Keenan Goldsmith never knew his grandfather.
John Goldsmith taught his daughter, Keenan’s mother, toknit.
And she passed the craft on to her children.
Credit: Courtesy of Keenan Goldsmith
Keenan Goldsmith, an introverted New Orleans bartender, transformed himself into the Knitting Bartender, social media influencer.
It was a metamorphosis prompted by sudden unemployment in 2020.
Goldsmith was making a living servingcraft cocktailsat Flambo, a French Quarter restaurant.
Credit: Courtesy of Keenan Goldsmith
Then, by city decree, all New Orleans watering holes were forced to close.
Goldsmith decided to use his involuntary time off as a period of reassessment.
“I wanted to use the time wisely to do something for myself, " the 42-year-old said.
Credit: Courtesy of Keenan Goldsmith
He hadenjoyed knittingsince his mother taught him the basics when he was 10 years old.
“My mother taught me what she learned as a kidwhat some people would say ladies learned.
But I never cared about that,” he said.
Credit: Courtesy of Keenan Goldsmith
Busying their little hands worked like a charm, particularly for Keenan.
“I’ve always liked projects,” he said.
“My mom struggled.
Credit: Courtesy of Keenan Goldsmith
She sometimes worked three jobs.
But she always made time for us.
Knitting was a bonding experience.”
Credit: Courtesy of Keenan Goldsmith
His skills grew from that, as he began to teach himself beautiful and intricate cable work.
“The more complicated the pattern, the more interested I was,” he said.
For a while, he was absorbed by it.
As he got older, his interest waned a bit, but never died.
He embraced other creative endeavors, becoming proficient at the cello, the violin, and the piano.
In between, he mixed in the theater.
But he kept coming back to knitting, gradually teaching himself more.
Along the way, he learned the details of his grandfather’s story.
“If you were productive, they left you alone,” Keenan said.
Goldschmidt managed to escape and joined the U.S. Army, working as a translator.
But the Holocaust was never far behind him.
He avoided talking about Germany unless it was an amusing story from his childhood in Mainz.
He, too, has a green thumb when it comes to roses.
John Goldsmith was happiest when he was knitting.
He never followed a printed pattern and enjoyed designing his own.
His life was cut tragically short by cancer at the age of 47.
The elder Goldsmith never found his work as a salesman rewarding.
Keenan Goldsmith wanted to check that that his own work always would be.
During the early days of the pandemic, as he started considering his possibilities, it hit him.
Somehow, someway, he wanted to construct a new life around knitting.
Keenan Goldsmith
I think the misconception is that men don’t knit.
There’s a huge population of guys who knit.
It’s not gender-specific.
The world needed an escape from the rancor, racism, and divided politics, he thought.
“I wanted younger people, and I wanted guys, and I wanted trans people.
I wanted everyone to feel welcomed, and so that’s what we have.”
His Facebook group has grown from five people to more than 7,000.
And, most importantly, “We’re all willing to help each other,” he said.
His Facebook and Instagram posts also drew the attention of two people who own alpaca farms.
Soon, he’ll begin giving knitting lessons virtually.
The next step, he said, is publishing and selling his patterns.
For right now, he still has to work other jobs.
Who knows where the Knitting Bartender will take him.
Turning a hobby into a business has been challenging for Goldsmith, but also exhilarating.
“And there was just something that said, ‘Go for it.’
And I did.”
It’s an all-consuming venture.
He’s teaching his nephew, Sean Gasper, how to knit.
“This is my way of relating to my nephew, to share a common interest.
I would love that.
“You have to have patience in knitting, not just making your garments but in teaching.
Sometimes when I’m teaching my nephew, I’m sitting six feet away.
I’m giving him his space and not looking over his shoulder.
Sometimes he makes mistakes.
He’ll drop a stitch or come back with a tangled mess, but you have to have patience.
And that’s how my mother was with me and how my grandfather must have been with her.
We talk about it in the fiber artist community.
Knitters are squishy, warm people.
We have a go at have empathy and patience with anyone willing to learn.
It really is about sharing.”
