stop insulting the grannies
A short essay at rosie blogs begins…
I don’t know about you, but we’re sick of people claiming that what they do is “not your grandmother’s knitting,” as if there was something wrong with our grandmother’s knitting. …
I remember something that Regina said last year, along similar lines, about grannies crochet…
Does the currant hipster craftster really believe that all the myriad (and I mean myriad) scarves and hats and bags and sweaters and shawls and softies and blankets and pillows and handspun yarns and jewelry and scrapbooks and handmade soaps and candles and embroidered tea towels are new inventions? Does the current connoisseur of the Life Craftique really believe that he or she is the first being to ever recycle, reclaim, rework, rebirth, reconstitute, reassemble, revamp, remodel, retool, retrain, reinvent old objects and materials into fabulous craftier versions of their former selves?
Guess what? I’ll bet you significant cold hard cash that before many members of this crafty elite were old enough to hold a pair of scissors in their hands and fashion super cute A-line skirts out of funky, retro print fabrics, bust out their sergers and sew said future additions to their wardrobes together, that their respective Grannies or Great Grannies had already made enough of these to fill the equivalent square footage of the Roman Coliseum light years before their craftolutionary grandchildren were even a twinkle in their individual fathers’ eyes.
February 16th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
FINALLY.
February 16th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Hear, hear, but… I love the younger members of my SnB and reading the “discoveries” online about things I’ve been doing for years. The best of them challenge my assumptions, expand my horizons and renew my enthusiasm.
February 16th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Old people rule, they are our link to the past as we all will become to future generations.
February 16th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
I love the creavitity on display everywhere now, but you’re right: it’s not new. The things I see now are what we did at home to make a dollar stretch, keep little hands out of trouble, and satisfy that creative itch. I will say that the recent popularity of crafts have made it much easier to find nicer materials to use, and since the young people are more interested in crafts they know what does into the handmade and are much more enthusiastic recipients of my handmade gifts.
February 16th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Hear hear! my granny taught me everything I know and although the styles may have changed the principle hasn’t. And the fact that our new awareness of recycling and handmaking things for our families makes me more appreciative of what my grandmother had to do to provide for hers. She didn’t have the choices we do, she was being frugal and creative because she wanted her family to have nice things that she couldn’t afford to buy. Today we take far too much for granted, even crafting seems to be more of a lifestyle choice but that is a good thing if we honour our grandmothers and pass down their skills to our own children. And save the planet along the way. Incidentally I have most of my Gran’s old patterns and with a bit of tweaking a lot of them are actually very trendy!
February 16th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Part of the reason crafting appeals so is because of the connection to the past. From our grandmothers and great grandmothers using their ingenuity to over come the depression then war rationing, to the embroidery of 16th century nobility, crafting is part of our history as women. It’s sad that many crafters feel no connection to those who have come before, and it’s even sadder that certain crafts are worthy while others are scoffed at.
February 16th, 2007 at 8:08 pm
yay for this post! that “not your grannie’s…” has just become so cliche — kind of like knitting is the new yoga…uh huh…
February 16th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Eloquent, brilliant, and right on. (As you can tell from the last phrase, I’m a bit granny vintage myself.
February 16th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Ya, imagine eh? A whole *new* craft discovered by the young ‘uns of today! Ya, sure whatever…and thanks for your post saying it too! If it weren’t for my mother, my grandmother, my great grandmother and my aunts, I’d have never started knitting or crocheting! Bless all the women of years gone by who brought the craft forward into the next era. It’s women of generations gone by that kept the momentum of this craft moving forward to today.
February 16th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
Just what I have been thinking, but Regina said it more eloquently. We owe alot to those who figured out the craft of sticks and strings before us without feeling superior to them. Perfecting their craft, and utility were surely their priorities. We don’t have to knit helmet liners, sew sanitary napkins, create a dowry, or clothe our families. However, your granny’s knitting, crocheting, sewing, probably was not like her granny’s either.
Perhaps those of us on the sliding down side of the middle-aged hump get it more because we are the grannies now and sometimes trying to replicate exactly what granny did feels good.
We all get our satisfaction and pride in different ways. Some like their craft fast, funky, and temporary. Others enjoy the methodical, precise process that might incorporate just a twist to the project that makes it their own. Some people are thrilled to figure out a set of complex directions and follow them to a T. And many of want to have it all.
