Thumbs Up!
Whether I'll be sporting a thumb cozy, or whether my thumb will be camera ready by Monday, I'm off tomorrow for Tulsa and further points west!
Thanks so much to all of you for your commiseration AND good suggestions. After an evening of soaking in very hot epsom salt water (note the unique soaking mechanism I cobbled together - that way I can soak and not leak!) it does seem a bit better. I'll cross my fingers.
Knitty Gritty
I don't have cable, so I never know when a segment I've done is going to air on Knitty Gritty. It's just kismet that right now one of my episodes is being aired the week before I fly out for taping a new segment.
I can tell when one airs, though, because I start getting all kinds of emails from folks who've watched the show. I just got this really lovely email from a male knitter in Connecticut - it says what so many of the emails say:
Well, I don't know if it will keep them quiet - it may make them yell louder - but it will give them something to chew on. So in case I haven't said it lately on the blog,
There Is No One Right Way To Knit!
There are many different right ways to knit!
Here's what I wrote back to my friend in CT:
So go watch someone knit today and see what you might learn!
Peering Between My Fingers
When you publish a book you can't wait for it to be on Amazon - then you read a few of the reviews and you have to grit your teeth and swallow your pride and use the comments as a jumping off point for improvement.
I've been getting so much really great email about Twist & Loop - nice comments from folks who never thought they'd want to knit with wire, let alone make something that they'd give as a gift! This is partly because there's been a great move toward hand crafted items and gifts in the past few years (which makes something beautifully made, but with the imperfections that come from our humanity, much easier to appreciate.)
If you've read Twist & Loop and have liked it - please take a moment to let the world know at Amazon. I know when I'm shopping, I use the reviews to help me make decisions. Folks who are considering buying a book on a subject that's as fearsome (and odd) as knitting with wire would probably appreciate a little feedback. Dangerous step, I know, asking for reviews...
I'm thinking of trying to put together a blog-tour for Men Who Knit - any ideas...?
Thanks so much to all of you for your commiseration AND good suggestions. After an evening of soaking in very hot epsom salt water (note the unique soaking mechanism I cobbled together - that way I can soak and not leak!) it does seem a bit better. I'll cross my fingers.Knitty Gritty
I don't have cable, so I never know when a segment I've done is going to air on Knitty Gritty. It's just kismet that right now one of my episodes is being aired the week before I fly out for taping a new segment.
I can tell when one airs, though, because I start getting all kinds of emails from folks who've watched the show. I just got this really lovely email from a male knitter in Connecticut - it says what so many of the emails say:
Anyway, I quickly noticed my first week knitting that when I followed a lace pattern, a lot of my stitches were coming out twisted. At first, I couldn't figure out what i was doing wrong. Then, I began ignoring the diagrams and just began listening to the stitches and letting them tell me what to do (I know, that sounds a bit creepy). Then everything came out fine. Although people said my knitting was nice, they told me I was knitting "wrong".
FiNALLY, I saw you on "knitty gritty" and realized I must be a combination knitter. Thanks for validating my knitting style. If anyone comes up to me and says I knit "wrong", I can just say, "well, I knit like Annie Modesitt does." That should keep them quiet.
Well, I don't know if it will keep them quiet - it may make them yell louder - but it will give them something to chew on. So in case I haven't said it lately on the blog,
There are many different right ways to knit!
Here's what I wrote back to my friend in CT:
You know the best thing - it [my attitude about knitting] insinuates itself into everything I do. I find myself more adventurous, working with more ingenuity and able to be more open to other folks and their different ways of knitting (and living, and raising kids, and EVERYTHING!) What a wonderful by-product of a knitting style!
It also makes me understand the power of legitimacy, and how much it means to have your own identity sanctioned - or at least accepted - by a portion of the population. As a white girl from Ohio who never thought twice when I grew up about how it might feel to not be part of the "mainstream", it's been a most eye and mind-opening experience.
So go watch someone knit today and see what you might learn!
Peering Between My Fingers
When you publish a book you can't wait for it to be on Amazon - then you read a few of the reviews and you have to grit your teeth and swallow your pride and use the comments as a jumping off point for improvement.
I've been getting so much really great email about Twist & Loop - nice comments from folks who never thought they'd want to knit with wire, let alone make something that they'd give as a gift! This is partly because there's been a great move toward hand crafted items and gifts in the past few years (which makes something beautifully made, but with the imperfections that come from our humanity, much easier to appreciate.)
If you've read Twist & Loop and have liked it - please take a moment to let the world know at Amazon. I know when I'm shopping, I use the reviews to help me make decisions. Folks who are considering buying a book on a subject that's as fearsome (and odd) as knitting with wire would probably appreciate a little feedback. Dangerous step, I know, asking for reviews...
I'm thinking of trying to put together a blog-tour for Men Who Knit - any ideas...?
posted by Annie at
Thursday, November 30, 2006
12 Comments:
If you make it thru Boston, I would be glad to set something up at our South End community Dog Walk on the Corridor- there are a few knitters and their dogs that go there and lots of men- who may or may not be knitters. Too bad it's winter - could be a fun outdoors event.
Looking forward to that book- it's on my BN wishlist!
i too, knit combo. and i too, was subject (way back before your time, circa 1960!) to ridicule for the way i knit.
