I don’t know if its the time of year or the place I am in my life, but I’ve been feeling pretty thoughtful lately. Mostly about my own personal situation, but there has been a good deal of thinking about knitting. In fact, Angela over at KnitLuck started her own video blog last week and ran Episode 2 this week. If you’ve got about 20 minutes (or even if you don’t) I would drop in over there and watch her video. It’s a great opportunity to “visit” with a fellow knitter and do a little mindless knitting in the process. I found it incredibly honest and endearing. But, it also got me thinking about my own knitting identity.
In this second episode, she talks about being an Obsessed Knitter. Angela describes her signs that she (or someone else) is an Obsessed Knitter. Here is what I gathered:
1. Finding social comfort in being around other knitters, even more so than being around other people
2. While watching TV or movies, taking notes on the knitted garments and searching for them online
3. Always knitting
4. Planning your life around knitting, like housekeeping, storage, and shops to visit while on trips or vacation
5. Seeking people out in public who are wearing knit garments and talking with them
6. Feeling naked if you don’t have knitting with you
7. Writing about knitting
These are her criteria beyond just having lots of yarn, needles, projects, and books about knitting or fiber. As I listened to her and knitted, I was compelled to also stop and write down notes and my thoughts on her theory of being an obsessed knitter.
1. Since moving to 2 different cities in the last 2 years, the first people I have sought out socially have been knitting groups through Ravelry and Meetup.com.
2. I don’t necessarily take notes on TV knits, but when I am out shopping or just looking, I am usually drawn to knit items. I have taken photos of scarves and sweaters in stores to determine their construction. I might have even counted the stitches of the “cast-on” edge. I won’t buy knits in the stores if I determine that I can make it.
3. I am always knitting. I don’t just sit and not knit.
4. I do plan my life (somewhat) around knitting. I have a knitting group I meet with on Thursday nights and therefore will not make any other plans for that night. I do have designated storage in my home for my hobby. I create the Knit Nest whenever I settle to really work in my home. I also do look up shops before trips to determine if they will be open and how close they are to where I am going so I can pop in for a visit. And this year, I am taking a trip to Vogue Knitting Live in Chicago. A trip just for knitting.
5. I will stop people in public if it looks like they are wearing something hand knit and ask them about it.
6. There is always some project traveling with me in my purse. If that’s not enough, I do stow my Never Ending 1st Project in my car for red-lights, trains, and the occasional draw bridge (when I lived in Louisiana).
7. I do write about knitting. I have a whole blog devoted to it. I even use a fair amount of my journal to write about knitting.
This brings me to an understanding about myself, that yes, I am an Obsessed Knitter, but what is my knitting identity beyond being Obsessed?
I think part of my knitting identity is about creating things from scratch. Pia at Noget Uldent just wrote a guest post over at Not Your Average Zoe called Ad fontes. This literally means “back to the fountain” or “back to the source.” Pia talks about being someone who finds value in creating things from scratch and in her post, invites the reader to think about their next step back to the source in all their endeavors. Creating from scratch is one of my favorite things to do in the kitchen. Taking simple ingredients and turning them into something delicious is so enticing to me. I think this is also the pull of knitting. Taking simple string and sticks and creating garments. Soft, warm, beautiful garments.
So I’m an Obsessed Knitter who enjoys creating things from scratch.
I will continue to stew on this in my brain to determine the other factors of my personal knitting identity, but I think this scratch thing is significant.
Thank you for letting me share my thoughts. Happy Thursday 🙂
v’s & bumps,
Jenna
hardknitlife 