Knitting in Public

It's common now, isn't it?  Knitters knitting in coffee shops, under trees, in bookstores and on trains and in other public spaces.  So much so that knitting is commonplace and groups of knitters sitting together are no longer regarded as intruders in these public spaces.  Discussions about scarves and yarns and cable needles are now an invitation to be joined by other knitters.

Of course it wasn't always like this.  Knitters (and stitchers) bringing out their projects in waiting rooms and on a nice spring day and in a coffee shop were often looked at askance and questioned about why they were doing such an antiquated thing.  Such interaction would turn many people off from doing their craft except in their own homes or, if they were lucky enough, at a local guild.  Sad, but true.

Then the knitting phenomena happened.  There are a lot of reasons for this phenomena that are probably now the topics of Masters' Theses and blog posts and the like.  I saw it happen when I bought a needlework shop and within 2 years had to hire a knitter because I soon became known as a knit shop.  Who knew?  Then in 2005, an idea was launched to invite knitters to begin to knit in public, and it was named the "Worldwide Knit in Public Day."  That group of 25 worldwide  events has grown to be one of the largest knitter run event in the world.  You can read more about their success here, and you can find a Knit in Public event that you can join.  The dates are today through the 17th of the month, and as soon as I finish this blog entry I will take a sweater onto the front porch and watch the world go by as it watches me knit!

It is formally called Knit in Public day, but I see no reason that stitchers couldn't join in with the knitters.  I mean, many knitters remember stitching, or remember a friend or family member stitching, and maybe, just maybe, needlework can become more visible, too.  It's a little unconventional, it's "bearing witness to" other needle arts out there, and if nothing else, it shows that these other needle arts have changed a lot from what they were in the past.  And hey - we needleworkers are creative types who can use the internet, right?  What's stopping us from starting our own Stitch in Public day?!

So I hope you'll avail yourself of the chance to go out and let your needles be heard (well, you know what I mean!) and find someplace to Knit/Stitch in Public this week!

Starting with Socks

So when I arrive at the Mountain, check in, unpack my one meager bag full of all my winter sweaters, and prepare my many, many project bags for the weekend, I always start knitting on a sock.

Why a sock?

Well, for one thing, they're small. They knit up quickly. After the cast on and joining rounds, there's a lot of "mindless knitting" followed by "thinking knitting" followed by more "mindless knitting" followed by "thinking knitting." Then you finish with scrambling to find directions for the Kitchener stitch, and before you know it, you're done with your sock.

I started knitting a sock as my first project at the Mountain several years ago, when I was learning Intarsia in the round for a sock (from the "Socks for Sandals and Clogs" book) and I wanted the peace and serenity of the Mountain to be present while I started on this seemingly impossible adventure.

It wasn't impossible - it was fun, very very fun. Basically what you do is you knit with the background yarn to the pattern, slip the pattern stitches, knit the ground stitches, and then turn the whole thing around, purling across the pattern stitches while slipping the ground stitches. It can be done with small patterns (about 5 stitches, ground stitch or two, and 5 more stitches) but not with 12 stitch beer hat patterns. Those have to be knit flat, then sew up the seam in the back.

But I digress.

So with the wonderful lightbulbs going off above my head as I sat on the porch outside with other knitters around me to ooooh and aaaah at this cool new technique, I found that I was all jazzed from my new learning experience AND sufficiently calmed down from the exciting drive up to the Mountain to begin to knit on something a little more complicated that night after dinner.

And I do mean exciting - I drive a Neon, and there's a reason for it: it is the best handling car, most fleet and easily manuever-able car I've ever driven since I inherited my Dad's Camero in the 80's. There are twisty windy mountain roads all the way up to the Mountain, and yes, I do drive them as fast as my car can handle them. There is nothing like the feel of a great car hugging the road while it is put through its paces and it, too, revels in the feel of doing what it was designed to do.

But I digress. Again.

