We Tried to Tell You
...a podcast full of unsolicited opinions about fiber, life and everything in between - with Marie Greene and Sarah Keller.
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Learn more about Sarah: www.knotanotherhat.com
Learn more about Marie: www.oliveknits.com
We Tried to Tell You
Knitting as We Age
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How has your knitting changed over the years? Do you plan to keep knitting as you age? We sure do! In today's episode, Sarah and Marie discuss plans to keep knitting as the years go by. And they share one CONTROVERSIAL opinion about what they want their friends and family to do with their projects after they're gone.
Learn more about Sarah here: www.knotanotherhat.com
Learn more about Marie here: www.oliveknits.com
Welcome to We Tried to Tell You, a podcast full of unsolicited opinions about life, fiber, and everything in between.
SPEAKER_00I'm Marie Green.
SPEAKER_01And I am Sarah Keller. And today we're gonna talk about what we're gonna knit when we're older.
SPEAKER_00Nice. Nice. I'm gonna be knitting till I die, basically.
SPEAKER_01I hope to be doing the same. I do have um, I do have some fears of like, you know, fingers giving out and things like that, like arthritis or whatever. But I my plan is there to be knitting when I'm when we're old. And so part of the reason I was thinking about this is because I was thinking about, I was scrolling through my own Ravelry and I was looking at sort of the evolution of things I make. I would not have told you before thinking about this that I had changed at all in the last 20 years, but I definitely have. And um that would stand to reason I'm gonna change again in the next 20 years. Right. So I thought, okay, let's talk about like what we see ourselves knitting, maybe like at 60, 70, 80, and some of the other things about knitting as you get older. So um, all right, so to start off with, do you know people in your circle or have you met people who are long haulers who've knit like their entire lives that are still knitting at older ages?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, starting with my grandmother who taught me to knit, she was still knitting into her 90s. She, I think she knit right up till the end.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so, I mean, obviously, she her range of what she was making really shrunk down to like baby booties, but she was still knitting, and I think that's important. Like when on the last trip when I got to see her, we went and bought yarn. So I feel like that's that's amazing. Yeah, in her 90s, she was buying yarn. So I feel like that's really helpful. And what was your question again? Do you know long haulers? I know long haulers, yes. I know lots of long haulers. I feel like in my business, I have met so many people not necessarily everybody started knitting when they were young, but people who once they pick it up become completely addicted and then plan to keep knitting for the rest of their lives. But I have met quite a few people who've been knitting forever. I think of Nancy Taylor, who has been one of my tried and true test knitters and community moderators for years, since before my business was even a business. And she learned to knit from her father, which is so fun and just different.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00And she's been knitting probably every day since she was a child, and I can't imagine her ever stopping. So yeah. What about you? Do you know what's too?
SPEAKER_01We have a good collection of customers. It's so crazy because being having been in business for 20 years now, there are some of my like core regulars that it's hard for me to realize they've also aged 20 years because I just think of them as how I, you know, kind of first met them. But that is, I've got lots of people in their late 70s, even early 80s who are still regulars. They've been knitting, they're going strong. And so I I feel like that's something that's being modeled for me. Um, and I'm you know, I'm sure being exposed to it here in in being in the industry helps that I can imagine it. And my grandmother also knit up until arthritis kind of stopped her. So um it's not who taught me to knit, but it is who passed on this Christmas stocking legacy. So yeah. Yeah, I think having having examples makes it easier to think like, oh, this is a lifelong thing. This isn't something like you quote retire from.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean, I just can't imagine getting sick of it. Can you?
SPEAKER_01No.
SPEAKER_00I just can't imagine a scenario where I'm gonna be like not packing knitting when I go on a trip or not having emergency knitting with me. Like, I just it's sort of my security blanket, you know. When I I this is ridiculous to be thinking about, but I kind of have like this pre preparedness mindset, right?
