Knits

I still love Ravelry very much. I spend hours getting lost looking at patterns, adding things to my favourites and queue, seeing if anyone is offering any Cider Moon for sale or trade. I venture into the Forums, but find myself too annoyed with the opinions lately. I don’t know if it’s just me and my mood or what, but there is a real snobbery bubbling over, not even just brewing, as the site is growing and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

There are so many threads about the annoying things non-knitters say or how to combat the attitude non-knitters have towards the money and time knitters spend on projects. There’s even snobbery between types of knitting - knitters who don’t see why people like to knit socks or dishcloths or a particular pattern. To each her own, I say. I see beautiful lacework, but I’m not at the point where I’d knit a shawl because I can’t see where I’d ever wear such a thing. I’m not going to say “What’s the point in knitting shawl after shawl after shawl?” I suspect one day the lace bug will bite me just as the sock bug did. I may not have need for a shawl, but some of them are so pretty and I can see the allure of it. Or snobbery about the types of fibres one uses - animal vs plant vs man-made. And I just get so baffled at the hundreds of posts these threads get.

And then there’s this whole issue involving the Beta t-shirts. Many a Raveler is upset at selecting a t-shirt that is meant to be a snug fit and finding it is in fact, too snug for their liking. This is after seeing a picture of a shirt modeled and a warning that said shirts run small. There are people giving Jess and Casey LEGAL ADVICE on how, now as business owners, it is their responsibility to make it clear that they represent the product accurately. Give me a fucking break.

There is post after post about how many knots people have found in their Colinette Jitterbug and Noro Silk Garden yet I don’t see people saying that Noro and Colinette should state that their yarn may contain numerous knots in a single skein. Jess and Casey chose a brand of t-shirt based on a number of reasons that are important to them and fair labour is one of them. The fit of the shirt is very popular (it’s the same shirts that Threadless use for many of their designs) since it is an actual fitted shirt (i.e. it is curvy) for the ladies. They had to make the best choice for them based on their business and obviously are not going to be able to predict how 15,000+ people like their t-shirts to fit. It’s all because we “know” Jess and Casey since they are so involved in the community.

On my train journey north there were two teams of train staff. The train managers (person who checks the tickets, announces stops, etc.) in both teams stopped to talk to me about my knitting. They said it was beautiful and I was practising a dying art. There was no negativity or looking down their nose at me for doing it, even as a “youngster”. All too often the threads on Ravelry perceive all non-knitters as being inferior since “they don’t get it”. I actually think both of these women are or were knitters, but that’s not the point as generally people seem to express annoyance when anyone comes up to them and makes a comment — they immediately take the defensive.

The other week a woman at work who did knitting 30 years ago said that the knitted dishcloths I’ve made are stupid because you can just go to Tesco’s (national supermarket chain) and buy some dishcloths and throw them away. I said mine are pretty and last longer. She didn’t care. She complained they were too thick because she likes to neatly fold up her dishcloth and hang it on the side of the sink to which I asked her if she actually got out the iron to make sure it was good and flat and crisp. It shut her up. To each our own. [It should be said that this woman does tend to not understand the thin line between expressing one's opinion and being flat out rude which is what a lot of people seem to lack.]

I wish these people with the snobbish attitudes realised they were being just as rude and snobbish as they think non-knitters are (and they’re applying that snobbishness to both non-knitters and their peers) and that the whole thing is just ugly. I wish I could stop looking at these threads but it really is like a car crash because I read these opinions and they’re expressed in such an ugly, unfriendly manner that my jaw just drops. They feel they can get away with it because it’s their opinion and everyone is entitled to such a thing.

Sorry for going off on a rant there, but it’s been brewing.