Now, I know this concept of Old School, New School, the Next Generation, the Classics, etc etc has been around forever and it applies to all situations, but I’m going to focus specifically on the knitting situation.
For instance, my mom is an Old School knitter and I am a New School knitter, can you guess which of the following Christmas presents was given to each of us just this past holiday?

Both very obviously pertain to knitting, but each appeals to a different breed of knitter (and you thought breeds only pertained to Merino, Alpaca and Blue Faced Leicester didn’t you?).
And where do you draw the line anyway? What’s old and what’s knew?
Who knows.
I don’t think that Old or New School knitting have anything to do with age or gender or any demographic information like that. Its all about the attitude. The attitude controls what kinds of yarns a knitter chooses to use, the projects and outcomes, the way one approaches the art and craft of sticks and string. Old School knitting might be a bit more traditional than New School and New School might be a bit less conventional.
But that’s just my theory, please share yours in the comments 🙂