SPEAKER_01Um, really?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know. What? And so I'm always like, if I have to run to the hospital with someone, I need to make sure I have a quick bag because I can't, you know, or if I get put in the hospital for something to make sure I have knitting because heaven forbid I am trapped in, you know, a hospital room and I can't knit for an extended period of time. Yeah, I just I can't imagine a life without knitting. I that would just be really sad for me.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I agree. I agree. Um, okay, so one of the things I noticed when I was thinking about this topic is how my knitting habits have changed in the last 20 years. And um, so I used to knit a lot more small stuff. Um, socks, hats, lots and lots of those things. And I'm not really doing that anymore. And I don't think I consciously realized that I'm not doing it uh until I was like actively looking to see if there were differences. And so now um at this stage of my life, in my middle age, I knit predominantly sweaters. And I design smaller accessories, and that's when I make those, but that is not my mainstay knitting. Do you think that you've had changes over the years from when you were say in your 20s, 30s, even early 40s to now?
SPEAKER_00I would say, so when I was younger, I because I learned to knit as a child. So I learned on Barbie clothes and baby booties, even though I didn't know any babies at the time. But that's what my grandma taught me to make. And then in my 20s and 30s, I made a lot of small things, like I made a lot of baby sweaters and toddler sweaters for my boys, and I knit socks and hats. And that was partly a time constraint. I didn't even, I'd never even been to a yarn store at that point, so I'd have never seen like this the you know craft store yarn. And I was not a sweater knitter at that point, and it was in my 30s that I became a sweater knitter. And I still like I'm just a sweater knitter in my heart. I just that's what I love. And I I think that gosh, I don't know that I'm changing that much at this point. I think that my taste in yarn, um, my taste in color and my taste in type of projects is starting to be pretty consistent with who like over the last 10 years, I feel like it's been pretty steady.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm not saying I wouldn't necessarily change again. I mean, I think I could evolve, but I think this is my season for being a sweater knitter.
SPEAKER_01Yes, I I I can agree with that too. And I think that my sense of um self as a knitter has kind of settled a little bit, like where there was a lot more exploration um in my 30s about with color and texture and new techniques. And so I would see some wild things and I would be like, I have to make that. But they weren't, they didn't end up being things I wanted to wear. Um, yeah, I mean sweaters that I wanted to wear. And so my sense of of my own taste and preferences, I think, has settled in a little bit now in my mid to late 40s, and and I see that continuing. I, you know, I'm I'm more drawn to the classic things that I know I'm gonna be able to wear for years and less to the flashy new novel type of stuff. So yeah, I mean, that probably will just continue. So, okay. Do you have any bucket list projects you'd like to have executed before you depart this plane?
SPEAKER_00I do. One of them is that Bohous. Some more Kim Pellisier is laughing. Yes, yes. Um, I yeah, I it's the thing is too, I'm gonna have to knit that soon because it's in black yarn on double eye needles. And okay, wait.
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_01Have you made any stitches since we both realized we had this nearly identical progress on the same sweaters and we pulled them out? Have you done any of it?
SPEAKER_00I did I I knit one round. Oh, you win. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. I've I put it right back in the bag and hung it on the wall. I keep looking at it. I keep pulling it out and going, gosh, Marie, wouldn't it be so nice to wear this? Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't you like to wear this sweater? Yeah, I really would. And also, I'm now when I started it, like just for a frame of aging reference, when I started that thing, I didn't need readers yet. And now I can't see it at all without things. So I better get on it because I readers may not be enough after a while.
SPEAKER_01So oh my gosh. You know, this is such a tangent, but I just recently saw a product called craft readers. Okay. And they are meant for doing like up close like needlework and things like that. And they were like three and four um readers, level readers. Uh, sorry, and I immediately need those. I'd like those.
SPEAKER_00I might need those for real.
SPEAKER_01Um, that is hilarious. I have the same project on my bucket list, and now you're a row ahead of me. People who who weren't listening closer to the beginning, Maria and I found out we both have a Bohoo sweater. We briefly thought we might have had the same sweater, but it's not the exact same sweater, but we are nearly on the exact same row, which is to say like row three.
SPEAKER_00It's really early in the process. It's pretty sad.
