Knitting Out in the World

Hey! That old lady is knitting a guitar!

Like any obsessed knitter, I perk right up when I see knitting in the Real World, whether it’s depicted positively or not. Therefore, when I saw this DVD cover for Young@Heart (apparently a documentary about a seniors’ chorus in Massachusetts that covers Jimi Hendrix and Coldplay), I snapped a shot, even though obviously knitting (“for old people”) is being contrasted with guitars (“for young people”).

It’s so exhilarating that old people, who usually knit, can instead sing songs by Sonic Youth!  Hurrah!  Music has freed these sad old people from their knitting lives and released them to lead lives that have meaning!

Or perhaps I am reading too much into it.  I did take film classes in both undergrad and grad school.  Those things can scar you for life.

[An aside: as I get older, I am forced to come to grips with the fact that my knitting is no longer a quirky habit that makes me different from other young people, but rather an expected habit that makes me the same as lots of other English teachers.  Sigh.]

When I saw that Boden USA was using knitting as an activity for their young, hip models (is Boden hip? Please, world, let Boden be at least semi-hip), I was more pleasantly surprised:

Hey! If that super-skinny girl can knit, maybe I can too!

Now, see, this is more like it.  She’s wearing a knit hat and she’s making…well, it’s some kind of square.  Maybe she’s knitting for GarterStitch100, or the Red Scarf Project?  Anyway, she’s knitting, and although she looks a leetle bit confused about how to insert the needle there, at least they’re trying.

The Onion, now?  The Onion is complex.  They give us a genuinely funny comic about knitters here, and then they give us a fairly easy (read: low blow) image about crochet here.  The only answer I can come up with is that there are knitters on The Onion staff…but they’re the kind of knitters who don’t like crocheters.

What knitting have you seen out in the world lately?  Share it with us!  Did you think the comic about a knitting emergency kit was funny (or at least the “only brought the one pattern” mouse-over text?)? Do you think crochet is contributing to the grandmotherization of your neighborhood?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we have a winner of the divine possum yarn: Consuela!  Consuela is one of my students from Fiber Space, but I promise that the winner was once again chosen by the Random Number Generator.  Consuela did get two extra entries into the drawing by knitting two squares for GarterStitch100; grab a ball out of your stash and try it yourself!

Alchemy Wabi Sabi wants to come home with you. Comment on the blog for a chance to win!

This week’s giveaway is six (that’s right, 6) skeins of Alchemy Wabi Sabi (rav lnk) in a gorgeous shade of orange called Joshua Tree.  [Aside #2: I spent a lovely week rock-climbing in Joshua Tree National Park when I was a junior in high school.  This may be why I bought the yarn in this color.  I am nothing if not suggestible.] Purchased at Knit Happens in June, this yarn has lived in its plastic bag in our non-smoking, one-cat home ever since.  Comment on the blog between now and Tuesday, Feb. 14 for a chance to win this lovely yarn!  As always, knit a square for GarterStitch100 and let me know about it and you’ll get an extra entry into the drawing.