Knitting Evangelism

Fellow knitters (or other crafters)-

Do you ever find yourself encouraging non-knitters (or crafters) to take up your favored hobby? I didn’t think that I would be someone who does this, but I was mistaken. Last weekend in Madison, I met for coffee at Borders with a friend from college who has also recently expressed an interest in knitting. I do recall encouraging her to check out some of the useful videos on the web or to get on Ravelry, though I hope it was not to an annoying level. After we had finished our treats in the cafe, we headed upstairs to check out the knitting books – my idea of course. We spent quite some time browsing the decent collection, and I may have suggested that my friend look for a few of them at the library if she decided to continue knitting.

I wonder if this is her first project?

When we went to check out (I had decided to buy Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders and some great metallic purple note cards, the cashier asked if I was a knitter. When I responded in the affirmative, she said that she had tried to knit in the past, but her scarves had turned out badly.

I couldn’t help myself from offering advice. I’m a firm believer in avoiding long garter stitch scarves as a first knitting project. They are boring and simply take too long before you can say you have knit something. When one of the first knitting books I checked out called for a knitted hat, I thought for sure I could never pull it off. And while the finished object was rather awful (and didn’t even fit), it was a hat. I could say that I had actually knit a hat, even if I wouldn’t wear it out in public.

I really do have experience with both methods though. I first tried to take up knitting as a junior in college and after I had learned to cast on, knit, and purl, I embarked on the dreaded garter stitch scarf. It was a beautiful teal color, but I never made it long enough to wrap around my neck even once. It was simply too boring. I’m very grateful that my second attempt turned out much better.

Anyway, so the poor cashier didn’t seem too annoyed by my advice. She said that she had heard that knitting on circular needles was hard. While they can be a little trick to join correctly, I don’t think this is the case. You could knit an entire hat just knitting in the round (no purling at all) and a few simple decreases. I hope that the cashier was re-motivated to take up knitting, if that’s what she wanted. I’ve found knitting to be a really rewarding hobby, especially since I’ve never considered myself a creative person. But I also don’t want to be proselytizer. (You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to figure out how to spell that word)

So again I ask you fellow knitters/crafters – how much do you encourage others to take up your hobbies?