When I Ravel

Day seven: 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time.

Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

I will basically knit or crochet ANYWHERE. Except when I’m walking. I know people who will knit socks while they’re just walking down the street, and I draw the line there.

I can’t just ravel in silence, though. It’s too boring. If I’m sitting at the computer or at the TV, I tend to have Netflix going. I usually pick something I don’t have to pay strict attention to so I don’t miss too much, like The Universe. I do tend to also knit and crochet through movies and other shows as well. I sort of feel like being idle is being lazy. I don’t knit in the theater, though. That’s just rude.

I also knit while other people are playing video games. I don’t tend to do well at video games anyway, so it’s more fun for everybody if I just watch them play and work on whatever I happen to be working on.

I take knitting on any long car ride during which I’m not driving, or on the train or bus. I used to just read or play a video game, but now I ravel. I’ve always been thankful that I don’t get any kind of motion sickness, and now I’m even more thankful, because I’d hate to rainbow yawn all over my work.

Recently I found myself crocheting in Starbucks for an hour while waiting for a friend. I just popped in my headphones and listened to an audiobook. I’ve been into audiobooks lately, since with all the raveling I don’t have time to read! At least I’m still experiencing books SOMEHOW.

I can’t forget my knitting group! In the past, I used to schedule time to knit or crochet along with a couple of my friends, but both of them moved so it wasn’t feasible anymore. I realized I’d go quite insane without having at least SOME time to hang about other people with my raveling interests, so I located a group that meets near me on Tuesdays. For 2 hours we all sit in a circle in the living room and work on and talk about our projects, or look through the new books and magazines that have come out, or just talk about what’s going on in our lives. It’s quite fun. We’re all going to Maryland Sheep and Wool in May—we’re taking a train into Philadelphia, and from there, a bus to the festival. That’s a lot of raveling time!