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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.}

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?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.