I can't quite recall how the conversation started, but at some point I realized that I was being teased for being a knitter.THEM: "You said you're traveling to Santa Clara next month ... why?"
ME: "I'm attending a knitting conference."
THEM: (giggling & laughing) "Oh, so you're going to be sitting around knitting with a bunch of old ladies!" (laughing continues with an occasional snort or two)
ME: "Not really. I'm actually taking a class & then I'll probably go to the conference center to do a bit of shopping for new yarn and projects & I'm sure I may even meet a knitter or two."
THEM: "What's the class about?"
ME: "I believe it's going to teach me how to take a pattern I like & yarn that I like & incorporate the two so that my finished object not only looks correct, but fits!"
THEM: "Oh." (long awkward pause) "So what do you knit?"
ME: "Mainly socks, but I occasionally knit other items as well."
THEM: (giggling starts up again) "Don't you realize you can buy socks at the store?" (hysterical laughter begins & continues for longer than it should)
ME: (they just aren't going to get this are they?) "So how long of a drive is this?"
This conversation took place amongst 3 non-knitters during a car ride. The car ride was only supposed to take an hour, but trying to explain my love of knitting, knit blogging & such to 3 non-knitters made the trip seem endless. The next day I was with my aunt (one of the non-knitting car people) and I decided to show her some of the completed socks I've knit.HER: "WOW! Those are incredible! I want to learn to knit those."
ME: (shall I remind her now of all the teasing from the car ride?) "You may want to start with something a little less complicated."
HER: "Well I learned to knit when I was younger, so I'm sure I could knit socks".
ME: "Wouldn't you rather start with a hat?"
HER: "Oh no, hats are boring, but I could definitely see myself knitting socks."
ME: "Well I did teach 'lil sis to knit socks, but only after she made a few dishcloths and a hat first."
HER: "Why would I want to knit a dishcloth? Nobody uses them anyway. I mean you give someone a dishcloth & they say 'thanks' but then they're thinking 'what the hell am I supposed to do with this?'"
ME: (recalling that I gave her a Mason-Dixon ballband dishcloth at my last visit) "Well some people use them to wash their dishes."
*The socks pictured are the Cable Twist Socks pattern from Hello Yarn in KnitPicks Gloss
12 comments:
Kind of makes you want to whack her over the head with a skein of yarn, doesn't it?
Or poke her in the eye with a needle :)
Non-knitters just don't understand the handknit sock - until they put their first pair on their feet!
That sock is gorgeous!
Wow... I know that my family doesn't quite get my "knitting thing" but they never tease me about it. I say no more knitted gifts for them!
A non-knitter friend of mine read an article somewhere about the Blue Moon Fiber Arts shutdown... he called me and was like "Please tell me you wouldn't spend $200 on the promise of making your own socks." They'll never understand.
I think I would have poked these people with my needles.
Gorgeous socks! You've become quite the toe-up goddess.
Everyone thinks it's silly until they decide they want a pair for themselves. Or, even worse, they think they can MAKE a pair for themselves!
Oy - some people are never going to get it. The ones that bother me are the ones who blithely just say "Oh, I could NEVER do that." And, for some reason, to me they always seem to make it sound like an insult, and it makes me angry.... and I'm not sure why.
Were all three of these people adults? That sounds very high school. No knitting gifts for them, ever. I don't think they deserve your knitting lessons either. Not getting it is one thing, but outright teasing and giggling? Are you kidding me. That is so unbelievably rude - I'm so sorry you got this treatment.
Oh my - non-knitters... They'll never understand and they probably won't ever get it ;(
Beautiful socks nonetheless, they look fantastic!
OMG, that conversation cracked me up! People just don't understand the love and obsession of knitting. And most never will until they fall in love with knitting....if they even try it. My mom LOVES knitted dishcloths. They really are awesome (and I don't have one, I just use heres).
Your socks look great! Love the color too.
Thank you also for your sweet comment on my blog. It was very nice. It is amazing how you can miss your blogging friends when they are gone or on hiatus!
Sounds like quite the car ride, and quite the auntie. Wow... I wouldn't bother with knitted gifts for her from now on.
Silly muggles!
Muggles are like that ... but I don't get excited about some of the things that excite them either. I learned to knit socks after only having knit 3 things in my life. If she wants to learn ... teach her. She'll (1)see that you really put a lot of work into socks, (2)learn how wonderful a handknit pair of socks feel, and (3)become one of us and go to the next knitting conference with you.
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