Creative Knitting Taught Online: Photo courtesy BPC on FlickrKnitting is a centuries-old skill, traditionally passed from one generation to the next within families and small communities. After learning by example the basics of knit one, purl one, apprentice knitters pick up more advanced techniques like decorative stitches and buttonholes by imitating

So what’s a lone knitter in Malaysia to do? Knitters have gone online; of the many corners of the Internet, the immense knitting blog network is one of the liveliest and coziest.

Along with a general rise in the popularity of knitting in the past few years, the Internet has seen a proliferation of knitting blogs and other online resources like video tutorials and webzines dedicated to the craft. Blog rings, like knitting blogs, can include a loose association of blogs from Nordic Knit Blogs (for Scandinavian aficionados of the craft) to Christian Knitters (for the born-again knitter). Hundreds and sometimes thousands of bloggers — connect online because of their passion for knitting.

Knitting blogs are often spotted with triumphant photos of projects completed and updates on items currently in progress. More importantly it’s a way to learn knitting horizontally. Bloggers get advice on a pair of mittens gone horribly off course or showcase congratulations after finishing an elaborate cardigan from users posting in their heavily trafficked comments sections.

“Being online has helped me greatly—probably more than a local knitting group,” said Julie Anderson, who runs the Knitting Blogs web ring, which has more than 1,000 member blogs and the online store Black Sheep Bags. “I started my blog not long after becoming a work-at-home parent and moving. I didn’t have any connection to a local knitting group, and the online knitting community was a great place to meet others with my interests.”

Rain, a blogger who posts to RainyKnits while living in Malaysia, taught herself to knit over the Internet and now enjoys exchanging tips with others on ongoing projects. Her site, like many knitting blogs, includes a sidebar detailing exactly how far along her works in progress are as well as links to various web rings and other blogs, and a comments section for friends and fellow knitters.

“Knitters seem to embrace technology, using Bloglines to stay connected and upgrading to new blogging tools when they become available,” Anderson said. “It keeps the community vibrant and fosters growth.”

But as the community has grown, knitters have had to face a new obstacle to the transmission of their craft—namely, disputes over copyright and ownership of patterns and designs. While the problem is more pernicious in the apparently anarchic world of quilters and needlepoint enthusiasts (who knew?), knitters too have had trouble pinning down what is protected and what’s free to use.

In a sign that should be encouraging to those who support the free exchange of ideas online, a set of practices seem to be emerging that will help knitters feel like their ideas are protected while still allowing them to be shared. Although the practice is still relatively rare, some knitting bloggers already offer their content freely or with minor restrictions under Creative Commons licenses, and communities have sprung up dedicated solely to free content.

The emergence of these user-determined mechanisms to protect knitters’ work is an indicator of a truly vital online community. If such a low-tech, tradition-bound craft can successfully make the leap to the Internet and the Creative Commons, let’s hope it bodes well for that medium-tech, tradition-bound craft known as journalism to do the same.

Kevin Friedl is a writer living in New York. He has worked at The Atlantic Monthly, Columbia Journalism Review, and Seed magazine. He is currently an assistant news editor at Forbes.com.