When it comes to knitting, the stereotypical image of an old woman sitting in her rocking chair clacking her knitting needles together often comes to mind. In reality, the craft is not exclusive to grandmas and it does not require any white-haired wisdom in order to be mastered.

According to Olivia Gordan in her article “Knitting: How it All Began,” the history of knitting includes everyone from sailors to shepherds participating in the craft.

“It even became a moral duty– girls were expected to learn to knit and complete a set number of rows every day, and ladies carried their knitting with them to social occasions,” Gordan said in her article.

This is no longer the case in modern times but senior Keely Connolly continues to prove that knitting is not a lost art.

“I first started knitting when I was six,” Connolly said.

Connolly was taught how to knit by her grandmother after showing interest in the hobby and continues to knit as much as she can.

“I knit whenever I have time, [which is] usually after school,” Connolly said.

Along with knitting, Connolly also has interests in embroidering and sewing.

“I got into sewing [when I was] about six but I just got into embroidering this year.  I would say embroidering is the hardest [because] it takes a lot of patience and detail,” Connolly said.

Connolly favors knitting out of her three hobbies and has found that many people find her knitting unique.

“Most people think it is cool because it is not as common as it once was,” Connolly said.

While the hobby is no longer a moral duty or current trend like it was in the early 2000s, knitters speculate that it is making yet another comeback. Google’s 13^th annual Zeitgeist collection announced ‘How to Knit’ was the fifth most popular How-to search, right under ‘How to Blog’.

This possible growth in popularity makes sense to Connolly.

“My favorite thing about knitting is that it is very calming. [The] benefits… are that it is a cheap hobby and you can make a scarf that would be $20 at a store [for only] $5.”

Whether knitting becomes popular again or fades into obscurity it seems fairly safe to assume that Connolly will continue to break the stereotypes surrounding the craft and show that age has nothing to do with what hobbies you choose to enjoy.