What do you do while you're knitting?

[jackandahat]

I've just read yet another person going "Ooo, you can't possibly knit during films with subtitles". And I keep getting people doing the internet version of looking at me funny when I talk about knitting while reading fanfic.

But... to me that's perfectly normal. Obviously there's some stuff where I have to look at my hands, anything like picking up stitches. But if it's something like plain knitting/ribbing or an easy pattern, I'm generally either watching a film (with subtitles, dodgy hearing) or reading fic/a blog. I don't have the one-track attention to only be knitting unless it's something incredibly complicated - in which case I can only do little bits or it drives me nuts.

What do you do? Do you knit in front of the TV? Do you read while you do it? Do you knit while only focusing on the knitting? I'm curious now.

Comments

[deird1]

I'm not good enough at knitting to watch tv at the same time - but when I cross-stitch, I always have the television on.

[tattycat]

I can knit to just about anything other than horror films or books with a lot of jump-scares. Those play havoc with my tension.

[ironed_orchid]

I mostly knit while watching tv shows, on the bus, or on my lunch breaks.

I have knitted while reading academic papers, sitting in seminars, and reading hardback books (I find it too hard to prop paper backs open).

I do find it harder to knit when there are subtitles, but I think that may have more to do with needing a new glasses prescription, because I'm not really looking at my knitting most of the time. I often won't knit when watching something for the first time, because it has my full attention, but I do rewatch a lot, and once a series is a couple of seasons in, there's a familiarity which makes it easier to multitask.

From the knitting point of view, if I'm learning a new technique, I need to concentrate, but if I'm doing rows of ss or rib, then I could probably do them in the dark.

[domtheknight]

I pretty much never knit completely by itself! Instead I'm at a sporting event, or hanging out with people and having intelligent conversations (or knitting while teaching other people to knit), or watching tv/movies or reading (on the computer - can't hold open books and still hold knitting).

The rare exception is that sometimes if I'm taking a bus or train somewhere I might only knit. But typically I'm watching the scenery or the other passengers and making up stories about them in my head, or I'm plotting out a novel, or thinking of solutions for work problems, or similar.

I go the fastest on plain knitting or ribbing, but I taught myself two color brioche stitch a couple months ago and after the first two inches on the 7 foot scarf I read the rest of the way through it. I knit a lot of socks with lace or similar patterns, and if I'm doing that then I read a bit slower. I can't count stitches and read/talk/whatever very well - but I try to set things up so I don't have to count stitches.

[mommy]

I mostly knit while in front of the computer while reading fanfic or the news, although I've also knit while watching a subbed tv show. I learned to knit from the internet, so I started out while looking at a screen and see no reason to stop. I'd like to listen to podfic while knitting, but I've never tried.

[thistleingrey]

If I didn't knit or crochet during the few minutes a week when I have a chance to watch my current tv show, I wouldn't manage to fit any of them in. Heh. Tv with subtitles, yes. It makes the fiber work go more slowly for me, since I need to look at what I'm knitting even if it's in stockinette, but hey, there are enough weeks with neither yarn/thread nor tv in them.

Knitting and reading is harder, mostly for logistics as others have said: turning a page or hitting space is more interactive than watching a bit of tv....

[kirana]

I originally started knitting again because I was reading a lot and wanted to feel a bit more productive than that. ^^' I still read, as long as what I'm knitting isn't too terribly complicated--I may read slow, but reading does happen. ^^

[epershand]

I taught myself to knit in high school so that I could do something with my hands while reading textbooks without fidgeting myself to pieces--before that I finger crocheted full skeins of yarn over and over again into increasingly thick chains, which took care of the fidgeting but wasn't exactly a productive use of the yarn. I don't watch a whole lot of tv, but I pretty much have to be knitting or crocheting to do so. I also knit at the computer, or more recently with an e-reader propped at a good angle on my lap. (Actually, an open laptop with a lace pattern on one half of the screen makes an awesome e-reader stand! /o\ )

But sometimes I get myself into trouble. Last night I brought my current project with me into the bathroom before I realized that I do not in fact have a sufficient quantity of hands to knit while brushing my teeth. And once I was knitting a scarf with a diagonal rib while watching a movie in the dark, and when the movie ended I learned that at some point I'd reversed the direction of the diagonal and had knit a foot of scarf on the wrong bias. I mostly don't knit in the dark now.

