being good ambassadors for knitting in public!
I’ve written before about knitting in the subway – it has been an important part of my knitting time, time I get several rows done on whatever socks are on my needles. A few rows en route to work in the mornings, and a few on the way home. I usually get a seat in the morning, since I go to work so early, but coming home is another story – I usually have to stand. As long as I have a little space in front of me, I’ll haul out the needles and squeeze out a few rows. I don’t need to be near a pole, because I’ve developed my subway legs.
knitting the 2nd minkey
So last night, I had to head down to the Wall Street area to have dinner with an author whose work was partly responsible for my becoming a social psychologist. There were still crowds of tourists – many in town for the day celebrating their own husbands and dads, from the look and sound of it. I took my place, standing in the middle of the car, and pulled out my knitting. Like I do. A couple of stops later, much of the crowd exited the train, and a new crowd entered. An older woman with very obvious false teeth sat down facing me, and started grinning and chattering about the sock I was knitting. She has a friend back home who makes socks, she couldn’t wait to tell her about seeing me standing up knitting something with all those stripes (self-striping yarn, ma’am), and all the holes (it’s lace, ma’am), on all those needles (we call them double-pointed needles, ma’am).
Her warm friendliness seemed to open the door for conversation with me about what I was doing, because all of a sudden everyone around me started asking questions, wanting to see what I was making – how do you do that standing up? It was nice, and I enjoyed telling people all about it. That crowd left, and I took a seat.
The man I was sitting next to just kept up the conversation. He was curious about using 4 needles – oh, that’s how you knit in a circle! He realized I was knitting a sock and asked how I made it smaller to get to the toe. Oh, that makes sense! It made me laugh, and remember the days when my kids were young, and I used to take my spinning wheel to their classrooms for a demonstration of spinning – usually during the “let’s learn about the farm” week in the spring. The girls always wanted to touch the wool to their cheeks, and they asked where Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger. The boys just wanted to know how the wheel worked.
I guess those tendencies remain even in adults. It made me very happy, the whole thing.
I loved this story!
On her own blog, marnie just wrote a post titled..Style Icon Johannes Gutenberg Letterpress Poster
And it makes me remember the time a woman pulled a little boombox into the train with her, and started singing Donna Summer, On The Radio (whoa -oh -oh -oh -oh, on the radio) and I imagined that we all broke out dancing, as if we were all in a Bollywood movie. Riding the subway could be much more fun.
That was a great subway story! And yes, it is funny that I was “thisclose” to you, but didn’t know you yet. Planning on at least one trip (probably 2, one by self, one w/friends) to the city this summer, if you want to meet for tea/coffee or an LYS hop….
On her own blog, Tammy just wrote a post titled..Stashing
Well, let me know when you’re coming! I’d love to go with you on an LYS hop! Or anyway, I’m always up for coffee or something.
I am wide open – no firm plans this summer yet – so give me a date or two and I’ll let you know…
On her own blog, Tammy just wrote a post titled..Yarn Diet
Neat story! I’ve wondered how you knit standing up on the subway! I’m guessing subway legs are the ability to stay upright as the train stops, starts, sways etc?
On her own blog, Laura just wrote a post titled..29 and holding
ha – yeah – subway legs are the urban version of sea legs. the ability to stay upright no matter what (except for random lunging by homeless and/or schizophrenic travelers, of course). some conductors are better at braking than others, and some cars just have better brakes than others. now and then it’s like riding with a 15-year old with a learner’s permit.
I love the whole interaction with strangers thing… give us a starting point and we all want to get involved and have a chat
exactly! it was so great the way everyone started talking – they just needed one person to make it OK. I wonder if it necessarily takes an outsider – a tourist – to get the party started. There’s a forum on ravelry for NY subway knitter spotting, and we all talk about how shy we are to talk to another knitter. But we’re all waiting for someone to talk to us. Kind of poignant, really.
This is a sweet post =3 It’s always good to read about the nice reactions from people! And you’ve got ‘subway legs’ I’ve got ‘trolley legs’ Yay for knitting while in standing high-speed vehicles. Hahaha!
On her own blog, tiny.angry just wrote a post titled..Tools of the trade+ a WIP
I used to knit on my commute every day. I took the bus specifically so that I could knit! Now I work from home and I definitely miss that time. It was the perfect way to detox a little bit after a long day.
ah! this is one of the coolest thing about commenters – finding their blogs! thanks for leaving this comment. i’m just about to start working at home, and i actually have thought about losing that subway knitting time. isn’t that funny — your timing is impeccable!
Such a fun story! My subway/train knitting is on pause this year – last summer Bebe was content to just watch and ride, this summer he demands entertainment.
oh…i remember those years. yeah, your hands are FULL. good thing he so adorable.