cradling a child, and another clinging to her long skirt.
It is the perfect representation of all the great and hardworking women
in our lives. Very moving!
It also makes one wish that all the truly great women of our lives could be with us forever.
I know how you must feel, wishing that the great ladies in your life could have seen what a phenomenal teacher and success you became.
I haven’t seen it. I want to one day. I have a cousin who lives there and I might just have to visit her.
I love that we have words..knitting..color..God..not in that order..but really would we need food? It is a lovely extra..I did not have any relatives who knit..or canned or did much else…I thirst for all of it! I love your videos..you helped me do a Tubular Cast On in Rib! Thank You..Thank You!
You are so welcome Val and thank you for your kind comment.
Cheryl, I love your thoughtful writing and share your perspective on the subjects you mention.
However, and although I have always been a bookworm, I treasure more what I learned from my mother and my grandmother than most things the printed word afforded me to discover.
The things these women could do! And so perfectly!
I guess you could say, I also am glad to be old…
Thank you Maya. And I agree about learning things from our mothers and grandmothers. I’m often surprised that knitting is what I’ve chosen to do as a business. I wish they had lived long enough to see it.
Loved your post. You were lucky to have a grandma like Lena. I never had one on either side, so I make a special effort with my grandchildren.
With everything the saying ‘Keep it simple,stupid’ applies. Simplicity helps to keep our lives uncluttered.
Thanks and have a good weekend.
Mandy (from down under)
Thank you Mandy, for reading and commenting. The Lena I refer to here was my mother. Her mother, also Lena (Magdalena) taught me to crochet and weed. They were so skilled. I was lucky.
Cheryl, I love reading your posts. You’re such a breath of fresh air. I enjoyed your book “Sweaters 101” and your YouTube videos that went along with making a sweater. My sweaters turned out so well, thanks to you!
Thank you Jackie, for this sweet comment. And I’m delighted that your sweaters turned out well.
Sadly this man went without reward for producing the machine that changed history. I have heard he printed a Bible that would be worth mega money now for just one page. I don’t have any pages from that Bible but the one I have is worth a fortune to my own soul. I am so happy I can knit and pray, or knit and listen to a sermon on line. What a world we live in. Everything at our finger tips.
Yes, the Gutenberg Bible is a very famous book. I’m delighted to have the world at my fingertips as well, and sometimes overwhelmed by it.