Knitting in Public

I recently came across an article called “Raise Your Needles: In Defense of Public Knitting” by Aleesha Paz. It’s a nice, long-form piece about why we knit in public and how the public perception of knitting has changed (or not changed) over the years.

Of course, it starts with an anecdote about a “friend” scolding her for taking her knitting to a bar. Admittedly, no one has ever really chided me for knitting in public, because if one would, I’d completely ignore them. I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life. However, I also eat out and go to the movies alone, which I’m told is also social faux pas. This made me think, where is the line of a place I wouldn’t knit?

I would totally knit in a bar, and have. I frequently knit in my car. School, work, the gym, I’ve knit in all of those. Waiting in line at theme parks. Waiting for appointments. Waiting anywhere, really.

My line is wherever it would be an actual detriment to someone I care about, because most of those people have a basic understanding of me and my craft. If they’d be really unhappy about it, there would have to be a good reason. Like, I don’t knit during wedding ceremonies or funerals, unless that is something the deceased would have wanted. (Y’all have my full permission to craft during my funeral. I would love that.)

I’m hard-pressed to knit in a movie theater, and I would never during a live performance of something. Mostly, for the same reason I do my class knitting in the back of the class: I don’t need to distract anyone from the thing they paid to come see. Live performances, especially, because that person is me! Handcrafts do help you focus, but when I go out to a show, I’m not there to learn or retain information. I’m there to be completely engrossed.

What do you think? Where do you frequently knit in public? Where would you never knit? Let me know in the comments!