We are not at home to the knitting police

Just the other day on a Facebook group I saw a comment which started innocuously enough but by the time I had read the thread to the end I had steam starting to come out of my ears. And so, another slightly ranty blog post ensues.

I hasten to add that it wasn't the Everyday Knitter facebook group where this thread happened and I'm not going to name it for fear of adding fuel to the flames. I think I've said enough over there for the time being. Anyway, it started out as a comment about people learning to read charts and whether there was any advantage in being able to do so.

There then followed lots of helpful advice with people merrily debating the pros and cons of each. There then followed a series of far less helpful and constructive comments which is when my right eye started to twitch ever so slightly.

"Knitters who read from charts are lazy" 

"There is no reason to use charts when all the decent designers provide written instructions"

And my personal favourite "Charts are antiquated"

By this time my blood had started to boil and I had to step away from the laptop. 

Seriously, why on earth do people think they have a right to criticise others for how they chose to assimilate pattern directions. If they think the use of a chart is lazy what does that say about the use of stitch markers, or heaven forfend, lifelines. Why not go the whole hog and insist that we all knit complicated fair isle in mercerised cotton whilst adhering to directions written over 2 pages of densely packed 8 point Arial font? Surely anything else is just bone idle?

As soon as people start asserting the viewpoint that there is only 1 way to do things I know it's time to back away slowly. Strangely enough, this 1 way, this solitary way always seems to coincide with the speakers way of doing something and they are never backwards at coming forwards with this view.

Faced with the Knitting Police - whether they appear in front of you in public and whip your sock from your hands, or whether they are behind a keybaord on a Facebook group I now employ the tried and tested technique which got me through many a visit from the Health Visitor when my boys were babies.

Simply *smile, nod, ignore. Repeat from * to end.

Disclaimer: In case anyone were to think I am maligning health visitors let me be clear. They do a wonderful job in difficult, trying circumstances. We had 3 HVs during our baby days (prem babies, lots of TLC needed - won't bore you with the details). 2 HVs were wonderful, sainted creatures who made me tea, dried my tears and told me that despite all my protestions to the contrary I wasn't the worlds crappest mum. The third was awful. Opinionated, bossy and never failed to make me cry. I learned to deal with her by employing the above advice and it worked a treat.

Second verse same as the first

Knitting away on my Starting Point shawl I find that this refrain "Second verse same as the first" keeps flitting through my mind.

The rational part of my brain knows that any shawl which calls for 5 x 100g skeins of 4ply yarn is going to involve A Lot Of Knitting. But then there is the cold hard reality that dawns when you complete the loveliness that is the end of Clue 1. You smooth it out, you admire and pat it, you weave in the ends... oh OK, You got me there. You know me too well.

Then you realise that you have to make another piece exactly the same before you can dive into Clue 2. Sigh!

Still, this time around I know what it should look like and it's fresh in my mind so I can just steam ahead. 

In case you are wondering, I'm keeping the textured stitches to a minimum so I just have the ribbed section for yarn 2 and i'm replacing the eyelet rows with plain stocking stitch - it's just my personal preference.

Chronic Indecision

Eden Cottage Yarns Starting Point MKAL Pack 12

My knitting time today should be devoted to sleeve knitting and swatching for a new design submission. This little yarn delivery is calling my name however and I'm trying to resist.

This is Pack 12 from Eden Cottage Yarns and is destined for a Starting Point shawl.

This was originally released as a Mystery KAL and obviously now I know what it looks like it isn't exactly a mystery, but how it is put together intrigues me so I'm still planning on knitting it clue by clue, without reading ahead.

I absolutely couldn't decide on colours and yarns for this. In fact if you added up all the time I've spent rootling in my stash and surfing web sites I could have probably knitted the darned thing already.

So in the end I let the lovely Laura at Eden Cottage Yarns take care of it and send me one of their brilliant KAL packs. It's absolutely perfect and I'm so pleased with the colours. I love some of the really vibrant ones I've seen on Instagram and Ravelry but I asked for more subtle colours for my own pack - just because I know they will go with more of the colours I already have in my wardrobe.

