Knitting and tattoos.

My bestest oldest (or should I say longest) friend, Sarah, who married a Spanish pilot and up and moved to Madrid :( forwarded a Newsweek article about tattoos and knitting that you should click on and read.

Here are two quotes from the article:
"Between 2004 and 2005, the purchase of fashion yarn increased 56 percent. The fastest growing group of knitters are teens and twentysomethings."
...okay, I like that one. Wholeheartedly agree.

Then article goes on to talk about "microsurges" - small changes in popular culture that can point to signficant larger trends. Another quote:
"The microsurge in knitting among teens? It represents a turning away from the prevalent online obsession of most young Americans. 'People are looking for new outlets of self-expression,' says Penn. “There is a premium on individuality that is rapidly rising.”

I agree with (and wahoo! for) the individuality thing. But knitting as an antidote for online obsession? I think not! Have these people ever read a knitting blog (or two, or five hundred?!) Have they heard of Ravelry?

The article also says there is a microsurge in "the uptown tattooed" - people making more than $75K a year are much more likely to be among the 30 million Americns with tattoos than members of lower-income groups.

So what do you think...do we all need tattoos of cashmere skeins on our lower backs? If it helps my income bracket, bring on the needle! ;-)

- Shelley
shop online at loopsknitting.com