I stumbled upon the short story “Knitter”, by Christopher Coake, by chance. Or, perhaps it wasn’t chance. It was simply the Knitter doing its work. The “Knitter is the name given to the “most fearsome monsters of this world”. Coake says as much, but further reading and interpretation of the story made it clear that Coake had uncovered a truth. Just one, because there are indeed many truths, better yet a hierarchy of truth to each mystery of the world.
“Knitter” reads as a contemporary fairy tale that offers an explanation to déjà vu, unrecollected memories, and how the world was formed. Naturally, this is quite the abstract concept to tackle. How could one dare, but to reduce it down to its simplest form? Coake does this beautifully through the lives of his protagonist simply known as boy and girl, and later, husband and wife.
The knitters form lives much like an open quilt, and when it no longer suits a reason far beyond human comprehension, the Knitters simply fold the quilt up and tuck it away far from life and memory. However, the dust of a life once lived, and frail memories of a time extinguished from view, remain somewhere deep inside the recesses of the mind amongst those chosen to look upon the Knitter.
The Knitters were a “Eater of Worlds” in their own right, much like Stephen King’s Pennywise. From his novel IT.
“Pennywise” was the name uttered by Beverly Marsh at the Jade restaurant In Derry Maine. Amongst fellow member of the Losers club, memories that were once folded and tucked away came flooding back to the forefront of Beverly’s thought. Not unlike Beverly, I too became puzzled when that murderous dancing clown jiggled and jangled, and ultimately clashed with my reading of “Knitter”
Pennywise. The god who reduced himself down to the occupancy of clown for convenience, but for his chosen, those gifted (or cursed) with an opportunity to look upon one of his more authentic forms saw that of a spider. It is important to note that “boy”, and “girl” saw the Knitters in the shape of a spider. And why not? Spiders weave magical worlds rarely noticed by human eyes, oh but when they do…
Knitter, in its simplicity, offers a morsel of truth, usually hidden in the fiction of fairy tales, and the musings of clowns.