Crotchet Community

Brandy McMullen
Professors Smith and Wells-Edwards
English 101D OL
2 Feb. 2011


The Crotchet Community


Hearing over and over from people talking to us or behind our backs about how crocheting is for old women can hurt. This is a sad and misplaced myth that many people of my generation will support publicly but behind closed doors do not except. Just as people say it’s for old people they also say that men are not suppose to crotchet either, this is also not true but is socially shown as true. Men prove that this myth, this stereo type is faulty and unfair in the bedroom, in the house, or in a small group.

In this essay I will be focusing on how a crochet community compares and differs from other communities. “I like to go to needlers on Thursdays because I get to learn new things and talk to people who have the same interests as I do.” My grandmother, Lee, told me when I interviewed her. The goal is to show that the rules are relaxed just like the people in it but that this community still has structure to it. “What the function of this interesting community?” We would reply, “It is a small one.” This community isn’t based around a life style and rules like the Amish community. We aren’t based around learning like colleges are, just like we’re not ethnically based. “What is its function precisely?” We would respond with several things; “It is fun, relaxing, easy going, and you get to meet a lot of new and interesting people.”

The crotchet community doesn’t have an overly big function in people’s lives. This community isn’t strict like the Amish or learning based like colleges are. Crotchet communities are ethnically mixed like Espinoza and her community, but just like all communities they do have rules to follow. However their rules are more for the making of items than for the group/community.

The crotchet tribe always has their own rules like stitch A can only be used in the making of pattern E while pattern K can be made with stitch B or D. According to John A. Hostetler’s essay, “The Amish Charter”, the Amish are not so laid back. The passage (pg.143), “Once the individual has been baptized, he is committed to keeping the Ordnung or the rules of the church.” Where the Amish are overly strict, the crotchet tribe, community is not.

In “The Boondocks”, by Aaron McGruder, (pg.179) Jasmine says, “I am half-white and half-black but we’re all human and it’s nice to meet you.” Caesar replies to her saying, “I totally understand…I’m half-Jamaican.” This says that it doesn’t matter what ethnic background someone comes from, it’s okay and within the rules to hang out with the same and different ethnic groups; this is also seen within the crotchet community.

Colleges are about learning and experiments, crotchet is not. In David Berreby’s essay he states (pg.122), “As for professor Aronson, had he not wanted tight control over the experiment, he writes in his widely used textbook, the social animal, he and professor Mills could simply have studied an initiation outside the lab-at a campus fraternity or sorority.” This proves that colleges are based around studies, experiments, and learning where as the crotchet community is based around relaxing, fun, and the sense of community if you so choose to do it in a group. My grandmother proves this fact when she said, “I learned and continue to crotchet because it is relaxing and I like to do it.”

The group is a lot like Alex Espinoza is in her essay, “My Filipino Roots.” In her essay she states (pg.131), “I feel like I know enough about my Italian and Mexican sides….” Espinoza is made up of many different ethnic groups just like those of us in the crotchet community. She also talks about how she doesn’t know very much about her Filipino roots. This is also a lot like this tribe, because so many of us these days don’t know what our background is made up of so we just call ourselves white or Caucasian.

We are not anti-social like Theodora Stites’s in her essay, “Someone to Watch over Me.” She even says (pg.162), “I prefer, in short, a world cloaked in virtual intimacy.” Living like that is very anti-social, I know because I use to think the same way. It is anti-social because she is not socializing in the real world like most people do. This kind of socialization can make things very awkward for many people when they have to socialize with people face-to-face. Whereas our community will go out and gather in smaller groups, and in those groups we ask questions, show of some of our work, get new ideas, meet new people, and just chatter if we so desire.


Cites
Remix: Reading + Composing Culture, Second Edition, written by Catherine G. Latterell published by Bedford/St. Martin’s copyright 2010