SPEAKER_01Um, and it has been a whip for a decade at least. Decades. So um, that is definitely on my list. Anything else for you?
SPEAKER_00Um, you know, I have so this is a horrible thing to admit. If you're a customer of mine, just close your ears real quick. So I have this sweater called Fia that um I designed a few years back. I got myself one of them. Yeah. I never finished the sleeves on mine. So that's one of my bucket list items. I'd really like to wear that damn thing. It is so cozy and so warm and perfect, and it's got pockets and it's like but it doesn't have sleeves. It has one sleeve.
SPEAKER_01I believe you're using the wrong tense of verbs. It would be so cozy and it would be so warm. Um, yeah. That is insane. I almost want you to just send it to me so I can finish it for you because you will love wearing it.
SPEAKER_00I will love it. I mean, if you if you want to finish it, I will send it to you because that thing, it hangs in my closet and haunts me. Do it. Send it to me. Every time. Okay. Every time I open it. I'm not kidding.
SPEAKER_01I'm not kidding. I'll bust that sleeve out. I know that. I love my Fiat. It's like a jacket. Like it is comfiest and the pockets are just perfect. I cannot believe it.
SPEAKER_00I can't believe it. I know. It's it's such a waste of good knitting because I have gone through several winters now without it. Like today, it is dreary, it's rainy, it's there's a chill. I feel like, oh, if only I had a cozy cardigan. I'm a knitter. Why don't I own any cozy cardigans? Well, I know why, because I don't finish the sleeves. I'm with them.
SPEAKER_01Either send it to me or the solution is to lose one of your arms. I you decide.
SPEAKER_00I decided. Because then it's the perfect sweater. It's heading your way.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00What about you? Another bucket list.
SPEAKER_01I have another bucket list. I have another bucket list item that I started um I think probably six years ago. I think it might have been during COVID. And it's a stranded colorwork Christmas Afghan. Um, very classic motifs, and the colors are just very classic. Also, it's not like super bright green and red. It's kind of a subtle. It was um, oh, it's a British wool company that I'm blanking on the name of. Anyway, it's gonna be gorgeous one day.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I've done the bottom and it's done um in the round, and you steak it. So um then what I've always envisioned is that after I've steaked it, I'll put a fabric lining on the back side to cover um the color work on the back side. And I've got great visions for how beautiful it'll be on the back of my couch at Christmas time. But um it is, I I got past the bottom edging, and I think I'm a few rows into the first stranded motif, and that's where it has sat since I started it.
SPEAKER_00Um, so by the time you're like 190, it's gonna be gorgeous.
SPEAKER_01Right? Well, you know, nowadays I might live that long if I just start some longevity treatments.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I gotta take that, take that uh quercetin, do some ginkgo baloba, whatever the vitamin, something. All the things. All the things. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I would say those are both bucket list things for me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I I you know, there are projects like I always imagine knitting an Afghan. I started one for my little baby nephew and then realized, oh, knitting a blanket takes a long time. So I guess I'm not doing that. Um I just went through my closet that has that project and I was like, should I just pull this out? Should I just accept that this is not happening? So there are projects that are definitely pie in the sky, but definitely not gonna make it, but fun to dream. And then there are the ones that I think, especially the ones I've started that I've already invested, I've gotten started, I just need to get my mojo back in there and get it going. And you know, maybe I don't know. I I always think like, why am I not working on this stuff? I want to finish it. I think it's because sometimes I get distracted sometimes slash every day of my life by the shiny next thing. So and I am the queen of emergency Friday night cast ons. Like I will all of a sudden be like, oh my gosh, I need it. Like this is last night. Last night was Thursday night.
SPEAKER_01And I I was gonna say that's me too, except Thursdays. So continue, yes.
SPEAKER_00It was a Thursday night cast on. And I literally took uh, and then this is what we're gonna talk about in our next episode. So I took some of my desert island yarn, which I won't mention in this episode, but uh and started a new cardigan. So I was like, you know, I really need a cardigan to wear with this one outfit. So I desperately need it. You know what I could be doing is knitting that sleeve on FIA, but no, I'm casting on a new one. Ooh, did you cast on something last night too?
