Once a month on a Friday, I wake up really early and drive into Kuwait City where I meet my knitting group. I normally refuse to commit to anything that requires me to forgo my weekend sleep-ins. But for Kuwait Knitters, I make an exception.
I learned how to knit from the Internet. As a new expat, I suddenly found myself unemployed, isolated and cut off from everything I knew. Knitting and crafting in general was my way of putting back productivity and structure into my life. And I loved it, but it was missing something; community.
On the outside, knitting seems like a solitary activity. And the actual act of creating the stitches is. But it has always been a social activity. In the pre-digital age, you had to be taught how to do it by someone else and it usually took more than one sitting. Before printed patterns became widely available, knowledge came from other people and mostly in person. Knitting brought women together.
Even post-Internet, blogs, boards and forums are a huge source of information. Ravelry, the social media platform for yarn enthusiasts has a very active community in the forums. As human beings, we enjoy social interaction, it is why so many yarn stores all over the world host a knit night on their premises. Think of it as a book club for knitters.
There wasn’t anything like that locally, until last year when a group of women started getting together once a month and formed Kuwait Knitters. The meet-ups are a wonderful place to learn new skills, ask for help, show off WIPS (works in progress) and FOs (finished objects).
But it is also where you can find your tribe—like-minded people with whom you already have something in common with, a love of yarn and making.
The members hail from all over the world and ages range from girls in school to older, wiser and more mature women. Our early Friday morning meetings mean we can take over the café.
After we have all ordered our mochas, lattes and cappuccinos we settle down and start sharing what we have all been working on. It is like show-and-tell for grownups. It is inspiring and heartwarming to watch people proud of what they created with sticks and string.
It is also a place to grow our skills. Sometimes, someone will teach a new technique, share a tip or ask questions. For the many expats in the group, it is also a way to make new friends in our new-found home.
We still use social media to stay in touch for the rest of the month, but meeting in person helps with the loneliness and isolation that many new comers get hit with. So even though my inner-introvert loves knitting because it is something I can do on my own, I am just as excited about the friendships that have become part of the fabric of my life because of it.
If you are interested in joining, follow Kuwait Knitters @kuwaitknitters on Instagram to find out when and where the next meetup will be happening. Photo by Rebecca Grant on Unsplash
