The seasonal art is dying a natural death, or is it?
It was in the winter of 1989 that I received a gift from my grandmother — a green and white pullover that she had knitted. Twenty winters later, I found the pullover incongruously tucked amidst machine-made woollens in my cabinet. By then I had outgrown it and yet I felt the same warmth, literally and figuratively,” reminisces Iarisa Anette R Dorphang.
Gone are the days when grandmothers and mothers spent several autumn afternoons with needles and colourful yarns to create patterns. Now, with fashion ruling the roost and time a precious commodity, knitting has become a rarely practised art.
As markets in the city get flooded with warm clothes, hand-knit woollens become a rare commodity possessed by a handful. Shops in Police Bazar and Bara Bazar, which once sold handmade sweaters and cardigans, have changed with time.
Ashok Sharma, who runs a shop in the city’s fashion hotspot, says there are no buyers of hand-knit woollens as they come for a high price. “I only have a few handmade sleeveless sweaters in the stock. It is difficult to get knitted pullovers for adults but you might get for babies,” says the middle-aged trader as he directs in the oblivion.
“It won’t be long before it becomes extinct,” rues an avid knitter who is trying in her own way to keep the art alive but never expects her daughters to do the same.
Knitting does not arouse interest in youngsters as it is time-consuming and for many, “unnecessary engagement”, a phrase that would definitely annoy Miss Marple, the unassuming detective who loved knitting. But for those who are pursuing the art, knitting is nothing less than passion.
Ivoreen Pyrtuh, now in her forties, says she picked up knitting from her mother and continued it even if she made mistakes because “I was excited to make something of my own”.
“I got into knitting when I was 18. I often see images of hand-knit items and the interplay of colours and textures in these knitted pieces attract me,” says Pyrtuh who knits sweaters and mufflers for relatives and friends every winter.
Young Janice Kharumnuid cherishes the rainbow-coloured muffler that she got as a Christmas gift from her aunt five years ago because it is “unique and feels so warm”. Asked if she would exchange it for a more fashionable cashmere scarf, Janice says, “Never!”
Dorphang never learnt to knit but can spin yarns about her grandmother’s deep interest in knitting and the colourful memories that she created. “She would gift warm clothes to all the children in the family and I still remember my cousin and I possessing similar woollen dresses that grandma made for us. What is unique about hand-knit woollens is that they have the warmth that you wouldn’t find in an expensive sweater. This is because they have the touch of human hand and are always made with love and care. I could preserve most of the knitted stuff that my grandma gave me when I was a child and each of them has a story and its own string of memories,” says the 28-year-old mother of one.
Though Dorphang is not a knitter, her toddler daughter does not miss on the “warmth” as the grandma’s woollens have been passed on to her.
Agnes Kharmawlong’s children and grandchildren too are lucky to feel and cherish the same warmth. The 53-year-old expert knitter loves to gift newborns and children handmade woollens. Among her creations are socks, sweaters, shawls and mufflers and she takes only two days to finish a sweater for a four-year-old.
With her expertise with needles and yarns and popularity in the locality, Kharmawlong also manages to get orders. “Besides humans, I also make sweaters for teddy bears and dolls as wished by my grandchildren. So most of the time I am busy with needles and wool,” says the resident of Lawsohtun.
Knitting, says Bibaline R Marak, never interested her as a child but with time, she became keen on learning the art of creating patterns with two needles. Now, the 47-year-old expert knitter makes sweaters, socks, gloves and scarves, among other things. But she admits that her children prefer readymade warm clothes.
Despite the sea of options in the market, Marak feels hand-knit woollens are profitable.
“The wool used in a hand-knit sweater can be reused once the product is spoiled. But in case of a machine-made sweater, the wool is torn and you have to throw it once old,” says Marak, who has taught her elder daughter the art.
About knitting becoming extinct, Marak says that is a distant possibility as fashion trend is evolving and hand-knit sweaters are back in fashion. “Moreover, I see many young women, both working and homemakers, enjoy knitting. So it is not going to die,” she sounds confident.
For many in the city, like Asma Begum Laskar, knitting is more than a hobby. It is a source of sustenance. Laskar makes woollen sets for babies and sells them to shops in Bara Bazar. Laskar makes around 10 pieces a month but the profit earned is nominal. “Knitting is my hobby and now I earn a few bucks out of it. The work is strenuous but love and necessity drive me to do this,” says the mother of four who lives in Barik.
She is among the faceless knitters who supply sweaters for babies to shops in Bara Bazar and Police Bazar. Chandra Rani Arora, who sells sweaters for toddlers and children in Police Bazar, is among the buyers.
Arora sells both handmade and machine-made warm clothes but “people usually go for readymade”, she says.
A major reason that discourages seasoned knitters and learners is unavailability of good quality yarn. Aida Dondor Phanwar, who is more into crocheting, says Shillong is not the right place for knitters as there is no variety of yarn in the market. “There are only three stores in Shillong which sell wool. So sometimes I buy wool online,” says the 33-year-old who learnt crocheting from YouTube videos and Facebook group lessons.
Kharmawlong informs that the wool, though not of superior quality, is expensive in Shillong.
Explaining the reason behind high cost, Jaspal Singh, the owner of a 35-year-old yarn shop in Police Bazar, says the wool comes from Ludhiana and obviously the price goes up here. He points out that not many people come to buy these days and sale has gone down drastically over three decades.
Another reason that many women stay away from knitting after a certain age is the effect on eyes. So Phanwar makes sure that the room is perfectly lit when she is crocheting. Her 69-year-old mother, Darity Phanwar, who is more into knitting, does the same to avoid spoiling her eyesight.
Though none of these can dampen the knitters’ ardour, one thing that really affects their enthusiasm is the decreasing demand for hand-knit woollen clothes and the youths’ reluctance. Chandra Deb, who was a regular knitter, now seldom picks up needles and yarns. “Nobody like these,” she observes.
There are still a few who are holding on to the art and strongly believe that it will survive the onslaught of machines. “How can you reject knitting as an art? Handmade things always come with emotions of the loved ones. They cannot fade away with time. Can human hands stop working,” says Chandra Rani Arora and smiles as a customer picks up a hand-knit sweater from among the hundreds displayed on the mat on the footpath.
~ NM