Curious About Reactions to Public Knitting and Crocheting
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knitting and ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
crocheting.
I take my knitting and/or crocheting with me when I take public transportation, and I can no longer tell myself "Your imagining it," particularly when I ride BART in the SF Bay area:
People tend to back away and put space between me and my knitting. They don't do it so much when I sitting there with my crocheting, but I get more open staring at what I'm doing with crochet.
I don't think I swing my needles around like those ninja sticks, so I can't be putting people in fear of putting their eyes out. The crochet, I think, is just that it's not as familiar to lots of people as knitting is, so they're probably wondering how where my other needle is. But still, the "let me slide on down a little further away from her on this bench on the platform until I almost fall off" (which a woman in a shockingly pink coat did this morning) is a bit puzzling to me. It's almost like they think I'm going to go ballistic, which is particularly funny since I actually knit and crochet for the associated stress-reduction benefits as well as the good feeling that comes from making something with your hands.
Oh, and just to be clear, I don't get the same reaction when I'm talking on the phone or reading a book or simply sitting there. Needles and hooks are seemingly necessary components.
Does anyone else get this?
knitting and crocheting.I take my knitting and/or crocheting with me when I take public transportation, and I can no longer tell myself "Your imagining it," particularly when I ride BART in the SF Bay area:
People tend to back away and put space between me and my knitting. They don't do it so much when I sitting there with my crocheting, but I get more open staring at what I'm doing with crochet.
I don't think I swing my needles around like those ninja sticks, so I can't be putting people in fear of putting their eyes out. The crochet, I think, is just that it's not as familiar to lots of people as knitting is, so they're probably wondering how where my other needle is. But still, the "let me slide on down a little further away from her on this bench on the platform until I almost fall off" (which a woman in a shockingly pink coat did this morning) is a bit puzzling to me. It's almost like they think I'm going to go ballistic, which is particularly funny since I actually knit and crochet for the associated stress-reduction benefits as well as the good feeling that comes from making something with your hands.
Oh, and just to be clear, I don't get the same reaction when I'm talking on the phone or reading a book or simply sitting there. Needles and hooks are seemingly necessary components.
Does anyone else get this?
no subject
My oddest one was sitting knitting on a half-empty train when a bloke sat down next to me and gradually took up more and more space until I ended up turning round in my seat so my back was to the window, just so I didn't poke him in the arm every stitch. And then me preceded to sigh pointedly and huffily at me every time I started a new row. Thankfully he got off at the next stop and I wasn't forced to employ sarcasm regarding the 'fullness' of the carriage but the whole situation was bizarre.
no subject
Hah! So very, very true!
Definitely an odd one you ran into on that train ride. Almost like he was trying to antagonize you into saying something snide so he could then start complaining about how you were persecuting him by insisting on knitting even though he was on the train. He'd benefit significantly from the soothing and self-affirming qualities of knitting, I think.