Knit In Public!!!

The first time I knit in public was when I lived in Spain. It was back in the early 80s, before the craze hit the U.S. on such a grand scale.

I lived in a small town, Alcala de Henares. Many of the towns women would sit out at the sidewalk cafes of an evening and knit. A local woman friend of mine, when she discovered I was a knitter, invited me down to join them. Thrilled at being included in with the locals, I gladly accepted. I timed my arrival so as not to get there before said friend. By the time I did arrive many of the knitters were already there. Everyone got about the business of admiring everyone else’s handiwork, something I have noticed is sadly missing in many knitting groups I have attended, and then working on their projects. As I began to knit, everyone stopped and stared.

I didn’t understand why until they began to chuckle and my friend explained that I was spending more time throwing the yarn around the needle than I was knitting. At that time I was an English style not Continental style knitter. I quickly became a group project myself and they had me doing the “continental” in no time flat.

Then, in the late 80s, when I came back to this country and joined another knitting group, everyone looked at me and asked what I was doing. Occasionally someone would say, “Oh, that is the continental method.” As if that was odd or something. Once in a while I would get - “Oh, look, she is knitting backwards.” or “She is knitting wrong.” As if there is a wrong way to knit! If there is, please, someone, let me know!!!

Anyway, to make a very long story short, go ahead, knit in public! It doesn’t matter how you hold your yarn or how you work your needles! You are knitting dadgumit! You may learn something new or you may teach someone else something they have always wanted to learn.
I say again
KNIT IN PUBLIC!!!