How great to have a legitimate excuse to sit down after work this coming Saturday, with my green tea that a certain Barista has served me at The Sleepless Goat on Princess St, and do nothing but knit - in solidarity with other knitters who are doing the same thing around the continent. If anyone would like to join me, I plan to be there at 2:30pm on Sat.
I had the same feeling of sisterly kinship when I went for my first mammogram; but I believe that this will be a much more pleasant experience.
It got me thinking about knitting as the great multi-tasking activity. Although knitting a garment can be a pleasant and challenging experience that requires focus and skill, there is a lot of knitting that is, let's face it, just plain drone work if you are sitting there by yourself with nothing to distract you. Once you've got the pattern in your head, or if you have 4 inches of ribbing to do on a large man's fine knit sweater, or acres of stocking stitch with no shaping in sight, you need something to keep you from falling asleep.
Consequently, we spend relatively little time just sitting and knitting...we knit and watch/listen to TV, we knit at the hockey arena, we knit in waiting rooms, we knit while the kids are at their piano lessons. We knit on long drives (when we are the passenger), and we knit together when we go to Knit & Chat groups.
I've been to a few guild meetings (for knitting and other crafts) in my day and have enjoyed the stimulation of seeing the work that others have done. I've sat through my share of regular type meetings where agendas are important to keep you on track.
But my favourite of all my monthly commitments is getting together at Chapters' on the 3rd Tues. of the month (see coming events listing above) for the KINGSTON KNITTING CIRCLE "meeting" with a few women of all knitting skill levels, to natter and knit. It is truly a judgement free zone where everyone just seems to relax and let their hands and their eyes and their ears and their speech enjoy themselves. It's not exactly knitting in public, as we are in the back corner of the store, but it is knitting together...and I love it.
I had the same feeling of sisterly kinship when I went for my first mammogram; but I believe that this will be a much more pleasant experience.
It got me thinking about knitting as the great multi-tasking activity. Although knitting a garment can be a pleasant and challenging experience that requires focus and skill, there is a lot of knitting that is, let's face it, just plain drone work if you are sitting there by yourself with nothing to distract you. Once you've got the pattern in your head, or if you have 4 inches of ribbing to do on a large man's fine knit sweater, or acres of stocking stitch with no shaping in sight, you need something to keep you from falling asleep.
Consequently, we spend relatively little time just sitting and knitting...we knit and watch/listen to TV, we knit at the hockey arena, we knit in waiting rooms, we knit while the kids are at their piano lessons. We knit on long drives (when we are the passenger), and we knit together when we go to Knit & Chat groups.
I've been to a few guild meetings (for knitting and other crafts) in my day and have enjoyed the stimulation of seeing the work that others have done. I've sat through my share of regular type meetings where agendas are important to keep you on track.
But my favourite of all my monthly commitments is getting together at Chapters' on the 3rd Tues. of the month (see coming events listing above) for the KINGSTON KNITTING CIRCLE "meeting" with a few women of all knitting skill levels, to natter and knit. It is truly a judgement free zone where everyone just seems to relax and let their hands and their eyes and their ears and their speech enjoy themselves. It's not exactly knitting in public, as we are in the back corner of the store, but it is knitting together...and I love it.
2 comments:
Knitting and chatting combine 2 of my favourite things! Don't know if i'll be able to make it Saturday, I have a photo competition going on the same day...scavenger photo hunt! But I may be by the area, depending...
Ahh, I've been feeling deprived of social knitting since I got back from TO. I will be KIP at my son's soccer game on the morning of the 9th, but I think I will go to the Goat later. Maybe I'll drag along my newly "off the wagon" ex-knitter friend!
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