"Young people are interested

so please don't tell me they aren't."
I was talking to two people after our regular library knitting group and one of them said,
    "Kids aren't interested in that sort of thing. I wouldn't waste my time trying to teach them."
The other person there came in rapidly with the "Young people are interested...." comment.  
I have to agree. They are interested. Not all of them are interested of course but there are enough of them for me to hope that many crafts will continue.
It is important that they do continue, not simply for the pleasure they can provide but for the skills they can teach.  Yet another  surgeon told me last week that the knitting and crochet skills she was taught by her grandmother had proved invaluable in increasing her manual dexterity before becoming a surgeon. She encourages all her students to take up some similar form of handicraft.
And the mental health benefits are immeasurable. There was a little flurry of excitement at the showgrounds last week. Of course the judging is done blind - only once in a long while is someone's work recognised. Even then it will be no more than "that's probably by.... it looks like it". It will happen because the same person has been putting in similar articles for many, many years. This year the lack of any entries from someone who used to produce incredibly fine baby articles was noted. People wondered if  G.... was "all right". In all likelihood she is or was a very elderly woman. Nobody has ever met her but we wondered.
And then there are the young ones. There is a "junior" section - and some wonderful things go into it - but it didn't cater for something one young person thought was important. She made a  hat for the homeless in the open section. It's told me something important. We shouldn't be ignoring the fact that some young people do want to be involved in this sort of thing. We need to consider a way of including them. There is another young girl who is seriously disabled by a chronic illness. She can't go to school full time but she can knit and crochet and she has made some delightful things. There are some things she still needs to learn but her work is very good and getting even better. It's her lifeline too. 
And there are the young people I taught earlier this year. One of them sent me a photograph recently - of something she will never see. She may be blind but her knitting skills are improving to the point where it has become a pleasure for her. One day she may feel confident enough to enter something in the section reserved for the visually impaired. Her mother had added a note, "She feels so good about herself."
There were young people there last Sunday. We had some lovely socks entered by one of them - and yes, they won a prize. There are two knitting groups at two of the local secondary schools. Most of them are beginners but I was invited over to have a look at some of their work recently. It's simple stuff but they were pleased and excited by what they are doing. Will they continue? I don't know. I hope so but, even if they don't, they will have discovered the satisfaction that comes with making something.
So, please don't think young people aren't interested in crafts.There are some who are, who will find the time and develop the skills. They will be computer savvy and learn from there as well but, if they need help, please give it to them. Then they can pass it on too.