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robinstephanie
Seriously Hooked
USA
878 Posts |
 Posted - 03/26/2012 : 04:52:32 AM
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... you're just getting along with your day, when all of a sudden somebody says, "Excuse me, did you knit that?" And you say, "Why yes, I did." And she or he says, "It's lovely; what's that pattern/yarn/stitch..." And you say, "It's X. Are you a knitter?" And off the two of you go, bonding with a complete stranger over the love of knitting.
Happened yesterday; a lady asked me the question, we chatted, and her husband asked questions--I could tell he'd had a knitting education, but seemed to be more involved because she loved it, which was really sweet. It was a really nice moment in an otherwise hectic day.
Robinsteph
Different is good. ~Matthew Hoover |
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HRH the Knitting Queen
Chatty Knitter
USA
344 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2012 : 06:30:10 AM
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Yep...and it would happen more for me if I could magically turn that yarn I have upstairs into the ideas I have in my head. I wish I could knit like Hermione and Mrs. Weasly can...
www.merrykarma.blogspot.com -~- I'm MerryKarma on Ravelry. |
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EmEm
Warming Up
USA
78 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2012 : 07:36:44 AM
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| I love when that happens! It puts the sweetest smile on your face for the rest of the day. |
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donnawatk
Seriously Hooked
661 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2012 : 09:18:21 AM
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| Robinsteph, It makes you smile all day. My sister had a hat I made and a lady asked what store did she pick it up from. The responds was wonderful when she said the shelf of Donna and pointed at me. Donna |
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crafty1mjw@comcast.net
Seriously Hooked
USA
855 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2012 : 1:46:26 PM
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Hi, robinstephanie! I'm a firm believer in knitting in public! Usually, when I'm out & about knitting, somebody asks me about what I'm working on. I love it!
craftymjw
Keep on knitting!
A balanced diet is a peanut butter cookie in each hand! |
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jtamsn
Permanent Resident
USA
1580 Posts |
Posted - 03/26/2012 : 1:49:25 PM
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I enjoy that too! I find that often at work, someone waiting with a patient will be knitting and I will start the conversation with the size needles they are using or the brand of yarn.....just by looking at them! They immediately know I'm a knitter and off goes the conversation...
judy |
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robinstephanie
Seriously Hooked
USA
878 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2012 : 08:13:18 AM
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Hey knitters, thanks for your replies! Donna, what a great story--you always have great stories about your sisters. Judy, wow, you are good. Crafty, I love knitting in public, too. I like when I can see people surreptitiously watching me out of the corner of my eye. Sometimes when i look at them and smile they get courage and ask me what I'm doing, which is always fun. I like to think I'm planting "knitting bug seeds" and that some of those people will eventually sprout into knitters. And HRH: Hermione knits?! Didn't realize, perhaps I should re-read the books its been a long time they sure are fun... (:
Robinsteph
Different is good. ~Matthew Hoover |
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HRH the Knitting Queen
Chatty Knitter
USA
344 Posts |
Posted - 03/27/2012 : 7:49:37 PM
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Yes...remember how she would knit stuff for the house elves?
www.merrykarma.blogspot.com -~- I'm MerryKarma on Ravelry. |
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donnawatk
Seriously Hooked
661 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2012 : 03:53:36 AM
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| Robinsteph, You can't be down around us. We have fun every time we are together. DONNA |
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lella
Permanent Resident
9697 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2012 : 11:24:23 AM
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Don't be down, Robinstephe! Here's some (((((((hugs!)))))))for you! Use them all day, anytime.
My memories of knitting in public are very precious. Here's a couple:
Once a teenage boy gave me the sweetest smile when I pulled out the ongoing sock project and started to knit at an office building lobby. And once when I was sitting, knitting another sock in a nursing care hospital's quiet corridor, another visitor came by and asked to see my knitting. She had taught knitting and was happy to see it making a comeback. We chatted for a short time but it made for an unforgettable moment in time. The socks were green.
Lella
Zippiknits
"Life is good if you don't weaken." Calvin Coolidge
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sockjoan
Warming Up
Australia
50 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2012 : 12:36:33 AM
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| I often knit in public - on the bus or in waiting-rooms or even supermarket queues. Have also once or twice simply HAD to stop the person in front of me if she'd knitted the gorgeous scarf or whatever she was wearing. We end up trading Ravelry names. And I do a lot of recruiting for Ravelry. The young things think it's very cool that a Granny type like me can explain stuff on the Net! |
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hillstreetmama
Permanent Resident
USA
3448 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2012 : 01:41:18 AM
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I took my DD to a TMJ specialist once, and when we returned 6 months later, the receptionist said, "Oh, you're the lady who knits her own socks!" What a way to be remembered!
Jan
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Grand-moogi
Seriously Hooked
Australia
773 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2012 : 03:45:26 AM
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I think I have mentioned how my daughter knits everywhere, even walking along the street.
