There must be something here about creation on trains as opposed to consumption (reading, listening, playing a game). Consumption (to be clear, I am not talking about the Tuberculosis colloquialism) appears to be more normative on NYC trains than creation. People will look at you curiously (not aggressively, just with a sense of "I wonder") if you are creating (e.g. writing in a journal, drawing, taking a photo, knitting etc.)
Personally, I like my seated train time to be "me" time, but I could talk about knitting for hours, so unless I'm on a knitting deadline, I'll take out my headphones and talk to people who approach to speak to me specifically about knitting. Usually, they ask "what are you making?" or tell me "I used/just started to knit."
I nod enthusiastically, happy that someone else has felt drawn to the craft that excites my fingers.
Yesterday a man sat down next to me, and implored with his body language that I make eye contact. I took out my earbuds. "Is that knitting?" He asked. "Yes, it is!" And before I could ask why he was interested, he told me that he was very interested in learning, and described the project the had in mind (a simple scarf with two colors).
He also mentioned that his friend Betty had given him a book by some "named Betsy or something." "Was it Elizabeth Zimmermann?" I asked, "is it small and maroon--" "with a hard cover" he nodded, smiling. "But I paged through and she has all of these formulas and it just seems so hard. He exhaled with exasperation. "Oh, you paged through?" I said arching an eyebrow. "Yeah," he admitted "I didn't really read it cover to cover at all...it seemed too hard." "Oh that's just because it's a knitting tutorial disguised as a cool narrative. Don't let the blocks of text scare you...it's like reading Harry Potter, and sometimes she gently tells you how to knit something...Anyway I suggest starting that book at the beginning...you'll be surprised."
He looked thoughtful but suspicious. Noticing my hint at a denouement to the conversation he dove into questions about knitting. "I want something that's two colors, how do I do that?" " Do I just tie a knot?" "What if I want a letter 'C' in the middle?" "What kind of yarn do I use? "Does it matter how big the needle are?" "Do bigger needles really make bigger 'loops'? And what is meant by 'loops' anyway?"
I decided to give him some perspective. "You seem very determined, which is excellent. First let's talk resources. Ravelry. It's kind of like facebook for knitting, but not really, that's just the best was I can describe it. You'll find lot's of free patterns and advice there. ALSO YouTube has a million videos of people explaining how to do the simplest to the most advanced stitches. I really like that your friend Betty gave you that Elizabeth Zimmermann book. That book made everything click for me, so I really hope you read it. It's good writing, it just happens to also be about how to knit stuff. There are plenty of online resources for free patterns and advice, so don't forget about the power of google."
"And Don't be afraid to ask questions! Some knitters will think beginners' questions are silly, but just laugh with them, and everything will be fine. You're learning." "Also," I added, "nobody gets it right the first time. Your yarn might get tangled, you might lose your place, you'll make mistakes. That's okay."
"How to I get the yarn on the needle?" He asked. "Well that's called 'casting-on' but seriously if you just google the question you asked me, you'll get the same answer. There are a million ways to cast on, but start with the backwards loop method (which I showed him--he seemed delighted--"it's so easy!"), and figure out what cast-on you prefer as you learn more."
"Okay," he continued, "How long does it take to knit a scarf?"
"That really depends from person to person," I answered. "You need to take into account how fast you knit, how big your needles and yarn are, and...well anyway it takes you as long as you want your scarf to be...does that make sense?"
We chatted about tassels, and how acrylic yarns don't "felt," which I basically described as "the yarns don't like meld together," but don't worry about that yet, and, fair warning, don't ask an online forum about felting acrylic yarn.
When the train reached my stop he seemed bursting with more questions. I let him know about Knitty magazine, and said my contact is on there in this month's issue under Icarus.
He seemed full of energy, and was a little disappointed that I had to get off of the train.
I hope this guy gets to make his scarf. I hope a new knitters keep asking questions, and I hope that this community of stitchers gets so big that we can knit lovely things for everyone: friends, family, ourselves, and people in need.
So if you see a small brunette girl knitting on an NYC train, feel free to approach and ask questions!
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