Curious About Reactions to Public Knitting and Crocheting

[evilawyer]

Cross-posting this to 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?

Comments

[woldy]

I have knitted on the bus in Canada, on trains in Europe, and on planes, and I recall people's reactions being either neutral or positive. I've had a number of lovely conversations with people who would tell me about their own knitting, or how their mothers used to knit, including a discussion with two French women in my very bad French, which taught me the verb tricoter. On late night transit with drunk dudes the knitting seemed to make them a bit less rowdy / lecherous, which I suspect is because knitting makes many people think of their older female relatives. Mind you, I once nearly traumatized the lady opposite by ripping out the whole arm of a sweater - she was a knitter, and knew how much time that represented!

However, when I'm knitting in public I am nearly always making hats on round needles, so I don't take up any more space than I would without the knitting and there is nothing intimidatingly pointy. I suspect people might give me more room if I was making a huge blanket that spilled onto nearby seats.

[evilawyer]

Hah! So funny, because I coming back on the reverse train a guy that seemed borderline messed-up (probably drunk at the moment, possibly left-over organisity from drug abuse -- but something was up) looked at me knitting my sock then asked if I knit the sweater I was wearing, then followed-up by asking if it had been "hard work". When I said "yes", he nodded his head in commiseration then walked off.

I stay away from big projects on the train simply because they do get in the way and it is impolite to be nailing people with your elbows. I guess the fear of Wild Elbows is just there for people, though. Still not sure why it doesn't happen on the bus or Caltrain, except that I take the bus in from a different region (Monterey Bay) and everyone is pretty Santa Cruz laid back on the routes I ride. Caltrain, there's more space, or at least the seats aren't configured so that you feel like your packed in like sardines.

I once nearly traumatized the lady opposite by ripping out the whole arm of a sweater - she was a knitter, and knew how much time that represented!

Oh, yes. They feel so badly for you when they see you do that!