Holly wrote:
I think it was Laurel Thatcher Ulrich who made some comment in the preface to one of her books about women knitting at town hall meetings in New England, and the connection that still remains strong with women today--the pressure to always be productive like they had to be in Colonial times to keep their families healthy. I don't know if I agree with the idea, but it's an interesting one that I'm often thinking of and assessing in various knitting situations.
I had a new and nice situation of knitting in (semi-)public today. I'm a dancer in my spare time. Ballroom mostly. For over 3 years now I've been dancing in a "Formation" (8 couples, dressed and made up the same way, dancing to a special mix of music with all 5 Ballroom dances). Last saturday I got hurt, couldn't walk, couldn't dance. I'm off training for two weeks now. It's more than a pity, because tomorrow the team is presenting the new choreography to the people at our club, to families and friends, and I can't dance. But I was there, switching music on an off, while the team improved and corrected parts of the choreo. It's just dull to stand and wait to press some buttons to start or stop the music, so I fetched my knitting (overknees in red, burgundy and lilac stripes) and did a few rows. One of the boys saw that and ordered a hat (just for fun - he wouldn't ever wear it) and my partner came up during a short break and was stunned that the stripes come up while you're knitting. I'm well known for doing a lot of crafts (knitting, sewing, cardweaving), but they didn't ever see me doing it (except for sewing, for I did all the necessary corrections on our dance dresses last year). They seem to be more interested in what I was doing, than saying something awful about a "dying" handycraft.
Think about all the people you meet in town with the earplugs connected to mobile phones or mp3-players. They conceal themselves from all the people around. That's just as awkward as knitting in public. I imagine they don't hear music but just a voice saying "inhale, exhale, .." :o)
Twould be fun to come up with a list of knitting reasons or excuses--like the surgeon who knits to keep her hands flexible, or those who knit to keep arthritis at bay. I think mine would be making cheap gifts :)
Some time ago there was a TV-spot about how flexible hands and fingers are, what fine work may be done though we didn't ever realize what fine movements we do and what may be possible. The picture changed to two hands at a driving wheel doing nothing but holding the wheel. A voice said: "Why do you stop you hands from being creative and just driving your car?"
Creativity is a reason for me. Ilona To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
