It’s not very difficult to spot a drunken nitwit in a Melbourne pub.
But a group armed with knitting needles, appearing by the dozens each Thursday night for a relaxed yarn and a tipple?
Well that kind of “drunken knitwit” is a much rarer, more well-behaved species to be reckoned with — and part of a global knitting club that has spread from Oxford in the United Kingdom to 13 cities across five countries.
A good yarn is pretty much guaranteed.()
The Melbourne chapter of the Drunken Knitwits club, about to celebrate its 10th anniversary, has 360-odd members, but a smaller core group who attend regularly.
Allyce Balderstone, one of the group’s organisers, said the Drunken Knitwits aim to try a different pub in Melbourne’s inner suburbs each Thursday night, with about 40 members attending the busiest sessions.
The events are so popular that it’s not uncommon to have a waitlist of around 20 people.
Ms Balderstone notes that the group has some different requirements to other pub goers. For starters, “we care about the lighting”.
After moving from New Zealand, Annelieke de Wit was looking for new friends and new hobbies.()
On the night the ABC drops in, 17 or so “knitwits” have gathered at Spotswood Hotel in the city’s inner south-west, with various knitting and crochet projects around the table.
This event, organised through social media platform MeetUp, is dubbed “Keep calm and carry yarn”, following on from such pun-loving nights as “Knit me baby one more time”, “Resting stitch face” and “Don’t ply for me Argentina”.
The only requirement is that participants have the basics of their craft down pat, though the sharing of tips is warmly encouraged.
All members have a knitting, crochet or portable craft project on the go.()
While some say crafts are experiencing a resurgence, Ms Balderstone, who joined her first knitting group at the tender age of 15, believes knitting has always been popular.
She loves the fact that the group’s members range in age from 19 to “knit-aholics” in their 70s.
“My best friend from the group is my mum’s age — she’s in her mid-60s,” Ms Balderstone said.
“Intergenerational friendship is such a rare thing.”
Drunken Knitwits events have sprung up in five countries after the first chapter launched in the United Kingdom in 2012.()
Many group members have moved to Melbourne from elsewhere, including Aurora Henrich, who arrived from Tasmania and wanted to expand her circle while doing some crafting.
“Knitting people are good people,” she said.
“They’re happy to have a peaceful pastime. It’s meditative and we’re happy to have something to focus on and appreciative of a physical end product.
“It does take a lot of time, so knitting people are generally very patient.”
Jas Pengelly (left) says she wanted to get out and meet more people after finishing high school during the pandemic.()
Jas Pengelly, who finished high school during the pandemic, believes crafting is having something of a renaissance.
“I think there’s a feeling, especially amongst younger people, a desire to get away from technology and to put the phones down and meet people — be part of a community,” the 21-year-old said.
The group, which also has chapters in Sydney and Brisbane, is far from the only crafty gathering keeping hands and minds pleasantly occupied.
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(ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
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(ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
Many of the group’s members have moved to Melbourne from elsewhere and find it’s a great way to meet new people.()
(ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
(ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
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(ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
The group try to eat and drink at a different Melbourne pub every Thursday.()
(ABC News: Patrick Rocca)
A ‘crisis management technique’ for millennials
At Melbourne’s Laneway Learning, which offers one-off evening classes in everything from soap making to miniature dioramas and Persian geometry, pottery and basic drawing lessons are among the hot favourites.
“When I started Laneway 13 years ago, we had air dry clay, but no-one came to the classes — maybe six people,” the not-for-profit organisation’s general manager, Maria Yebra, said.
Participants show off their miniature chair creations during a Laneway Learning workshop in Melbourne.()
“Now, air dry clay, which is not even like pottery with a kiln and everything, just sells out immediately.”
Trends come and go, with fibre weaving the big thing a few years ago, she said.
Laneway Learning’s CBD classes don’t always attract the numbers they used to, which Ms Yebra puts down to more people working from home and fewer people coming into the city for various reasons.
A woodcarving class at Laneway Learning.()
But crafting itself is more popular than ever, particularly in younger generations, she said, noting it’s sometimes described as “the new millennial crisis management technique”.
“The worse the world is becoming, the more people are trying to go back to hobbies,” Ms Yebra said.
“I do feel like there is this tendency of escapism, sort of like, ‘OK, well I’m just going to hunch down here and mould my clay … or just try not to think’.”
She said hobbies have long been important to the human experience, providing a different aspect to life than the 9 to 5 grind.
“I think it’s the same now: people wanting to still do something fun and creative — still have a different experience than just working,” she said.
Goodbye pinch pots, hello mugs and platters
On Victoria’s Surf Coast, ceramics classes are also incredibly popular at Lauren Barton’s business, Bellbrae Clay.
Ms Barton was a fashion designer for a popular surf brand before studying teaching, then working as an art and design teacher at an all-boys school in Geelong for years.
Lauren Barton worked as a fashion designer before starting her own ceramics workshops.()
“And then in 2022, I took long service leave, and that’s how it kind of all began,” she said.
When ceramics became more popular during the pandemic, she began running a few hand building (rather than wheel throwing) classes for friends, and things quickly took off.
A wide mix of people now come to two-hour classes at her Bellbrae studio, including families, couples, friends and those celebrating a hen’s night, milestone birthday or Christmas party.
“You can go as simple as you like. You can just make a couple of plates, or you can go and make a vase,” Ms Barton said.
Plates, mugs and platters are also popular options for first-timers.
Lauren Barton’s ceramics studio is on Victoria’s Surf Coast.()
Many adults haven’t tried their hand at ceramics since the early years of high school, Ms Barton said.
“Everyone remembers a pinch pot, that’s for sure.”
Not to mention the ashtrays many made at school decades ago.
“We call them trinket dishes now, for your keys and your jewellery — just to be a bit more politically correct,” she said.
After so many years away from the clay, many participants feel quite unsure of their creative abilities.
“The joy of something coming together is really satisfying for a lot of people because so many people, they just don’t have any confidence that they’re going to be able to do anything,” Ms Barton said.
From Taylor Swift to Netflix: the impact of pop culture
At ClassBento, an online platform offering art and craft experiences, pottery, jewellery and perfume classes rank among the most popular experiences, with paint and sip classes a perennial favourite.
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour led to a rush on bead sales around the country.()
But spokeswoman Laine Fullerton said more niche crafts tend to come in and out of the spotlight, with social media playing a huge role.
“We see little waves of interest pop up depending on what’s trending at the time, whether that’s specifically in the craft community or just in general,” she said.
“We had classes popping up for friendship bracelet-making during Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour,” she said.
“Glassblowing really grew when Netflix released their show Blown Away — same as kintsugi when it was featured on Channel 10’s The Bachelor.”
Ms Fullerton said interest in craft classes was definitely growing.
“You can actually see it in Google Trends — searches for things like ‘pottery class’ and ‘painting class’ have been steadily up over the past few years,” she said.
She believes that in general, people are looking for more fun, hands-on experiences, rather than just the usual dinner and drinks.
Kintsugi is a traditional Japanese art practice that recognises beauty in things that are broken or flawed.()
Judging by reviews, and from chatting with the teachers themselves, Ms Fullerton said people get much more out of crafting than the finished piece.
“There’s the joy of learning something new of course, but it’s also a chance to switch off for a couple of hours and do something with your hands,” she said.
“A lot of our customers tell us it’s the only time in their week when they’re not staring at a screen.”