For those of us who grew up in a coloring book world, the height of creativity may be executing the plan of someone we consider much more clever than ourselves. That would be you, Whip-up contributors. Thanks for bringing the world of craft into my world.
February 16th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Amen to that! It always cracka me up when I see something labeled “not your grandma’s ________” because my aesthetic is pretty traditional so I’m not really into a lot of the super trendy looks but my grandmother looks at them and loves them! If they only knew….
February 16th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
AMEN!
February 16th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
i remember my granny telling me how she sewed all of her (and her siblings’) clothes out of reused flour sacks. then again, my grandpa also built their little house out of masonite scavenged from a local plant.
they had to be shrewd and crafty.
February 16th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
EXACTLY… Well said!
February 16th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
I have been thinking this too for a very long, long time, looks even “more” like my grandmother’s stuff than ever with “vintage fabrics” vintage patterns, etc, yo yo’s!! Granny Squares! Ponchos!!
February 17th, 2007 at 12:21 am
In this era of craftiness and everything being “for its own sake” -iness, we all need to remember that those who came before literally blazed the way, as they were inventing and making out of necessities’ sake. We are so fortunate to live in a world in which laundry and cooking and cleaning and making clothing does not take up all of our time. I think we’re lucky about that, but sometimes the self rightousness of all the new creators makes me wonder! Enjoy, whatever quantity and quality one makes, and for whatever reason!
February 17th, 2007 at 12:29 am
Hallelujia! If I could crochet, embroider, sew, and quilt even half as well as my great-great grandmother did, I’d feel pretty studly. The whole “Not-Your-Granny’s” marketing tagline is definitely aimed at a specific generation of crafters, but in reality . . . it’s all our grannys’ stuff. And that’s a wonderful thing.
February 17th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Hear, hear! Saying “not your granny’s” isn’t just insulting, it’s not accurate! I wouldn’t know how to do half the stuff I do without the help of the older generations!
Yes, aesthetics change, but that’s to be expected. Look at fashion.
February 17th, 2007 at 1:08 am
Well said! But I think this leads sort of sideways into an issue I’ve often had with television craft shows. Not the newer, “hipper” ones on channels like HGTV or DIY. But I’ve seen some on other channels that focus on sewing, or knitting/crochet.
They’re usually hosted by older women, and with every other breath they’re telling us that this project or that project will be “perfect to make for the grandkids” or “so cute for the grandbabies”!
What if these are the only shows available to the young, aspiring crafter? Not everyone has cable, not everyone has easy access to the Internet. How does this sort of talk encourage them when they’re constantly being told that the crafts being demonstrated are “perfect for grandkids”? I’m sure it gives the impression that there’s nothing for a young person here!
And that, I think, is what the books that advertise “not your granny’s knitting/sewing/crochet” are battling against.
I’m not saying that I personally like the impression that granny’s traditions, the crafty ways of generations, should be ignored and even shunned. But it’s worth remembering that the “it’s not your granny’s” probably comes as a reaction to an equally reprehensible attitude.
February 17th, 2007 at 1:46 am
I just reread my words and well, hell, I’m glad they ring true for others as well. Never a dull subject imho.
February 17th, 2007 at 1:51 am
A hearty “AMEN” from me too! My Mom and Granny taught me to knit and crochet. If it weren’t for them I wouldn’t know what I know. My taste may differ from theirs but my skill set is based on theirs. As theirs was based on their mothers and grandmothers before them. I recently found out that my other Granny not only knit (she had terrible arthritis by the time I was around) but she spun all of the wool she needed to put socks and sweaters (and probably longjohns) on her family of 7 children on the prairies in the 30s and 40s. I WISH my knitting/spinning could match that of my Granny!
February 17th, 2007 at 1:55 am
Yes! Not only is it a cliché that’s dismissive of previous generations’ work, but what bothers me most is this mindset’s effect on the current market. It’s great to see more people getting into crafting - but almost every craft book and magazine and supply coming out nowadays is targeted at a young, beginner-level audience. More power to you if that’s where you are. But those of us who aren’t just “discovering” crafts (who maybe even learned from our grannies firsthand) still have to do a lot of searching among the funky, trendy, quick-and-easy projects to find something suitable for ourselves. This is starting to change with time - I just hope it happens quickly.
