I FINALLY made it over to DC's Looped Yarn Works for knit night (which I keep trying to write as knit knight....as if a knight in woolly armor is going to swoop in to slay the snarling alpaca dragon with a giant knitting needle sabor....)
The crowd consisted of:
Let me tell you, folks. While you all make me feel loved and appreciated by allowing me to ramble on about knitting and such even when you don't really understand why anyone should love wool the way I do, there is something special about hanging out with a whole group of people who understand what the pain of accidentally sitting on a metal double-point needle or the thrill of watching blobbly lace transform into something beautiful and intricate when it is blocked is like. And more importantly, it was a social situation where EVERYONE was knitting and NO ONE rolled their eyes at me when I brought up the subject of yarn....AGAIN...
Thank you, Looped. I will be back!
The crowd consisted of:
- A social group that meets either at knit night or for coffee every week. Unclear what their common bond is other than niceness and knitting.
- Two men, both EXTREMELY talented at their craft. It seems annoying to ask "how does it feel to be a man who knits?" when it would be weird for someone to ask me "how does it feel to be a woman who knits?" So I didn't ask. Maybe next time.
- Two young women brand-spanking-new to knitting who would pipe up with a "what the heck is that?!?!" every time someone said words like "felting," "long-tail cast-on," or "blocking lace." One of the women informed us that she had learned to knit when she got snowed in with her family over Christmas. She locked herself in the home office to get away from her family and learned to knit over YouTube from a woman who talks to her dog the whole time she is explaining stitch techniques. I, for one, found this an ingenious and perfectly normal family-coping mechanism.
- A whole bunch of other people wearing ridiculously elaborate hand-knits. Now I am sad that I haven't kept more of my own knitting over the last year (although I do love sharing it with appreciative recipients), because all I have to show off at knit night is my hat and whatever is on my needles at the moment.
Let me tell you, folks. While you all make me feel loved and appreciated by allowing me to ramble on about knitting and such even when you don't really understand why anyone should love wool the way I do, there is something special about hanging out with a whole group of people who understand what the pain of accidentally sitting on a metal double-point needle or the thrill of watching blobbly lace transform into something beautiful and intricate when it is blocked is like. And more importantly, it was a social situation where EVERYONE was knitting and NO ONE rolled their eyes at me when I brought up the subject of yarn....AGAIN...
Thank you, Looped. I will be back!
Glad you found some knitting groupies. :)
ReplyDeleteAh, I love knitting--I really should get working on the project that has been in the works forever. I totally would have asked the men that. ;)
ReplyDeleteHaving a group to craft with is fabulous. Luckily I found a group that promotes all types of crafting because if I needed separate groups for knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, and cross stitching, I would be in serious trouble.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I also taught myself to knit with Youtube...and a book my kids bought me.
ICLW #59
I am a long-time crocheter and recently found a group that crochets/knits together. It is great to have a community to share this with. They even inspired me to lean to knit as well, which I am doing now.
ReplyDeleteAs for learning to knit while stuck with family, I taught myself to crochet to deal with the stress of grad school. It is a great stress reliever.
Dear Knowing Knitter (who is about to get her MPH),
ReplyDeleteWhat is the etiquette of working with yarn while sneezing due to a head cold, particularly if your project is for someone else? Should it be avoided?
<3 Curious Congested Coldy Crocheter
C.C.C.C.
ReplyDeleteIf you are going to give your item a nice bath when you are done with it anyway (I usually do, because I carry projects around in my purse with me where they tend to get a little dusty and also, a little bath/blocking always makes wool items look a little more even and pretty), then go ahead and keep crocheting. The real question is, why would you want to crochet when knitting is a far superior craft?!?! ;-)
Sincerely,
The Knowing Knitting