Today she was in the newsagents and they asked her what she is knitting now. She replied "Bed socks for Mum" Then one assistant said to the other, "Did you see the hat she had on yesterday?" and the second replied "No, but I saw the tunic she finished" and the first said "Oh I didn't see that, I only saw the hat"
My daughter says she has to go around everywhere and show everyone what she has knitted because it seems so many people see her knitting and want to see the finished article. She apologised saying that I am going to have to invite the whole town to a sleep over when she finishes my bed socks.
I knit a hug into every stitch |
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kkknitter
Seriously Hooked
641 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2012 : 04:11:10 AM
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If I have a lull at work I will pull my knitting (socks) out and knit a few rows. Most people will ask to see what I'm doing, and often this will end with a nice discussion about the craft, especially if they happen to be knitters as well or if they know somebody who knits. Once in a while someone will be incredulous over the fact that I make socks instead of buying them.
Kristina
--kk
Flickr pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kkknitter/ |
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materavis
New Pal
39 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2012 : 08:04:18 AM
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| It happened just this morning. I was knitting on the subway when the woman next to me asked what I was making. I showed her the sock I had already finished and she told me how a friend had tried to teach her to make baby booties years ago. So I showed her how my translator on a trip to Russia years ago (taking first-aid supplies to an orphanage) had taught me this super-easy way to knit continental. And on we went. It happens a lot, since I don't own a car and take public transport. |
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jamieknits
New Pal
14 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2012 : 08:45:18 AM
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I have a personalized license plate that has a picture of a handprint followed by "KNIT". Not everyone understands that it means handknit, but enough do that I get frequently get friendly smiles and waves (coupled with pointing at the plate).
The other evening my husband and I were out for an early dinner, and a young boy was walking with his family in the parking lot. He stopped at my car, looked up at his parents, and said "why does that car say knit?" The mother responded that the owner probably likes to knit. I piped up at that point and said that indeed I do. We had a brief chat, during which the boy (maybe 7 years old) announced that you could knit with chopsticks.
We all smiled for a good long while.
Jamie |
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emmyc
Chatty Knitter
USA
125 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2012 : 10:40:00 AM
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This happened to me last night at a conference dinner I was attending and wearing a shawl I knit. Always have a great discussion and makes me happy.
emmyc
winchester ma |
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kare
New Pal
18 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2012 : 12:55:20 PM
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That seems to happen more often to me recently. I think that's because I wear things that are bright or cheerful colors, and that look a bit different from those shelves of the same items in many stores.
If possible, when I see someone knitting, I'll ask them about their project or yarn or something that opens up a neat conversation.
This especially closes up the generation gap...and sometimes we both learn something new. |
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hkpdx
New Pal
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 03/29/2012 : 2:19:39 PM
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Yes, yes, yes. Last week was the first meeting of a "knit night" group. It is largely a group of women who met at the Madrona Festival last month and that live in Portland.
I had a horrible day at work and wondered how I could be cheerful for the evening. Then all these wonderful knitters came to my door with flowers and food and wine to thank me for organizing the group and having the first meeting in my home.
What a wonderful way to end the day! |
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bearknitter
New Pal
USA
13 Posts |
Posted - 03/30/2012 : 6:48:00 PM
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This is why knitting has made my life so much richer. I'm naturally shy, but tend to open up when asked about knitting. Sometimes you can't shut me up!
For example, we were at our usual Thursday nite knitting group yesterday at a local coffee house, and a man asked if we knitted there regularly. He said he wife knitted, and she might be interested in knitting with us. "She usually knits only socks" he said, as if that were a bad thing. Several of us held up our socks, and he pointed to one of us and said "Oh, two at a time! She'd love it here. If only I had my cell phone, I could call her!" Someone produced a cell phone. Since a half dozen new faces have appeared in the last 3 or 4 weeks, I can only guess most of them heard through friends or were getting their coffee fix only to discover our group.
In this very impersonal digital world, I find hand knitting not only enriches my tactile life but my social life. Coworkers and strangers constantly ask if I knitted what I'm wearing, then shake their heads when I explain about lace. I could go on and on. There are so many stories.
Oh, yes. One last thing. I taught my sister to knit socks over the past two years or so. This week a friend of hers went up to her and asked my sister to teach her how to knit socks! Full circle knitting. |
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robinstephanie
Seriously Hooked
USA
878 Posts |
Posted - 04/01/2012 : 12:36:19 PM
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What great stories everybody has. I especially like Grand Moogi's upcoming bed-sock sleepover, and Lella's teenage boy's smile--I do wonder what was going on in the head of his. Some happy memory, clearly.
Lella, thanks for the hugs. That pile will last a while!
HRH--Oh yeah, I completely forgot about the house elf knitting! I think I read those books before I was a knitter, or I would have remembered.
Robinsteph
Different is good. ~Matthew Hoover |
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Don't you love it when...
