Julia at Knitting History was kind enough to share this link today. It is an article in The Guardian written by Ms. Esther Addley. It speaks of the new trendiness of knitting as witnessed by various celebrity knitters. What I found most objectionable was the following:

“The emergence of knitting as an activity as attractive to men as to women may mark its final transition from a soporific time-killer favoured by elderly ladies to a respectable hobby like any other.

That someone named Esther would stereotype anything as the province of elderly ladies I find surprising. She says knitting is soporific (sleep inducing) and a time waster. Let’s give Ms. Addley the benefit of the doubt and assume that she has never tried knitting and doesn’t know how exciting and creative it can be.

That she then goes on to assert men taking up needles has moved knitting into the ‘respectable hobby’ category is downright insulting (and not just to knitters). Somehow, the presence of cajones makes knitting socially acceptable. The societal Gold Seal of Approval. Thank God for the social insight brought about by Ms. Addley’s keen powers of observation. All along I thought my biggest problem with knitting was my reluctance to swatch – here it has been my lack of scrotum!