Benita Romero is 73 years old, lives in Lebrija in Seville and knitted to make her own trousseau when she was still a child; Rafi Vallejo is much younger, lives in the city of Córdoba and has become an influencer for knitting and crocheting. Two generations of knitters separated by decades and united by needles.
Rafi is Maríatrapillo in the networks. Under that name, the young woman from Cordoba reconverted from recycling ink cartridges to the world of crochet 2.0, setting up a business selling materials over the Internet. Many years ago she had learned to weave with her grandmother, in Charilla, a small village in Alcalá la Real. "I was seven years old and she used to put me at the door of the house with my grandmother so she could teach me how to weave," Rafi tells us.
There is some nostalgia in each point that comes to mind. Benita's memories are those of the field where she worked at the age of 12. "During the break, the men smoked and we did this (knitting) and that's how I learned," she recalls. "We took a bag with the thread, the wool and the needles," explains Benita, who was taught by her friends to make towels, mittens... and thus, little by little, each one of them made the trousseau for the wedding. .
"My grandmother sewed me a quilt for the day I got married," says Rafi, but that's rarely done now. She dedicates herself above all to weaving t-shirt rugs, blankets or baskets. "Baskets are requested a lot for newborns," she tells us. Everything has changed, the threads, the patterns... and of course the Internet, which has also reached the world of knitting. Every day Rafi posts his work on his Instagram profile for 90,000 followers to see.
Benita also has followers, her family for whom she knits. Her granddaughter, just over a year old, already has some of her grandmother's clothes. "Baby suits, bibs, clothes for newborns are made," explains Benita. However, making a sweater, bed sets... "it is cheaper to buy it than to do it by hand and they are very laborious". But then, why is it still knitted today?
Knitting a relaxing therapy
"Knitting is the new yoga," explains Rafi, who used to teach young people who wanted to learn the technique. Few are looking to save money by making their own clothes or table linens. Most of them look for the disconnection that putting themselves behind the needles means... and Benita and Rafi don't agree on that either. "Your head is busy with what you're doing and you stop thinking about other things," explains Rafi.
"It doesn't relax me," says Benita, "because I want to finish everything very quickly and I end up nervous after so many." On the other hand, the stitch itself is more relaxing "because you go around, and without haste, you know that it does not deform; the crochet will fall apart if you are careless, that's why you have to finish it soon".
Relax or not, the truth is that knitting is engaging and the two generations agree on that. "I haven't crocheted for two days and I already need it," confesses Rafi. "Better to meet for that than for other things," explains Benita, who assures that "fashion returns and thus tradition is not lost."
