for the past 5 years, at least, all my social interactions (that haven't revolved around my kids) have revolved around knitting. i'm used to talking to people about knitting and having them 'get' me. well last night at a social event for writers, i had a shocking realization: non-knitters really do find knitting kind of insane.
last week, when my writing buddy started mocking the knitting, I thought it might just be him- that he was just closed-minded, or more likely that he got a kick out of teasing me (hi Jay!) but i think it's not just him. people think knitting is weird. who knew?
last night a man compared me to his 100 year old grandmother sitting in her rocking chair, waiting for death. naturally, i took offence. this was followed by the classic "why can't you just buy socks" line. to which i pulled out my socks to show him how so-much-cooler they were than storebought socks. (he wasn't impressed. also shocking.)
then he joked that i should write a novel about knitting, and i shouted "done and fucking done!" (we were probably both a little drunk and argumentative... i also told him not to fuck with the lady with the pointy sticks...)
all in all, it was a very fun night.
so for the first time in a long time i was the weirdest person in the room because of my knitting (this doesn't imply i haven't been the weirdest in the room for other reasons...not by a long shot). i'm not sure how i feel about this. i've never laboured under the illusion that i'm normal- hell, who wants to be normal?- but i didn't think sticks and string would be what made me so strange.
2 comments:
As a tall white foreigner living in Japan I LOVE LOVE LOVE being stared at for something else. When I sit on the train and knit and the little old ladies and businessmen boggle at my knitting it makes me smile because for once they're seeing beyond my foreigner exterior and actually seeing part of me - my knitting!
I've also been compared to someone's (recently deceased) elderly mother who wouldn't put down her knitting even when she could barely see what she was making... wasn't sure if it was a compliment or not... ;)
Some of the men at work can't believe that I go out to a knit night. When I went to see the yarn harlot they thought that was weird. It's hard to explain knitting humour but they do think the things that I make are cool. I guess you need to compare in terms that they can relate to. Men are usually worse than us for hobbies. Hunting (why not just buy meat in the grocery store?), motorcycles,(why not a good economical car that gets you from point a to point b)...
Personally, I just love creating something new. Wish I had more time to do it. I'm sure though that the writing cuts into your knitting time but it's good to be diverse! Nancy
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