Spring break officially started on Monday, on Mar 16. Sadly, I only got one day off this week. I didn't even go to work but I still had so much stuff to do during the week, it didn't really feel like a break. I had a Mock Bar Exam in the beginning of the week, and then had to take care of two patients--my boyfriend and my sister. =) Sure, I'm happy to do it. Otherwise, there's an interesting article/column on knitting on LA Times.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks21-2009mar21,0,5550888.column?page=1
The first two sentences made me very, VERY, annoyed. Otherwise, I love the column. It’s sweet.
Knitting Fact #1: We’re not all old. Just because knitting is an old art, doesn’t mean knitters are. Even teens knit.
Knitting Fact #2: Knitting is a hobby for most people. This means we’re lawyers, artists, musicians, secretaries, doctors, students, etc during the day. On the knitting community website I belong to have one Knitting Law Student group, and Knitting Attorneys group. I got an advice on my interview and what to wear to moot court competition here.
Knitting Fact #3: Yes, we have a website, www.Ravelry.com, and it is probably the most tech-savvy website/forum I’ve seen. They have a code person (one of the founders) online 24/7. And it’s not always about knitting. It could be about charity work (blanket donations to animal shelters; during the last Australian Fire, lots of people sent food, clothes over to donation centers; Knit-A-Thon for Breast Cancer Awareness, etc etc). It could be about boyfriend/girlfriend rants, best restaurants in town, etc. And of course, the best yarn shops all over the WORLD (We have members from US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, India, Russia… the list goes on. Every country on the map is represented here).
Knitting Fact #4: A yarn shop is NOT some old, musty, dusty corner shop in a rural area, run by old women. There are at least about 20 knitting shops in LA, and at least 5 I know of in Orange County. And yes, LA has more than OC. (My friend once commented: oh yeah, you’d probably feel more comfortable living in OC with your knitting than in LA). Think Urban Outfitters. And replace all the clothing items with colorful yarns, in every color, every weight (thickness). There, you have a yarn shop. The nearest one in Costa Mesa is The Sheared Sheep, the owner is Shelly, and she doesn’t even look over 30.
Knitting Fact #5: Knitting may started a long time ago, but techniques used get updated every year, with new types of needles, yarns, etc. It’s just like any other hobbies. Even the most experienced knitters may learn something new every year.
Knitting Fact #6: For all you fashion people, you’ll be jealous of this. Knitters meet big name designers in person, or at least in a chat room. The designers from Fashion Week, yes. Michael Kors had a design out on Vogue Knitting (yes, that Vogue, the one you see on newsstand) just last Winter. This is pretty common in the knitting world.
Knitting Fact #7: We have knitting clubs. Offline ones. Ages range from 13 to 80. The biggest, nation-wide ones are called Stitch-and-Bitch. We just meet at a cozy coffee shop, sit around with our knitting stuff (or crochet, or spinning), then just talk. Yarn shops also host these meetings. It’s good for their sales.
And I'm sure more to come. =)