Can I really knit anywhere?
My simple answer is NO!
I would really like to think I can knit anywhere but I'm finding the reality is that I have a limited number of places where I can knit comfortably.
All that is required to knit is a place to sit and adequate light for the project you are knitting. For some of my projects I can actually almost knit in the dark. Of course in my living room is my number one favorite place to knit and I can knit in the car also.
But what about when I'm out with friends? When and where is it ok to pull out the sock with all those needles protruding and start knitting? I think I'm a very polite knitter... I can knit and look at the person I'm talking to at the same time so it's not like I'm staring at my knitting and ignoring my surroundings and the people I'm with. So you would think a seasoned knitter (who's addicted to the hobby) would knit where ever and when ever she could. WRONG!
It's not so easy. This weekend I travelled to Fredericton, NB for a birthday party music jam. I brought my portable sock project of the week and knit on the way up in the car. When I got to the jam area and settled down on a couch to talk to friends I pulled out my knitting. I got some weird stares and then a couple girls asked what I was making. There were no other knitters in the room. This is where I disappointed myself and all my fellow knitters... I put my knitting AWAY because I felt too EMBARRASSED and uncomfortable! I even shocked myself with how uncomfortable I felt.
I don't even get it why I feel this way... why am I ashamed of such a creative and productive hobby? Why do I have to keep my hobby in the house or in private or only with other knitters? Does anyone else have issues with knitting with groups of friends? How do I break these barriers?
posted by Tanya @ 9:46 p.m.
3 Comments:
I don't know about knitting with friends, but I've been too afraid to pull out my knitting in grad school. I, like you, am a polite knitter. I wouldn't bring clicky metal needles or a pattern that would require too much thought, and yet I can't seem to bring myself to do it. And those 4 hour night classes are LONG.
well tan, i for one don't mind you knitting anywhere and everywhere cause i know how happy it makes you.
i've always felt that first and foremost, you need to be comfortable in the skin you're in. and if you're a knitter, then that's what you do and if it makes other people uncomfortable then that's their problem. i find it cute and i love you for being that person. and even though you might have gotten some strange looks at the party, i know none of the friends there would think anything but 'Wow! she does all that with two sticks and a thread! Cool dude!"
the part about this that bothers me though, is that knitting is such an honorable craft, and the thought of knitting in a party situation where people are having beers and smokes and there's obscenities flying around the room, it just seems to tarnish the image of the knitters' squeaky clean image. that's the part that sours it for me.
so no, i personally don't think that was the time and place for it, given the environment. but again, that's me being uncomfortable by you being you. and what do you say to that Tan? you say to me, "Troy, this is who I am and if you don't like it, tough bananas for you buddy! I got a sock to finish!"
keep up the great work tan!
Troy
Hey Tanya,
I can't remember if I've posted a comment on your blog before, but I couldn't resist putting my $1.02 in for this topic.
While I don't disagree with Troy that knitting has, in the past, had a squeaky clean image, I don't think we have to perpetuate that image. I think we might need to update his image of the knitter. We are no longer grandma types. Knitters come in a variety of shapes, sizes and backgrounds. One night with my knitting group would definitely change his mind about that squeaky clean image! One perusal through "Sex and the Knitty" and his opinion would be changed, I'm sure!
I have knit at parties, at bars (while my husband was playing onstage, no less!), in restaurants, in movie theatres, during a Christmas concert, during a Blue Rodeo concert, at soccer games, in the car (when I'm driving I knit while waiting at stoplights), on the bus, on the train, on boats, on the ferry, on airplanes, during family get togethers, at parties, backstage at a Symphony Nova Scotia show with a local musician, on a mountain top, during training sessions, in the line at the bank... wherever I darn well felt like it.
Why not knit at a party? If everyone there is indulging in their vice, (smokes, drinks, whatever), why can't you have yours? As long as you aren't ignoring them and as long as you are still able to engage in whatever conversation is going on, well, I think you're ok. But that's just me.
My family and friends have gotten quite used to seeing me knitting. Now they raise an eyebrow when I DON'T pull out the needles.
In the end, it's up to you. If you don't feel comfortable, it's your call. But how will you "spread the good news of yarn" without a little KIP? Hee hee.
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