In the early 1970's, i finally found another (1 person) who knit like me, and i became a bit less defensive.
by the 1990's, i learned about combo knitting, (in theory) but i never met anyone else who knit like me.
Validation and understanding has gone a long way to making me feel good about knitting in public, and to feeling good about my knitting.
i now state (and don't feel like i am justifying) i knit combo.
i validate all styles of knitting, and love to see and learn how others knit (loved your you tube clip a few weeks ago.. i work the yarn totally differently, and have even experimented with using my thumb to make purl stitches!)
The knitting police nearly robbed me of all pleaser of knitting.. but i am a pig headed fool and i just continued,(even if i refrained from Knitting in Public)
I love the internet, i love your work. Thanks
helen
You should ask David of Sticks and String and Adam of adamknits! I bet they would love to be a part of the Blog tour!
And I actualy saw that epsiode today too!
Hey Annie,
We just moved from San Diego to Denver, CO last week and have Knitty Gritty on our cable for the first time. I was VERY pleased to see you on there and my friend Wendy Barnard as a Knitster. You are VERY impressive in person and you make combo knitting look so easy. I need to figure that out since I seem to switch between Continental and Western (?). My hands get so tired. I watched you and rewound several times to see up close.
By the way, you have a voice made for podcasting. Have you ever thought of adding that to your very busy schedule? Har....
Thanks for the inspiration!
Annie-
About two or three years ago I taught myself how to knit from internet resources and a Lion Brand booklet. For the first three to six months I was knitting combo and didn't realize it (at the time I had never heard the term or of you). Combo knitting was natural to me, and when I was twisting my stitches because I was knitting in the back of the stitch, I figured out for myself that I needed to purl differently to untwist it. I also was knitting "backward" i.e. not turning my work and cabling without a cable needle because I didn't know what a cable needle was. I knit merrily along thusly for a long while, completing a lot of different projects like sweaters, socks, etc. without ever knowing the difference. After several months I got cable TV and saw a few episodes of Knitty Gritty and figured out I wasn't doing something "right" or "normal." About a year ago I saw your first episode on Knitty Gritty and it dawned on me-I was a Combo knitter! Thanks, Annie for what you've done.
Ummm, Annie, you do know there's a blizzard in Tulsa right now, right? My poor car is under about six to eight inches right now, and it's not stopping!!!!!
Just want to add a bit to Janine's comment ... the Midwest is having a very bad winter storm. I'm in St. Louis and our airport here has been closed for hours, leaving approximately 1000 people stranded because they can't get out. We've had lots of freezing rain and sleet today with d4 to 10 inches of snow forecast for overnight. Currently we're having thunder snow where there's thunder and lightening but it's too cold to rain so it's snowing. Probably be a good idea to check with the shop in Tulsa and make sure they're still going to have your classes. The list of cancellations of schools and activities in St. Louis is IMPRESSIVE to save the least. For example, the Symphony orchestra cancelled their concert for tonight.
This is unsolicited medical advice from a non-medical person. However, I'm married to a medical person (well, an ear, nose, and throat guy, but he must have learned this from his grandma) and I saw him help a friend with an infected thumb, caused by a sliver of Christmas ornament that got under the nail. It was throbbing and infected looking under the nail. He unbent a paperclip, heated it up with a match, briefly touched just the tiny blunt end to the surface of her nail and the infection burst out of the nail, which had been holding it in. (I know, gross, but we're used to that kind of talk at our house.) She experienced immediate relief. This may not be your problem (I had a paronychia--"runaround"-- when I was in the 4th grade and I soaked and soaked. Not until the doctor took a scalpel and ran it along the cuticle did I experience any healing.) Sorry for the gross content, but when it hurts, it hurts and I have great sympathy for a knitter with an owie on her hand.
As you already, I knit combo and always have. Well, the other day, I was working at Yarn Barn (CT) and a woman came in who hadn't knit in a long time and had a quick question about her lace knitting. So I could show her within the style that she was used to I asked her to show me how she knits and purls. Turns out she was a combo knitter too.
Well, she was so excited to see that someone else knit like her that she had me show her how I knit multiple times, lol. It was so nice to find "one of us" and reassure her that her method is perfectly valid.
Until you started writing about combination method, I first figured my style was continental since it *wasn't* English (my mom thought so also), but then I realized it wasn't continental either, and just decided to "go with it" since it worked anyway, lol.
Take care of that thumb...and I hope it helps a little to know that customers in the shop are *still* talking about your class on the cocoon sweater and how they're going to combine their yarns for it. :-)
Follow up to previous comment - I too have seen this done by a physician and it works!
If you do a blog tour for Men Who Knit you have to come to Houston since it is Drew's home town. We have a great dog park on the west side of town and Yarntopia happens to be very close to the dog park.
Come see us in Texas!
I can totally hear the guy from CT. The ladies at my local store were helping me get my first lace shawl started and when watching me knit, she said, "Hang on...what are you doing?" Told her..."Yea, I knit funny but it works for me." She watched me for a bit and said, "you knit like Annie does!"
Yea!
Please come to Denver :-) There are plenty of knitters out here who would love to meet you!
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