The Knitting Fiend

We had three, count ‘em three entries in “The First Carnival of Knitting”.

Each knit blogger discussed what people should wear at fiber fairs. Based on this statistically significant sample size, we can generalize to learn the world ais divided into two types of people:

• Those who think knitters should show off their high-quality skills and prove they are true knitters.
• Those who think knitters should be comfortable.

Let us compare and contrast. First, we have Lucia (that’s me) who says she has identified the the true purpose of festivals, which is:

To show others knitters inspirational knitwear to photograph, discuss and admire.

We find her opinion supported by Karen’s friend, “Bucky the Burl, a northern woods Lumberjack who also likes to knit.”^1. When he recently attended stitches, he chose his outfit with care:

Wanting to be properly attired for the occasion… his socks were of the finest spun bear yarn, knitted in a lovely openweave lace pattern that he picked out from Barbara Walker’s Lace Patterns book. He also wore plastic jelly shoes so his socks could be seen and admired by all.

Don’t you wish you could around the market place with such a manly knitter? Seeing those socks, we truly know he knits, spins and designs his own pattersn. A fiber triple threat if I ever saw one!

On the other hand, there are those who disagree. Can you believe,

Elaine, who knits garments using yarn spun from the fleece of her own angora rabbits, suggest rather outrageous idea:

Honestly, if you went to the trouble to come to the show, brave the parking, the crowds, the smelly critters, a grumpy husband, fussy children, greasy food and LONG lines for the bathroom…I TRUST YOU.. that you really are a serious knitter, spinner, weaver or just plain fiber lover… you really don’t have to prove it to me!

But, it gets worse, she comes down hard on the piece the resistance of the accomplished knitter:

Shawls? Well….think twice if you are going to be futzing with it all day. It might not come across real well. Can we say pretentious?

What? She knits, spins and raises animals for fiber, but suggests we shouldn’t bring something along to prove our ability to “yo, k2tog” over and over and over and over and over? What an idea!

Ahhh well. I guess everyone is entilted to their opinion. But, the way I count, it’s two votes for showing off and one for practicality.

I will be running these carnivals every two weeks, and announcing “The Second Carnival of Knitting” sometime this week– visit to read the announcement”.

I’ve got a few topics stored in my head, and I plan to read email lists to find topics that knitters discuss over and over and over again. I’d also love to hear suggestions– provided they are about knitting.

To find other Carnivals, visit The Truth Laid Bear’s Uber-Carnival.