Motivations for participation in knitting among young women

Motivations for participation in knitting among young women

Stannard, Casey Rhea

2011

2011 Summer. Includes bibliographical references. The purpose of this research was to understand the complex motivations of young women who choose to participate in knitting. The number of young women who knit has increased dramatically in the past ten years. However, there has been little research focused on understanding the culture of these young, female knitters and no research has concentrated its attention on the material culture of these women and the artifacts they produce. Fifteen young, female knitters (ages 18-30) who resided in Northern Colorado were identified to participate in the study. Data were collected from in-depth interviews, a material culture analysis of artifact(s) made by the participants, and a demographic data survey. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and artifacts made by the participants were photographed for later analysis. Validity was established through the use of multiple information sources and a secondary coder. Data gathered from the interviews were analyzed using constant comparative method. The knitted artifacts were analyzed using material culture and content analysis methods. Finally, the survey data were examined using frequencies and descriptive statistics. Thirteen subthemes emerged during the coding process of the interview data: creativity, multi-tasking, financial, alterations, information sources, social aspects, negative reactions, mistakes, expense, positive reactions, products, confidence, and relaxation. These themes were grouped into three main categories: incentives, barriers, and positive outcomes. The Taxonomy of Participation in Knitting was developed to graphically arrange the themes and subthemes. The data were then compared to an existing theory, Uses and Gratifications (UG), to determine if the categories of motivations described by Katz et al. (1974) were appropriate to describe the incentives for young women to participate in knitting. The categories of UG were very suitable and a second model, The Model of Motivations for Knitting among Young Women, was created to showcase the motivations that participants had for engaging in knitting. (Master of Science (M.S.), Design and Merchandising, Colorado State University.)

Handcraft

Motivations

Knitting

Plains to Peaks Collective

English

text

http://hdl.handle.net/10217/48208