Armed with yarn, needles and hooks, dexterous moviegoers flock to a cinema in Vienna every month to combine their favorite hobbies: knits and flicks.
With many having turned to time-honored crafts such as crochet and knitting during the COVID-19 pandemic, a growing number of enthusiasts are looking to connect with the Austrian capital’s craft community in real life.
Vienna’s Votiv Kino has become the latest movie theater in Europe to offer craft cinema nights, a trend trailblazed by Nordic countries.
Photo: AFP
“We saw that it exists in the US, in Denmark, in Finland, in Germany,” said avid knitter Luisa Palmer, who initiated the knitting nights at the Votiv Kino with a colleague.
Since the launch event in December, the monthly knitting nights have sold out, drawing almost 180 visitors each time.
With the lights only slightly dimmed while The Devil Wears Prada was showing on Sunday, the cinemagoers got crafty. “It is a bit ‘grannycore,’ but I find it very calming and pleasant. Why not let out your inner granny?” Alexander Koch, 28, quipped while crocheting away.
Kaja Vospernik, a 23-year-old fashion student, who is knitting a sweater, said that she was excited about “meeting new people, who have the same interests.”
“I really enjoy knitting while watching movies or listening to podcasts, so of course the cinema is a great place for that,” Vospernik said.
The movie seemed to take a backseat as passionate knitters and crocheters — some of whom were donning their handmade knitwear — kept chatting and working away.
“A lot of people started knitting and crocheting during the pandemic and out of necessity, only did it at home alone. That’s why a lot of people now want to do it with others,” 32-year-old Palmer said.
In an increasingly digital world with many hunched over computers at work, people enjoy “creating something with their own hands you can later even wear,” Palmer said.
“Cozy films that you have already seen” are best suited for knitting, she added.
And Vienna’s “diverse” crafting community, which is “open to all age groups,” has grown to an estimated 1,000 people, said Judith Hasloewer, who co-initiated the event at the cinema.
“You can just sit in the theater and knit and keep to yourself, but if you feel like company, you’ll definitely find it here,” she said.
Crafting your own garment allows you to “connect to reality, as it slows you down,” while it also symbolizes a bold statement against “fast fashion,” Hasloewer, 27, said.
Votiv Kino spokeswoman Lisa Stolze said that knitting nights are the latest addition to their special shows — which include cinema breakfasts and screenings for parents and their babies — that are designed to “appeal to the different interests of our audience.”
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
RSS