wha???

Read some blog the other day, can't remember where, in which a woman said something along the lines of "Oh, my daughters and I love to crochet, except for one of my daughters who prefers to knit because it's more time consuming." And of course i was like, "Wha...??????" i haven't been a slow knitter in well over a decade, and am even faster now that i've made the switch to continental. Crocheting is more time consuming (for me) because i crochet less than i knit and have to think about it more, and i have to constantly watch what i'm doing (if i'm knitting stockinette i don't have to be too focused on my hands really, i can watch tv or whatever. i knew i had arrived as a knitter when i was knitting in the round in a dark theater while watching Underworld 2, and no, i do not use glowing acrylic needles). Knitting is not slow any more than crocheting is, it merely depends on one's amount of experience. This weekend i knitted two hats; they both took me 3-5 hours once i worked out the kinks of learning a new pattern and figuring out what to do when i ran short on yarn (they never mention that in the project books that laud knitting with leftover yarn...). As a result i made a beanie instead of a beret and a two-colored hat instead of a solid one, but it all worked out, and rather quickly (i will admit that i was getting rather tired of the k2, p2 ribbing on the second project, however). Anyways, back to the point: enjoy the craft you love, realize that it takes time to master a new one, but eventually crocheting and knitting are both rather like riding a bike: once you know how, your fingers always remember the way.

Overall, i feel that the art of knitting is a rather misunderstood pastime. i am so sick of people giving me dirty looks when i bring my knitting along to class or church. Please understand, that if i feel comfortable enough to knit in front of you, it is a compliment. Knitting gives me a heightened sense of awareness: i retain lectures better and notice more details (which is saying something, as i am pretty observant on my own as a rule). i am great at multitasking, but knitting focuses me enough to not let me be distracted, allowing me to give more of my attention to what is at hand (well, rather, what is not in hand, but being discussed, taught, etc.). Just because someone doesn't know how to knit does not mean that one should look down on me because i can!

It disturbs me how we have fallen away from the idea of never having idle hands and always contributing to society, the war effort, etc., to become a culture that is threatened by the fact that i can create something with merely a ball of yarn and two (three, four, five) needles. i didn't know that i was going to be making some sort of statement every time i picked up the needles when i taught myself how to knit from a book nearly fifteen years ago. If i have to, i'll continue to make that statement, because i fully intend to continue knitting for the rest of my life, and i hope to be knitting more in the future. i'm already working on another hat and fully intend to start crocheting the hex vest this week, too.

End of rant. (;

knitting for... politics?

Every day that i go to work, i look across the seven square four-caps (i think that's what they're called) that everyone must pass on their way to check out, and see a book on our magazine rack named Knitting for Peace. For a long time i just stared at its pink cover and the dove on it and wondered... how does one knit for peace? So i picked it up one day and discovered: the book isn't about creating world peace or anything like that, it's about knitting for charities. Inside are patterns for blankets (with info about Blankets for Linus) and chemo caps. As far as i can tell, the book isn't about peace at all.

What a let down.

Now, i do not happen to believe in world peace. You see, the Bible tells us that once world peace occurs things are going to get really, really bad. Christians are going to have their heads cut off left and right and people will have to have a "mark" (probably a tattoo or computer chip) in order to buy, sell, survive. Why would i pray or hope for an event that's going to bring radical changes to the world that are exactly what i am against politically?

i don't normally talk about politics here (you can go to my main blog for that); when i go to a knitting blog, i want to read about knitting. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that all the political knitting blogs i have seen were very anti-Bush. i'm not saying that i agree with everything Bush did during his eight years as president, in fact he did a lot to let me down. A fellow student of mine hates him because she voted for him for one reason and regretted it: her issue of choice? She's pro-life. From a pro-life standpoint W was very much a success (of course Obama has promised to undo all those policies). Even if those the strong pro-life policies of the Bush administration only saved the life of one baby, in my opinion that makes it worth voting for W (which i did twice).

Of course, under President Bush the U.S. government has grown enormous, as has the deficit; that's not so good. However, i do not think that President Obama (we can't call him O, Oprah already has the corner on that market) is going to provide any solutions to these issues, from what he has said i think that they are only going to get worse.

According to Amazon, Knitting for Peace mentions Martha Washington spearheading efforts to knit for the troops. How is that knitting for peace? That's knitting for war. The American Girl books about Molly talk about how the girls would knit socks and blankets for the troops. That's very American, but not at all peaceful, it was part of the war effort along with having a garden and collecting scrap metal. The posters of the era were iconic and very patriotic. We've all seen Rosie the Riveter and Uncle Sam pointing at us.

Personally, i would like to knit for freedom. i'm not sure how to do that. Sit ins? Knit Liberty Caps? March in DC with needles in hand? i've never protested, i've never picketed, i rarely sign petitions. Why is it that the people who believe the opposite way that i do seem so much more organized than me? i feel very alone and don't have the slightest idea what to do in response to the change that i can feel is coming. i feel as if the war is already lost. Considering how happy i've been lately, and at peace despite my life's hardships, the prospects for the future could be downright depressing when i think about it.

i think that feeling this way is probably because of the open bias of the media. They want everyone to think that everyone loves Obama. Well this simply is not the case. Not everyone believes in bail outs and nationalizing universal health care and social security. Not everyone wants a third of their paycheck to be taken away before they cash it, and tax dollars going to stem cell research and killing babies. Not everyone believes in closing Guantanamo Bay and giving up on hunting down Bin Laden (as Obama has flip-flopped on his pledge to hunt him down, saying that he's just not that dangerous anymore).

i need to find some friends who believe the same way as me so i don't feel so alone all the time.