[piplup]

E-Books have increased my knitting productivity so much, because it's so much easier to prop up and read while I knit. Sometimes I'll throw on some cartoon DVDs or something to watch, or have my girlfriend play a video game so I can watch that.

[epistrophia]

I desperately envy people who can read, or even give more than 50% of attention to the television, while knitting. I can more-or-less watch telly (meaning that I probably miss chunks of what's actually on screen), but really, all I can do is listen to the radio. Partly because of my glasses not working at different distances, but mostly because I'm not confident enough to not watch my hands as I knit.

One day, maybe....

[afuna]

.I read while watching TV and sometimes when I'm reading on an ebook reader that's propped up on one of those book/poster stands. Depending on what I'm doing, I can use my elbow instead of my hands to bump the ereader to switch pages, so that I won't have to let go of my yarn.

(It makes me really wish for the ability to voice control my ereader!)

Usually I knit easy stuff: simple 4-row lacework patterns that I've already memorized, swatches of stockinette, stuff like that.

First couple of repeats of any pattern, I pretty much have to pause everything and focus on just the knitting though! At least until I've figured out the logic behind the pattern and have either memorized the pattern, or established a rhythm.

Combination knitting is very useful when knitting while looking at something else, because the knit and the purls just feel different, so I just rarely ever need to look at my hands. But I'd been watching TV while knitting long before I ever tried combination-style knitting.


When doing more complicated lacework, I set it up so that both the chart and the show are on my computer screen, with the show set to always float on top so it doesn't get hidden even when I'm clicking around my lace chart. And then I just knit away...

This works better when the lace chart has long predictable stretches so that I only need to refer back to it occasionally *g*

I used to think that it would be too hard to knit while reading subtitles, but I'm finding that it's not as hard as I think! (Assuming that the show itself isn't too dense)

I always have to pause the show when I'm picking up dropped stitches. Too much going on otherwise

[squirrelodoom]

I'm another one for knitting while watching netflix/tv. There are times that my husband wants to watch a movie I have no interest in, and it lets me spend time with him (and he gets cuddles) while I get in my knitting. I also try to keep crocheting in the car and when I'm waiting for my 15 year old daughter in the parking lot to get out of whatever activity, I'll pull it out and throw a few rows on.

I hear about knit-ins at sports games, and they sorta sound like fun :)

[attie]

I started knitting so I wouldn't drift off during college lectures, so I am basically just listening while knitting. However, I am really jealous of all you people's skill at knitting without looking at the needles, because since I graduated I'm not making any progress on my knitting at all! (It's very depressing to go from a new project every week to "This beanie? oh, I cast in on in January. I'm about halfway done...") If I could knit while re-watching Star Trek TOS, I'd at least get half an hour of knitting in every day...

[indywind]

I knit with TV or movie, as long as it's not too complicated--entertainment rather than Art; including ones with subtitles. I knit while reading stuff on computer, which is pretty convenient except the interruptions to advance the page. If I could grow another couple hands I would knit while reading a paper book. I knit where I'm obliged to pay attention to someone else talking and not interrupt or fidget, as in a lecture class. I knit while being read to; that's most pleasant. I knit while engaging in idle chat, but not engrossing conversation; while riding on the bus or walking between errands, but only rarely with my complete undivided attention -- then usually if I'm fascinated with the pattern and/or eager to finish a (small) item or section.

[colourfull]

I am totally a sports/movie knitter. Or, maybe more appropriately, I'm totally a knitting sports/movie-watcher, because I CANNOT watch TV in any way, shape or form without knitting in my hands. I get fidgety.

That said, anything involving complicated lace is off-limits for knitting in the dark and/or with alcohol involved.

[woldy]

I like to listen to podcasts or audiobooks, but I will also knit easy things while watching TV or movies, on public transit, and once while in the audience at an academic conference. Like you, I get bored unless what I'm knitting is complicated. Mind you, I did once send us on a 2 hour detour because I was picking up stitches when I should have been navigating the car, so sometimes paying attention to one task is useful!