The Power of a
Knitting Circle By Mary Grace Guzman
In 2020, yarn companies credited their record sales directly to individuals learning to knit or crochet or reengaging in their childhood hobby. Many folks turned to virtual fiber arts circles, or knitting circles, not only to learn to knit or improve on their skills but also as a means to have a covid-safe social experience. Before the year of coronavirus, I never participated in a knitting circle or knew much about their value or histories. A year ago, Friday, March 20, 2020, I hosted my very first virtual knitting circle (or a “Virtual Stitch-n-Bitch”) for my fiber arts Facebook group of lawyers. California had just entered lockdown and I wanted a way for me to feel social despite being homebound. Until this group, I had friends who knitted, but never did I have a regular group with whom I regularly met solely for the purpose of knitting. I didn’t know what to expect or how to lead this group; my only goal was to meet similarly situated individuals, who were stuck at home hoping to meet other individuals like themselves—folks working in the legal field and interested in the fiber arts. This is how I joined and started my first knitting circle and began to learn about the important history of knitting circles. This group is made up of women,
though men who knit are welcomed. Our group is from both American coasts and middle-America along with one lone Canadian attorney. We are diverse in age, experience, and career trajectories. At first, we primarily talked about our individual projects and how we came to knitting. Interestingly, we all started knitting because of our legal careers. Some of us learned as children, but began to take our knitting seriously when we entered the legal world, because we needed an outlet separate from our education or careers. One of the members told a story of her knitting with friends as they voted for President Barack Obama to become the first Black President of Harvard Law Review. I too can trace my knitting directly to my legal career. I taught myself to poorly knit in law school, but my former managing partner taught me to properly knit when she wasn’t mentoring me as a young associate. As I engaged in my knitting group, I began to become curious about the role of knitting circles or other fiber-art circles to women and other groups. Until my group, I kept my passion for knitting a bit secret because of the negative stereotypes associated with knitting. Knitting or sewing circles are equated with gossip circles where women meet to gossip or vent to complete strangers.
This stereotype focuses on a circle’s members sharing of information but downplays the quality and the importance of communication between its members. Historically, fiber-art circles can be linked to major historical events from newly freed enslaved people to World War II to the more recent “Pussy Hat” worn in the women’s marches. In the 14th Century, knitting guilds were social clubs where male knitters met to improve and develop the art of knitting and to exchange ideas on marketing strategies to sell products to their clientele. Former enslaved people used sewing or knitting circles to help newly-freed Black Americans adjust to lives of freedom. Black women used these circles as a way to share information, share resources, or educate each other in a private setting. In World War II, both American and British governments asked for knitted socks and other knitted items for our soldiers. British women began to knit secret codes by knitting a series of knots into their projects which were then delivered to military officers who used this information to evade German attacks. More recently, men’s knitting circles have gained popularity for both straight and gay male knit-
Continued on page 24
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION CONTRA COSTA LAWYER
23
