Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Militant Knitters

A pleasant woman sitting next to me on the bus pulled out her knitting gear and started casting a purple yarn with fringe balls, creating a funky stitch that caught my attention. Her face was weathered from selling knit hats and mittens at the outdoor flea markets around town. She gave me her card, in the event I decided to take a knitting class at the Jewish Community Center. Given that I am limited to knitting patches and then stitching the ends together to result in a crude wrist warmer, the offer may be a good idea. 

This encounter was in stark contrast to the experiences I had in area yarn stores a few months back. After I was welcomed to the cult by one store owner, another proprietor expressed deep reservation about even selling me one of her yarns until she had inspected my stitch work. She wanted to know if my knitting technique was too tight or too loose. I suppose I look like a loose knitter, no? 

The Militant Knitter stroked the yarn I had selected and exhibited an over attachment to her surplus merchandise. She had refuted my intention to knit wrist warmers before graduating to a scarf. And, when I described the Frankenstein-like stitching I cultivated to close the wrist warmer, she became alarmed and then called me a cheater. 

Whatever relaxation that I derived from passive knitting has been drained out of that experience.


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