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Reactions You Get When You Tell People You Knit: Add Yours!

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reactions to knittingOver the weekend I saw this fun post from Love Knitting about the reactions people commonly have when you tell them you knit.

Of course the first is “can you knit me something?” The answer is no, of course.

It also covers “I could never do that” and “why can’t you just go buy a sweater?” as well as a couple of other classics.

I would add to the list “you should totally sell that!” because I get that one all. the. time. (And we’ve talked about why selling isn’t as great as it seems before.)

Another great one is “I don’t have the patience for that,” while we all know that knitting is part of what gives us patience to deal with all the nonsense around us.

What would you add to this list? What do people say to you when they see you knitting or you tell them you are a knitter?

{Photo via Love Knitting.}

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Comments

  1. They ask me how old I am, and why I act like a senior citizen lol. I am in my 30s and quilt as well.

  2. I make hats, using 2 circs. People ask, “What are you making?” I spread it out and show them how it will grow into a hat. Then they usually ask how long it will take, and are surprised to hear that a hat takes me 5 hours to make. I haven’t heard anyone say they don’t have the patience, and there have been no comments about my age – probably because I am already OLD.

  3. Variation on the the ‘buy a sweater’ comment: as I am usually knitting socks when traveling, more than once I have heard, “you should just buy socks at Walmart.” As if Walmart ever sold any socks like the ones I am knitting. And where would be the fun in that? I knit socks because I enjoy it, obviously, not because I can’t afford to buy them. No one knits socks to save money. Silly.

  4. Oh – I wish I had the time for that! Often spoken by someone who has seen every episode of Game of Thrones 🙂

  5. Along with, or right after the dropped jaw comes the inevitable “but you’re so…rock’n’roll…” They can’t conceive the thought of a rocker, derby girl being quiet and concentrated for five minutes, if that long. I used to show them some “black-skull-rocker” piece or whatever. Nowadays I don’t bother, I just nod and say ‘yeah, well, stereotypes can be a b****, you know?” LOL

Have you read?

A Blanket Knitting Pattern Where Yarn Selection is Everything

Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]