It may be that the young people now think different, but 15 years ago, when I had my yarnshop, that is all the young people talked about, how one movie star or another had been seen knitting in between 'takes'. That made several of them go to youtube to learn to knit. Oh, and don't think they'd come in for classes. Yes they asked for them, but they expected them to be free of charge, none ever showed up when I offered classes, which I could not afford to give for free, since I had to pay someone to teach. Took me a long time to figure out why, and finally realized that since it is considered a hobby that you 'should' have learned at your mother's knee (for free), they should not have to pay to learn it. Other crafts they were willing to pay for, like quilting and other crafts, but then, who ever saw ads of 'grandma quilting' or 'grandma doing lace'? But for the longest time every magazine had an ad with someone in a rocking chair, saying that knitting was not necessarily only done by 'grandmas'. Yes, things have changed over the last decade, but I still think it got started with movie stars knitting. And then social media took over, and more and more people were posting pictures of things they made, which made their 'friends' want to do the same thing, just to not be left behind. For that matter, where are most of the young people hanging out? On Facebook and/or Instagram. Look at how many groups there are on Facebook for different crafts, I know of at least 2 bobbin lace ones, 2 tatting ones etc. And people are talking to each other there, and showing off their accomplishments, and tell people where to get the patterns etc. I know a lot of us of the older generation refuses to do Facebook, but if you want to help encourage younger people, you have to hang out in the same placed they do.....Don't forget, the younger generation has no patience, they want to see things NOW, not have to go to another website, click on links etc to see pictures. On Facebook the picture shows up in your newsfeed the instant it is posted, and you don't have to go elsewhere to see it. And questions are answered virtually instantly, and usually by several people. Oh, and if you 'like' something or comment on something, as long as it is not in a 'closed' group, it shows up in your friends' newsfeeds as well. I do wish that some of the craft groups were not 'closed' groups, since anything posted in those do not show up in other people's newsfeeds, so if you post a picture or a comment in those groups, they stay in the group, and can't be seen elsewhere. I know the groups are 'closed' to keep out spammers, but it is not that great for spreading the word of our arts. Sure you can try and get them to join the Arachne list, but...I think very few of them use email anymore except for work. It is all social media or instant messaging. When I tell people about mailing lists, this one or the Yahoo ones, I often get to hear 'I don't have time for reading email lists', but they do have time to scroll through their newsfeed, cause it's on their smartphone, which is always in their hands.....
*Marianne* Marianne Gallant Vernon, BC Canada [email protected] http://threadsnminis.blogspot.ca, https://www.facebook.com/GallantCreation/ On 22/07/2016 8:51 AM, Devon Thein wrote: > I would also take issue with the idea that knitting and crochet are popular > because celebrities are doing them. My perspective, of course, is perhaps > very limited because I live near NY. But, from what I have observed > millennials are making things as a form of self-actualization. They are > finding value in "slow work". They don't want mass produced items - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
