Thursday, June 15, 2006

Knitting in Public

With the regards to the WWKIP Day last saturday, I want to put a in few words about my KIP. WARNING: This is going to be super wordy.

I KIP a lot, almost daily. I will feel kind of lost, staring into blank space, trying to avoid eye contact and pretending to fall asleep. All of that when I don't have a project in hand. So having my knitting during my commuting has really became a part of me.

Even when I was a beginner then, I wasn't shy to KIP too. I was always amazed by the new techniques I learnt that I want to do in public, showing it off silently. Exclaiming in every stitches that Hey, see I can do knit and purl stitches without wrapping the needle the wrong way.

I will received curious stares and overheard murmurings. I used to knit too, but gave up since I have no time for it OR It's such a waste of time, I rather buy from the shelves OR Who would wanna wear sweaters or scarves in this weather?!?! Many atimes, I wanted to voice out to these non- and ex-knitters, but I was way too cool with my knitting than to have such words disrupt my knitting peace.

Above all, I still received compliments from onlookers. Some of them do not know the time and effort put into it but after I told them how much time I spent, they were always in oohs and ahhs. So I guess it always nice to meet a fellow knitter who knows how to appreciate.

Since I stay on one end of the island, I tend to get a seat easily on the commute aka MRT(This is one of the most travelled public transportation in Singapore). Then one day, a lady got in 5 stations after me, which the cabin was crowded by then . Maybe it was a knitter's radar to detect another knitter's presence, I felt that she's a knitter too. She doesn't look too much like one, with a power suit and carrying a laptop case. A few stops later many passenger got off and she managed to grab a seat diagonally opposite me. I thought my senses were wrong so I carried on knitting for a while. I was engrossed in my knitting that it was only when I heard the broadcast that I realised I need to get off on the next stop. I glanced up and saw the power suit lady was knitting a dark blue scarf. woohooooo....was my radar accurate? u bet!

A littel bit about my WIPs, Something Brown is on hold till I'm done with Lady E. Lady E is growing at a amazing speed since I brought her around with me. 3 more balls before I give her a good soak. I will have more time with FFL when I get more stuffs off the needles. I so wanted to finish Lady E. I am so closeeeeeeee......

PS. This post was inspired after listening to the first 13 minutes of this podcast

5 Loops:

opportunityknits said...

Nice story, Lois. Now all we need is to lookout for men in power suits that kip!

Ruth said...

I knit almost daily too.. some of it in public too. For some reason I barely get ANY reactions at all (a little dismayed at that, actually)... the most I'll get is a quick disinterested glance. Perhaps its because I KIP in bookstores and quiet coffee places. Perhaps I need to KIP in public transportation or a busier place... =P

Amanda said...

I always kip in busy places with circular needles that way I can pretend to concentrate on other stuff, like sitting in the pub with Homer watching England play their first world cup match and wandering around B&Q diy store pretending to be excited by bits of wood, saws and drills. No one notices, no one cares except for the occasional small child who is normally too scared to mention it. I'm not sure if its a good thing or not, but it certainly keeps my boredom levels down.

Emily said...

Hi Lois, I just read your comment on the website of Fig and Plum about the Phildar pattern books. I can send them to you if you are interested though I can only get the French and Dutch versions. Of course I can always help with translating and maybe I'm even able to look up some English ones through their website, though I'm not sure. If you are interested at all (you don't have to of course!) you can contact me at rrej37 AT hotmail DOT com.

Love!

The MacKay Way said...

I didn't even KNOW about WWKIP...
But, I, like you, KIP near daily. I have it in my bag at (almost) all times.
I knit on my commute (and one evening a few weeks ago the car I was in had 10 knitters or crocheters in it! Go NYC!)
I knit at intermission time at shows, before the previews begin to run (and during a movie if it's a simple stockinette). I knit while waiting for my coffee. I knit when I'm in a queue. I KIP in every country I travel to.
And in most every place someone will make a nice comment.
WWKIP day is every day for me.

 
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