Last Saturday I packed some knitting and two boys and headed off to Flat Planet in Central London to join in the Love Knitting/Knit for Peace World Wide Knit in Public event.
We couldn't get there early so everything was already in full swing when we arrived. To be honest it was a little daunting walking into a cafe full of chatting people who I didn't know, with the hope of joining in.
Then I remembered that these aren't just people, these are knitters.
A simple, "Do we just find a seat?" led to people shifting up, others changing chairs and the three of us were all sat down together, a little snug, but happy. The boys were amazingly well-behaved - with some help from loom bands, cake and an iPad - so I was able to chat and knit and knit and chat some more.
We couldn't get there early so everything was already in full swing when we arrived. To be honest it was a little daunting walking into a cafe full of chatting people who I didn't know, with the hope of joining in.
Then I remembered that these aren't just people, these are knitters.
A simple, "Do we just find a seat?" led to people shifting up, others changing chairs and the three of us were all sat down together, a little snug, but happy. The boys were amazingly well-behaved - with some help from loom bands, cake and an iPad - so I was able to chat and knit and knit and chat some more.
I ended up spending the entire day Knitting in Public one way or another - at cricket, on the tube, in the cafe and again in the tube on the way home. A few years ago I would have been too embarrassed to knit on public transport. In my head I imagined all the other passengers turning to stare at me, sirens going off and the train driver announcing, "Can the strange lady in carriage five please put those pointed sticks down and pick up a newspaper like everyone else."
Of course this says a lot about me at the time and not much about knitting. And it's not just because of knitting's 'revival', and because it's 'cool' nowadays to be creative with yarn that I can get my sticks and string out in public. It's because I realised that it doesn't matter whether it's cool or not, I just like it.
Of course this says a lot about me at the time and not much about knitting. And it's not just because of knitting's 'revival', and because it's 'cool' nowadays to be creative with yarn that I can get my sticks and string out in public. It's because I realised that it doesn't matter whether it's cool or not, I just like it.