SPEAKER_01I I came home with two new sweater projects yesterday. And I I I counted and I have something like 17 sweaters on the needles right now.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for making me feel normal. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, I kind of distractions real. It's real. Okay, well, this this is a perfect segue to my next question. Okay. What do you think should happen with all the unfinished business that you're gonna inevitably have when you go?
SPEAKER_00Okay, this is gonna sound drastic.
SPEAKER_01I bet I bet it's not not to me, I mean. I bet it might sound drastic to others, but I think you and I might be able to do that. Do you think we're gonna say the same thing?
SPEAKER_00I think somebody should just pull it out or throw it away. Amen.
SPEAKER_01I by the time I go, even if I go tomorrow, I will have left behind hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pieces of my knitting, include. I mean, even still in my closet, so many sweaters. Mallory loves my sweaters. I have no worries about my legacy. And you know, so this is a public public message, public service message for anybody related to me and or customers. Don't anybody grab an unfinished project of mine and feel like they need to finish it in some sort of honorarium to my memory because I would be the first person to say, throw that out. Throw it out. Yeah. Because you want, but get rid of it.
SPEAKER_00I'm not into obligation knitting. And, you know, when I've worked with students over the years getting their stash organized and kind of dealing with old whips and all the excess project bags and all the things that we collect. Inevitably, what clogs up a stash can be things we inherit from other people, their their old yarn, their old projects. And then there's this sentimental, you know, feeling like we need to honor this person that we care about and loved so much. And we know how much knitting meant to them. But then it becomes almost like a burden, you know. And there's not enough hours in the day to knit all the things that you want to knit. I don't want anyone to feel like they have to add on top of that, finishing the things that I was knitting. I'm gonna leave behind probably a hundred unfinished things, throw them out, just throw them out or repurpose the yarn. And if you like the yarn, take it and make whatever you want with it. Like no obligation to carry on my unfinished knits. That's it.
SPEAKER_01You have to hear first, folks. We have both publicly declared our wishes.
SPEAKER_00We have. We have. We just need to get a notary public here to sign on that. I have also just kind of on that thread, um, you know, I've told my husband, you know, if I suddenly go get my like knowledgeable fiber friends here to go through my stash because I don't want that stuff going to Goodwill. I want it to given out to all the knitters that know what it's worth and will use it if they want it. You know, like they want everybody take what they want, come you know, come over, have an open house, take anything you want, and then the rest can get donated. But I'm like, please don't just take everything and give it to goodwill. Like, let my friends come pick through it and see what they want. And then, but no obligation to take anything you don't want. But I know there's yarn up, so yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. That would be a a a wonderful opportunity for some very lucky people.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, exactly. I know. I mean, I think it feels probably sounds harsh to people though, but I just feel like there's too much of a burden and yeah, the obligation of feeling like you have to right. I have a different if there's only one piece, like if your grandmother left one item.
SPEAKER_01And we have had a couple of different customers who have passed um in the midst of knitting their great American Air in Afghans, or even really close to being done. And so that is a really large monumental project. And when there's someone that could benefit from it, being finished and enjoy it, we have helped to finish those things. And there is that service, um loose threads, I believe it's called. Yeah, that will end loose ends. Thank you. Yeah, um, help you finish up, uh help finish up the projects of your loved ones if that you can send stuff to them and they will they will facilitate that. And so that's great for people who really want to do it. But yeah, by and large, across the board, I'm with you 100%. Bye-bye.
SPEAKER_00I should know. I should be done. We both have that because we're both sort of anti-clutter people. You wouldn't know it from what you can see behind me in my office, but it's true. Yeah, yeah, we're both very much minimalists, so it makes sense that we're like, throw it out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it goes out. Absolutely. Um, okay, so a similar topic then. Have you thought about your legacy as a knitter and or what you want to be your legacy for whom? You know, like is that even a thought? Does that even matter to you?