After all, if I'm going to spend an eternity knitting this thing (and my, it is quite an undertaking) I want to be able to wear it at every opportunity.

And now for some sleeve zen

I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who took the time to contact me yesterday after my "knitting at sporting events" mini rant yesterday. It really seems to have struck a chord with many of you and I loved some of the stories you mentioned in return.

Several people mentioned the wonderful lady who knits at US hockey games and who often appears in photos and news feeds. She was roundly criticised on social media for knitting during the games but, here's the thing - the team players think she is wonderful and leapt to her defence. Have a look for her on Twitter where she is @PensKnittingLady - surely a modern knitting hero?

In calmer news today I am cultivating a state of zen-like sleeve knitting. My Windswept sweater now has the sleeve stitches picked up and I'm attempting to whizz along with my mini circulars despite the best attempts of end-of-school-term chaos to throw me off course.

Nope, I absolutely don't want to spend two hours painting a cardboard box yellow for you school disco fancy dress outfit but thank you for asking. Instead you can go as Charlie Bucket (check shirt and scruffy jeans) as you have been doing every other year.

My cunning plan is to get both sleeves to the point where the decreases start and then magic loop them two at a time - we will see how that goes.

I doubt that this will be an FO this week, but for next Friday - you never know.

Please knit appropriately

Places I have knit include (but are not limited to): school halls, church halls, churches, cathedrals, cinemas, sporting events, Olympic events, rugby fields, carparks, traffic jams, airports, trains, cafes, restaurants, museums. Hell, I've even knitted over tea at the Ritz.

In none of these places has anyone ever suggested that knitting is not an appropriate thing to do, nor has it generated the remotest amount of interest - except maybe when a lady took my sock off me in a cafe and told me that it wasn't possible to knit a sock on small circular needles (clearly overlooking the evidence she was holding).

The fact that a woman knitting at Wimbledon is enough to cause comment is something guaranteed to get my goat.

It would be bad enough if the comments were on the mainstream media but this discussion took place in a Facebook group for knitters. I am firmly of the 'live and let live' camp and I was pretty miffed to see so many comments along the lines of 'There's a time and place for knitting, and this isn't it'. Seriously, who is anyone to judge what someone else does with their time? I can't link to the thread as it ended up being deleted but to be honest it made for pretty unedifying reading.

And yes, if this sounds familiar you are quite right. The same thing happened back in 2012 and the BBC even ran a news story on it, And here we are in 2017 with similar comments and even comments that she is somehow wasting a seat because for the micosecond in which this photo was taken her eyes weren't on the match. If you did a quick headcount of all the people on Centre Court who were yawning, dozing, scrolling their mobile phone or daydreaming I'm sure you would find a good number who weren't fully focussed on events on the court. 

Imagine the headlines if a man were to be seen looking at his mobile phone during the 3:30 at Newmarket? Or someone gently dozing in the sun at Lord's. Would anyone even raise an eyebrow? But a woman, in public, knitting - hold the presses.

Wouldn't it be just fantastic though if it were a man knitting. How many social stereotypes could be broken in one sitting. The BBC would be mobilising the Newsnight team surely?

Nearly there

Fuelled entirely by caffeine and a desire to meet my revised stash dash goals. 

This morning I am determined that the body of the Windswept sweater will be off the needles and then I can dig out my trusty short circulars for the sleeves. I have learnt long ago that sleeve knitting and I can never really be firm friends and the only way that I can battle though them is to treat them like a plain vanilla sock and knit them on small circulars.

It's very strange when you think about it. Give me a lovely sock yarn and small circs and I'll merrily knit on them until the cows come home. Give me a sleeve on small circs and I hate and loathe knitting on it. I think it's the twisting and the untangling that comes along with having a sweater body attached to it. No matter what I try to I always seem to end up wrestling the rest of the garment as I try to knit.

A while ago I heard the Knitmore Girls talking about sweater knitting and I'm pretty sure that Jasmine mentioned that she knits the sleeves of sweaters right after the yoke and sleeve separation has happened. At that point there is hardly any sweater body to get in the way so you can knit the sleeves unencumbered and then go back and do the body,

That sounds like a fine plan and one that I wished I had remembered at the time. 

Next time... next time.