February 17th, 2007 at 2:01 am
My grandma was cool but someone’s grandma made all those useless doilies and polyester doubleknit quilts (mmm scratchalicious!) that are clogging the nations thrift stores.
However, I see some pretty terrible, useless crafts out there that will be cloging the nation’s thrift stores quite shortly. (every third item in the thrift stores will be a totebag or a refashioned t-shirt.)
February 17th, 2007 at 2:38 am
Some grannies are making fabulous things to this day. Check out the coat Lisa’s granny knit for her on her blog right here: http://www.monkeybrains.net/~dietrich/musings/2007/02/step-eight-shower-me-with-knitting.html#links
GORGEOUS!
February 17th, 2007 at 3:13 am
FINALLY! Not only my grandmothers but great-grandmothers sewed, crocheted, knitted - and did so out of necessity. Instead of smugly picking on them, perhaps we can thank them for doing all they did!
Besides, the vintage patterns in my collection are fabulous - many more so than the modern ones. Many of those patterns were sewn at least once, meaning these women had as much style as the chicest crafters out there.
February 17th, 2007 at 3:43 am
THANK YOU!!!
I loved my grandma, AND the crafts she made. I hate te horribly overused “Not Your Granny’s…” cliche with a passion. Ugh!
February 17th, 2007 at 3:47 am
Bah! not to sound mean or anything, but I’m tired of everyone being so ‘knitpicky’ about corny little mean-nothing phrases.
I think it is just a phrase that came about to try and rid the stereotype that you have to be old to knit. Time and time again, I hear from non-crafters that knitting is something only old ladies should do.
We should stop trying to fight with ourselves about whether or not we like a phrase, and concentrate on the crafting instead.
February 17th, 2007 at 4:01 am
It’s worth wondering why these books feel a need to make such a strong “it’s not your granny’s (whatever)” statement.
Not all that long ago, the only crafting shows on television were mostly hosted by older women, who seemed to rave every minute or so about how this project was “perfect to make for the grandbabies” or that craft was “great to do with the grandkids when they come over”.
I would watch these programs because they were the only place that I could find crafting on television. But I winced every time they said something like this, because it made me feel like they assumed someone in my age group couldn’t possibly be interested in what they did, and even if I was, I wasn’t welcome.
So maybe the venues that are going on so loud and long about “it’s not your granny’s sewing/knitting/crochet” are reacting against these sorts of shows where crafting was shown as mainly something grandmothers did, and we young’uns weren’t welcome.
February 17th, 2007 at 4:54 am
I proudly display my grandma’s handknits and am so thankful that she taught me her craft. Today, my 2 year old is wearing a sweater my grandma knit ME and she got a compliment on it at big brother’s school. My grandma is has graceful, timeless taste. :-)
I’m inclined to think that most crafters appreciate the generations before, and that it is the marketing departments of booksellers and supply companies that want to make it appear new/trendy/different/modern/ “not your grandma’s”. I must say, whatever gets us creating is a good thing and if the phrase “not your grandma’s” motivates a few, then let them use it!
February 17th, 2007 at 5:10 am
Great post and great responses. My children’s grandmothers both have wonderful taste and have showered us with beautiful things, both handmade and storebought.
I would love to see this craft trend bringing together the generations rather than being one more thing that seems geared to separate them.
February 17th, 2007 at 5:11 am
I have tried twice already to comment here. This is my third attempt.
While it’s a valid point that all the “it’s not your granny’s knitting/sewing/crocheting/whatever” statements are an insult to the grand tradition of craft, I think it’s actually a reaction to an equally reprehensible attitude that I’ve seen in craft programs in years past.
Before the great proliferation of shows we see on television today, the only craft shows that existed were hosted by older women, who peppered their demonstrations with frequent exclamations about how this project would be “perfect to make for the grandbabies”, or that one would be “great to do with the grandchildren.”
Not the best way to encourage younger, hopeful crafters that they are even welcome to the tradition. I remember wincing every time they said something like that on one of these shows, but I kept watching because they were the only craft shows available at the time.
So remember - for every action, there’s an equal but opposite reaction. The offensive statements about granny’s crafting haven’t sprung out of a vacuum.
February 17th, 2007 at 5:33 am
HEAR HEAR - all the women in my family, particularly the older generation are/were massively creative and could whip up amazing things out of nothing.