SPEAKER_00It does matter to me, but I have no daughters, no nieces, uh, potentially no grand. I mean, I don't know if I'll ever have any grandchildren. So it's weird because I thought me carrying my grandmother's legacy would be something I would pass down to someone. And I mean, I could have passed it down to a son, but my sons aren't really super interested. Like they like to wear off and on things that I make, but not necessarily learn to knit. So I'm starting to worry a little bit that I won't have anyone to pass my legacy to, which is sort of a sad thought, but there's still time, there's still plenty of time. So maybe something will come from that. But I felt like I was carrying my grandmother's legacy. And if nothing else, I think that I've passed that legacy on to the international community of knitters that I was. I was gonna say that.
SPEAKER_01So I hope that I hope that counts because that's all I've got. A hundred percent. It absolutely counts. I was gonna say that to you, um, but you got there. That is absolutely a huge thing. Um, even just your love of sweater knitting and the style of sweater designing that you do has created an entire legacy, I think, um, in today's knitters. Like who anyone who's knit one of your projects, because most of us who've knit one have not stopped at one. So there's it's definitely got um momentum, and I would say qualifies entirely as a legacy. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, what about you?
SPEAKER_01I don't know. You know, I I haven't ever really pondered this question until preparing for this um this episode. And both my girls have learned to knit from me. Um I would say neither of them seem to really uh jump to it or click to it like I did when I was taught to knit. And it could still come back, who knows? Campbell still will pick up and knit occasionally, but what she really likes to do is spin um on a spinning wheel, and she's not quite as interested in using the finished yarn as creating the yarn itself. And so I they I think that's awesome. That's fantastic. But I don't really feel sad if they don't want to become knitters like I was a knitter. Like I don't feel like that's my um my responsibility to make them into something if they're not interested in it. I just love that Mallory loves to wear my sweaters. In fact, I put my soundtrack on yesterday and I hadn't worn it in quite a while. Um, it didn't fit for quite a while. And immediately I could tell the last person who wore it was Mallory because it smelled like her perfume. Aw. Yeah. And I'm like, okay, I love that. I love that I might find a sweater missing in my closet and have to go and look in hers. Well, not anymore because she doesn't live here anymore. Right. I have to call her and be like, Do you have do you have this sweater?
SPEAKER_00Oh, I love it. I love it.
SPEAKER_01So I think I'm content with that being my legacy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that's good. I think that's a good way to go. And I think probably what I need to do is really shift my thinking on what that legacy is gonna be and then make sure I knit some sweaters for my boys. My oldest has really gotten into cozy cardigans. He's a writer also and a manga artist. And so he spends a lot of time, you know, sitting at a desk and um sitting at coffee shops with his projects. And um, and I've noticed he started wearing these cardigans. And then I was like, oh my gosh, I need to knit him one. I mean, he's the only one in our family that has a hand-knit sweater for me. He's actually on the cover of the Brookings crew. So, um, and he has that and he wears it a lot. But he's bless him, you know, he's wearing store-bought cardigans. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm the worst knitting mom. I need to knit him a cardigan because I know he'll love it. So that that's probably what I need to shift gears on and focus as my legacy is getting these boys some sweaters.
SPEAKER_01There you go. That sounds like a great plan. Just fit that in on among all the other things you you have going on.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I know it. Yeah, it's ridiculous, but still, love it.
SPEAKER_01Well, this is fun. I hope it gave our listeners some food for thought on their own um evolution as kners through the decades and their what they think of themselves as future kitters, what they think as their legacy as knitters. Because it's not an inconsequential thing, you know?
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, we know it's not just a hobby, it's a way of life.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it really is a way of life. And this was a great topic, Sarah. Thank you so much. Yes, before we go, I will just announce what we're gonna talk about next time. We are gonna talk about our desert island yarns, our faves, yarns we wish hadn't been discontinued, all the good stuff.
SPEAKER_01It makes me want to go shopping, just thinking about it.
SPEAKER_00I know, me too.
SPEAKER_01All right. Well, if you're thinking about all of the stuff you have unfinished and all of the things you have planning in the future, just remember.
SPEAKER_00We tried to tell you. We sure did. See you next time. Bye bye.