While taking the ferry over to the mainland for a short day trip, I was reminded once again of why I am a very dangerous person.
With an hour and a half on board with nothing to do but enjoy the lovely scenery, I figured "Hey, why not bring my knitting with? It's not like I have homework or anything to do!" I found myself a quiet corner seat, away from the main thoroughfares, so as not to spread my seditious actions far. Despite my past experiences with voyeuristic knitting, I felt it was still a good idea.
Hah.
Scenario 1: A middle aged gentleman, clad in a dark suit, to most a fine, upstanding fellow, stops in front of my seat. Stares at me. Looks me up, down, up. Stares at my knitting. Looks down, up, down. Stares at me. Moves on. Altogether, he spent nearly a good three minutes of the trip standing about 45 centimetres from me, apparently reviled by my actions.
Scenario 2: A toddler is walking with her mother along the aisle, stopping at most seats, babbling, playing with passengers coattails, etc… Her mother follows right behind, chatting and laughing with the passengers whom her daughter has been interacting with. Toddler gets to me, smiling and burbling, her mother takes one look at me, shouts "No!", grabs the toddler under the arms and whisks her away. The child immediately starts bawling.
Scenario 3: After having found my seat, an older-middle-aged lady sits besides me. Spends about five minutes worriedly watching me knit (her brows were beyond furrowed), then moves one seat over, and continues to watch hesitantly, trying to be subtle, but stealing horrifically obvious (and obviously concerned) glances my way. Five minutes later she departs, and does not return.
I had forgotten how shocking and inappropriate my flannel-clad, folk-music listening, shawl-knitting self could be. Remember, you are all warned, I am not safe!
P.S. Sorry for posting this without some photos, but I'm into the last big crunch week of term. I've got less than 40 rows to go on Laminaria though - it's still zipping, despite the fact that it is getting massive!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
In Which I Am Once Again A Danger To The Public
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12 comments:
And I thought that the Gulf Islands were more liberal than that!
Makes me think of when I was knitting at a café one day here in Paris and a little girl asked her mom what I was doing... Good thing I was in an increasingly hipster part of town, so she kindly explained what knitting was to her daughter. But you could nevertheless hear a bit of confusion in her voice!
In any case, keep on knitting in public! Just make sure your project looks good so at least they are impressed in their disgust!
I especially love scenario number two where you are terrorizing toddlers.... :-)
seriously?! I didn't realize how bad things were for male knitters!
This breaks my heart. Sorry to hear you got glared at/stared at/generally treated as if you were a danger to society.
What the heck? You with a Laminaria Shawl in progress and they judged you?! At least the mom didn't explain in depth that you were crocheting - and then disagree when you said it was knitting. Happened to both Annie Modesitt and the Yarn Harlot!
I really, really want to believe that the toddler was taken away because her mother was afraid she'd make a mess of your yarn, or was afraid of the pointy sticks... but I trust your judgment, and this makes me sad.
I hope it didn't get you down too much.
Knitting is patient; knitting is kind; knitting is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Knitting never ends.
(Taken from The Holy Stitchures, 1 Knitters 14:3-8.)
Unfortunately, the people who crossed your path that day didn't know the above quote. I know somewhere they can go...
Wow, knitting as a publicly subversive act!!! Knit one, pearl one!!
good on you for continuing on, unperturbed! and thanks for sharing.
It doesn't surprise me that much - knitting needles are dangerous. All of them have been afraid, just because of that and not because your knitting activity 8-)
Scenario 1; you live in a strange world.
Scenario 2: the current time is before 1900
Scenario 3: you didn't told us, that you had a pink hat on......
You know that is so blummin sad, whoevers knitting, why do folks assume they have the right to turn their noses up!
Now had you been doing something antisocial like chucking litter about or graffitti-ing they might have cause to show offence but otherwise......theres no hope for them... but I love the diea of the pink hat lolol
I just found your blog tonight and want you to know how impressed I am in what you do.You are very talented and If I saw you knitting or any male or feamle for that matter Id be over sitting next to you and chatting.Shame people prefer to make their own ideas rather than actually ask about what you are doing.
Keep it up mate well done.
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