Once i stopped at my Gran’s on my way to school and she realised that I didn’t bring any mittens and had COLD hands. I was ordered to pop in on my way home, by when she had knitten a pair of thick woollen mittens for me. I’m so grateful to have inherited both the creative gene and the desire to make something out of nothing.
Thanks for a great blog.
February 17th, 2007 at 9:30 am
jen - just a note on moderation - some comments are held in moderation for various reasons - if they have a link in them, if the commenter has not commented before.
February 17th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
How right you are! I come from a long line of crafters (any craft anytime is our motto) I remember watching my great-grandmother crochet a bedspread that now lays on my bed. My grandmother taught me to knit, my mom taught me to sew and I am teaching all to my grandaughter. (it seems to have skipped my daughter!) The “new crafters” have just put their spin on an old record!
February 17th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
There is another article along these lines in the back of the Fall 2005 issue of Interweave Knits Crochet. I believe it was called “It Most Certainly IS My Granny’s Crochet”, but I don’t have the magazine in front of me to check for sure. It’s worth reading if you can find a copy!
February 18th, 2007 at 7:58 am
My sentiments exactly.
But people always prefer to think that they’ve reinvented the wheel.
Fools…
February 18th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Well, I don’t know about you, but I learned crafts from my grannie, and she is one helluva lady, so if I am being compared to her, THANK YOU!!!!
She is one helluva lot better at being human then you are if you are insulting her!!!
February 19th, 2007 at 12:17 am
Great to see all the heartfelt comments. Lisa Anne Auerbach said a similar thing in a very inspirational way in Knit Knit a while back, and reposted it on her blog here:
http://stealthissweater.blogspot.com/2007/01/knitting-for-new-millennium.html#links
February 19th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
way to go, crafy jen. i’m with your way of thinking.
plus, no offense to my grandmother, but due to her budget constraints her scarfs, doilies and hats were less than to my personal taste. not to say she was in anyway lacking in skills and she could turn out amazing tableclothes, bedspreads, and afgans… but her color choices for were lacking.
so, when i hear “not your grandmothers”… it isn’t about skill level…
i think that we have A) more choices in types of wools or fabrics, and B) more disposable income which allows us to be able to buy the higher quality products and not just what is available at Woolworths and on sale.
i’m proud of the needlework that i have of hers from crocheted collars to an amazing tablecloth. but that doesn’t mean I want to make them in the same colorways or quality of materials that she did.
February 20th, 2007 at 7:10 am
do crafters even say this? I have never heard/read this phrase on a blog and think it is a tag invented by various marketing/pr groups that don’t even craft or know what the heck we do. really, I have never heard anyone use this phase-and I think this is a lame and overused attempt to get to a “young” demographic to spend money and buy whatever product/book/ is being pushed.
I have to say, as much as I try to ignore it, when I come across that phrase”not your grandmother’s. . .” in anything, an art show/book/article, etc. it’s almost impossible for me to look at it because I am so tired of this stupid angle. there I feel better! :)
February 20th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Fantastic! My mother is one of those “Old Lady Crafters”. She crafts circles around me. Her creativity is un matched by even the coolest crafters I’ve seen and her energy and spirit are indominable. She and her mother before her didn’t “recycle”, they made due. They could put us to shame today. They didn’t re use things to make a potitical statement, they did it to survive and to provide a better life for their children. My mother always quoated to me “Use it up, wear it out, make it due and do without.” This was her answere to all the “can I haves” that I and my many brothers and sisters gave her. Thanks for posting this reminder about the rich crafting heratige we have and for the reminder to honor it.
February 22nd, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Thank you. I am totally thoroughly SICK of reading that “what I do is different because I’m doing it with irony”…
Oh please! What you’re doing has been handed down to you through a LONG line of talented women (and some men). Get a grip and get some gratitude!
February 23rd, 2007 at 10:29 pm
One day while looking through a book on the history of quilts, it occured to me that what many of these women were doing was downright subversive. I mean there were certianly faster ways to make a blanket to cover your bed than the hundreds of hours spent piecing, appliqueing, and quilting some of these masterpieces. On top of that, they might not have recieved much, if any, recognition for the genious and effort of their work. So why did they do it? I think most of us who craft today do it for the same reasons. One difference may be is that we can call it out for what it is. FUN! In past generations if think many women had to veil thier creative desires in necessity.