Dear Ann:
Yesterday afternoon, I took the subway downtown to have coffee with Ina and basically solve all the problems of knitting and the world in two lively, pleasant hours. Tribeca was overcast and chilly and had that exciting “snow is coming, maybe” feeling in the air. To get there, I took the 1 train, and got in a few rounds on a sleeve of the Ranger cardi I’m knitting. Next to me was a young woman, very beautiful, all bundled up and looking at her phone. Having my commuter face on, I only noticed her because she was getting hit on, hard, by a man sitting across from us, and she dealt with him so lightly, graciously, and effectively. After he got off the train, I breached the imaginary glass wall between passengers and looked at her, and she looked at me, and my knitting, and said, “Have you ever knit on one of those loom things?” And we had a conversation about that, because I haven’t knit on one of those loom things, and it turned out that she had made the lush, bulky short cowl she was wearing on one of those loom things. And I thought, geez, everybody is a knitter these days.
Post-Ina, I got on the train again. Grabbed a seat next to a young man, who then jumped in front of me to tap a young woman on the shoulder to give her his seat before he jumped out of the train. (Thus making amends, in some way, for the dude who’d been annoying the young woman on my trip downtown. Yes, I’m a judgmental old gal.) She was carrying a canvas bag. On the side, it said, “Knit and Let Knit.” Once again breaching the unwritten rules of the subway, I said, “I like your bag. Did you get it at Purl?” Yes, she said, she’d just come from there. And sure enough, there were skeins of yarn at the top of her bag.
I am just saying: knitters are everywhere.
It happened to you, in Nashville, not too long ago, in a little episode called, “A Golden Globes Knitter Inside My Home.”
Happy weekend, everybody! Stay warm and dry, if it’s not very warm and dry where you are at the moment.
Love,
Kay
PS Congrats to Karen T. from Yonkers and Karen C. from Champaign, Illinois, the winners of our book and yarn giveaway for Susan B. Anderson’s Kids’ Knitting Workshop. The Karens have been notified by email, and their books and yarn are on the way. Happy knitting and teaching!
Kay, Heed your own advice. Be careful to not wrench your back while clearing a walkway for HRH Olive so she can — er, “use the doggie facilities”. (Before you kvetch, I grew up with pugs in Chicago,. Yes, I do know smaller pups, blizzards, and the combination of the two!)
There are just some rules which need to be broken! 🙂
Being out in the world with visible knitting is a lot like being out in the world with a dog. Biggest difference for me is that dog lovers want to pat my dog, but will usually ask first. Knitters’ hands just seem to automatically reach out to touch the knitting 🙂
I think the difference is that knitting doesn’t bite. 🙂
I dunno. My knitting bites me from time to time…;)
And, of course, that Knit and Let Knit bag is a very fine Nashville product from Karen Templer’s brilliant shop at Fringe Association.
http://www.fringesupplyco.com/product/knit-and-let-knit-canvas-tote-bag
I just took a look. Love, love, love the bento bags! and the Bookhou bags. and the flour sack towels. And the natural bone needles….
Windy with waves rocking and rolling here, but no snow yet. I hear NYC is in for 2 feet. Stay warm!
I’d be a terrible New Yorker; I talk to everyone when I use public conveyance. Just ask the guy who sat next to me on the plane to Chicago last summer.
Once in Moscow I lost my balance when the subway train jerked, or something, and I fell on a guy reading a book. As I’m an American, I apologized profusely. The guy just kept reading….never looked up from the book.
That IS being a New Yawka! At least when I was growing up there, it was! My kids to this day (and they are in their 30s) say that I embarrassed the cr*p out of them whenever I was on line at the supermarket, talking to anyone and everyone!:)
Enjoyed the memory of knitting on the 1. We lived in Riverdale and spent many hours riding the 1 into Manhattan. Knitting was essential!!!!
I can take either the 1 or A downtown from Inwood, but I find the A easier to knit on and I have a prettier walk to the stop.
Good inspiration, Kay! I will get the sock project started so many months ago and never seem to have time for, find a pretty little bag to keep it in, and resume my work on it, but publicly. It’s plain socks on 2 circulars, so there will be a lot of straight forward knitting (cuff and foot) where I won’t need to be very attentive and fear making mistakes.
BTW, congrats to the two Karens who won the contest. Karen T, if you are the Karen I know, I miss you at knitting on Saturdays.
LoveDiane
Bwa haha! We are EVERYWHERE!! Knitting goodness forever!
All that snow is a great reason to stay inside and knit. Be Safe Everyone.