knitting will soothe me
tonight i went to a local fiber enthusiasts meeting. i've been really itching for a local knitting group, and didn't really fancy taking a knitting class again at my LYS. yes, i learned some stuff during the one class i took a few months ago, but there's something great about a community of local knitters, and i've found that most people are really good about sharing some knowledge for free anyway. so i went, and everyone was really nice. i was by far the youngest in the clan (i sorta suspected it would be that way), but what the hey. it seems i'm not destined to meet a community of people my age that have their shit together.
one woman there is blind and was wearing a really incredible sweater she knit. turns out there are lots of blind knitters (or enough to be part of a group she's in), and they favor patterns with texture. makes sense, but still quite impressive, since i have trouble knitting by sight, much less by feel. i'm definitely still miles away from being able to knit anything that takes thought/concentration and do something like watch tv, or walk, or anything else that people seem to like to do while knitting.
EDIT: several of the women in the knitting group have husbands at stony brook (the local university) who teach in the department of ecology & evolution, which is the department largely involved in the "monkey meetings" i was going to last year. i kinda stopped going ... not because i suddenly hate monkeys, but we had something going on many fridays early this semester, and i just let it snowball for me not to go at all. and i always felt kinda awkward at those meetings anyway. but one of the really cool women in the knitting group is married to the really cool guy who leads the monkey meetings. small world.
also, lots of these women also are part of a local spinning group. and they hooked me - i'm going to the spinning group in 2 weeks! will be an amazing thing to learn about, i know, even though i keep telling myself i don't need any additional equipment around (our place is filled with generations worth of stuff). maybe i'l just do a hand spindle. at the very least, i will gain access to roving, and i hear one lady in that group knows how to dry felt with a needle. perfect, since today i decided i need to learn how to duplicate these felt flowers or maybe these or any others on that page. hrmmmmmmm ...
one woman there is blind and was wearing a really incredible sweater she knit. turns out there are lots of blind knitters (or enough to be part of a group she's in), and they favor patterns with texture. makes sense, but still quite impressive, since i have trouble knitting by sight, much less by feel. i'm definitely still miles away from being able to knit anything that takes thought/concentration and do something like watch tv, or walk, or anything else that people seem to like to do while knitting.
EDIT: several of the women in the knitting group have husbands at stony brook (the local university) who teach in the department of ecology & evolution, which is the department largely involved in the "monkey meetings" i was going to last year. i kinda stopped going ... not because i suddenly hate monkeys, but we had something going on many fridays early this semester, and i just let it snowball for me not to go at all. and i always felt kinda awkward at those meetings anyway. but one of the really cool women in the knitting group is married to the really cool guy who leads the monkey meetings. small world.
also, lots of these women also are part of a local spinning group. and they hooked me - i'm going to the spinning group in 2 weeks! will be an amazing thing to learn about, i know, even though i keep telling myself i don't need any additional equipment around (our place is filled with generations worth of stuff). maybe i'l just do a hand spindle. at the very least, i will gain access to roving, and i hear one lady in that group knows how to dry felt with a needle. perfect, since today i decided i need to learn how to duplicate these felt flowers or maybe these or any others on that page. hrmmmmmmm ...