Anyway, the next year, I brought some socks to knit on, just regular sock knitting ("mindless knitting") in the round to slow down from the drive and mesh with the energy of the Mountain that year. I used yarn I had bought in Dahlonega while touring that yarn shop with some friends, just some simple yarn, and found that this sort of settling in to be just the thing. I could concentrate better, have more mental energy later that evening, and have something to just knit on in between thinking projects.

This year, I continued the tradition with some yarn I bought in Asheville. Asheville is truly a wonderful city for the arts and many people had told me while I was a shopowner (can you say "jealous about weekend getaways??") about Earth Guild as a wonderful shop to visit. While I was on one of my many weekend getaways post-shopowner life, I helped friends with building their Tiny House and stopped for a few hours in Asheville on the way to their Mountain. All of the customers who raved about Earth Guild - they weren't kidding - no matter what sort of handcraft you like, whether it be spinning or basketweaving or knitting, they have the tools and the expertise to help you with your project and get you started on your next. So much creative inspiration, and I'm so glad I was able to spend some time there at long last, visiting a legend.

To help bring my purchase up to the correct dollar amount to qualify for a 20% discount for my entire purchase, I bought some Trekking yarn for a sock. Liked the color, wasn't sure how the patterning would happen, but I needed a sock for, well, for take along knitting. I started it in time for DragonCon last year (now that the costumers are coming full circle with kimonos and steam punk, there is a room set aside for doing one's fiber arts every morning as costume add-ins or just to sit and knit or tat with friends), then brought its companion to the Mountain to revel in the energy there:


It's got very pretty shades of blues with lots of dark purples for contrast. I've worn it once to work - I buy sandles these days especially so that I can wear my socks with them. I'm discovering, though, that I need to knit socks with gussets in the front to compensate for the difference in size between my ankles and my calves. I do like the length and the marbling of the color.




Here's the companion (not quite completed) with the yarn info. I think you can get a better look at the quality of the coloring with this shot.

The needles are, yes, aluminum, but they are my grandmother's. While I've given away her other aluminum knitting needles to a good cause, I've knit most of my socks with these.



And that, dear readers, is why I knit socks at the Mountain. I'm concentrating pretty hard on very complicated projects and on wonderful conversations, and sock knitting brings just enough *brain sigh* energy to the weekend that I can relax while I'm there.

Another view

Here's a close-up of Allie's sock. Wow, Anne sure is some gorgeous yarn.

Anybody out there who was thinking of participating in the knitalong but hasn't done so yet, please join us! Just email Susan and let her know you want to sign up.

A tale of two gauges

Here are Peyton's and Allie's socks, both being modeled by Peyton. Peyton's sock (shown with just ribbing done) is done at the gauge the pattern called for, but she increased the stitch count to make the sock fit her better. Allie's sock (with the entrelac section) follows the pattern's original stitch count, but she is getting fewer stitches per inch than the gauge the pattern called for. As you can see, both socks fit pretty much the same. Which is good, since Allie's sock is actually a belated Christmas present for Peyton! Hopefully these ladies will join us and can tell you more about their Annetrelac experiences than I can.

It's happening!

Wow, I can't believe how much I'm enjoying the entrelac. I expected to love the result, but not the process, so this is a pleasant surprise. I did have to rip out my first two tiers of blocks because I realized I had misunderstood the instructions. When it says to do that series of steps "7 more times," I neglected to count the actual times I'd done it. I just assumed when I got to the end of the round, I was done, and I started going back the other way. WRONG. The rounds are actually meaningless for the entrelac section, so I removed my marker. It was only confusing me! Now I'm on the right track and loving the way this sock looks. Fun fun fun.

Mmmm...yarn...

Hey, everyone! I had a hard time choosing a colorway for my Annetrelac socks. There were several gorgeous almost-solid skeins at the shop, which tempted me, but I wanted more color variation for my entrelac blocks. The colors in the skein I ultimately picked remind me of a box of chocolates--cocoa and caramel and nougat and luscious fruity centers. Delicious.