Cornering the vast knitting economy

Knitting as meditation really works. While I was making mittens for the little boys in my family, I got to thinking about the “creative economy.” It occurred to me that if artists and other creative people are the linchpins of the creative economy, then some of those people are bound to be knitters. I don’t know how many knitters live in Maine, but nationwide, it is estimated that 38 million people knit and that number is growing. And you know what? They all need tools.

So here’s my idea, my small contribution to the building of Maine’s creative economy – someone in Maine should manufacture knitting needles.

We have birch, poplar and maple trees. We have people who need jobs, people with good work ethic, people who want to work. Surely there must be towns with mills that could, with a bit of good old Maine ingenuity, be converted to manufacture knitting needles.

I see them now, millions of board feet of knitting needles, like a miniature log drive, rolling off conveyor belts. I see rafts of knitting needles waiting to be smoothed in sanding machines and oiled in another machine. I see finished knitting needles with finials made in whimsical shapes. I see nimble hands sorting them into sizes from one to 17 – some with double points in sets of four.

I see workers crafting knitting needle finials shaped like acorns, pine cones, lighthouses, lobster boats, lobsters, loons, seashells, moose, deer, bear, maple leaves and evergreen trees. I see them made of blown glass, tourmaline, ceramic beads, moose and deer horn, and coils of silver wire. I see hand-painted finials. I see Maine-made knitting needles sold in pretty pine cases in every size a knitter could ever want or need.

And I see workers who make knitting needles receiving a decent wage, working in healthy conditions and having health insurance.

I figure a couple of guys with a genius for tinkering ought to be able to figure out the machinery aspects of manufacturing knitting needles fairly quickly some winter afternoon when they are ice fishing and shooting the breeze over a couple cans of brew. It’s not like Maine doesn’t have a precedent for such thought – think of the Stanley twins of Kingfield, who invented the Stanley Steamer, or the Maxim brothers of Dover-Foxcroft, who invented the gattling gun, or Mr. Peavey of Veazie, who invented the cantdog.

It doesn’t take much to make a pair of knitting needles. I know because I made some recently using only a birch dowel, a hacksaw, a little pink plastic pencil sharpener, a tiny piece of fine grit sandpaper, some mineral oil, carpenter’s glue and a couple of buttons. The birch dowel cost less than a dollar and I got three pairs of knitting needles out of it. The rest of the stuff I had lying around the house.

The cost to make the knitting needles was pennies – but at stores, aluminum knitting needles cost more than $3 for smaller sizes and more than $5 for larger sizes. Bamboo knitting needles can cost as much as $11. Indeed, palm wood knitting needles imported from Vietnam cost $15.50 a pair for size 13. And Brittany knitting needles, of “New England white birch,” according to its advertising, are made in California and sell for more than $7.

Is anyone out there crunching numbers yet?

Yarns shops, I am told, often have a hard time keeping knitting needles in stock because of the demand. True, bamboo is the hot material for knitting needles right now, but I think Maine birch, maple and poplar could give bamboo a run for its money. It’s light in weight, beautiful to look at and feels good in the hand.

And while we’re about it, why doesn’t someone figure out how Maine can manufacture some of those wonderful, funky – and expensive – yarns like Fun Fur, Techno Hair or eyelash? Surely, Mainers can manufacture those yarns just as well as the Italians – hey, some of us Mainers are Italians – who seem to have cornered that particular market. It’s not like we don’t have a history of yarn production – we do. Maybe it’s time to revisit that particular past and retool it to the needs of knitters and those other creative types perceived to be the backbone of the creative economy we are hearing so much about.

Ardeana Hamlin welcomes comments, suggestions and ideas. Call her at 990-8153, or e-mail ahamlin@bangordailynews.net.