Some facts about men who knit:
1) Men were the first to knit as an occupation.
2) Big ole strappin' men that were on Whaling ships did extraordinary knitting, some of the finest and most detailed embroidery and scrimshaw to pass the time between catching whales. When a whale was sited, they had to put down their yarns and needles, and wrestle a huge whale!
3) Today, there are as many physical as well as virtual knitting groups for men as there are women. Here are some on-line men's knitting groups. I am a contributing member on these sites:
a) http://www.menwhoknit.com/community/
b) http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/
c) The Boy Who Knits: http://www.boiknit.com/
d) The Top 10 Men In Knitting: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer05/FEATtopten.html
4) There are several good books on knitting, written by both women and men.
a) Son of Stitch 'n' Bitch
b) This is a small sample of books for knitwear for me, or written by men, themselves, about knitting
projects:
http://www.knitpicks.com/mens+knitting+pattern+collections_BL30040507.html
5) One of the most famous knitters alive today is Kaffee Fassett. He is a well known knitter and textile designer. He has written several books. This is the link to his website. If you flip through the pages on his site, you will find samples of all of his work, from needlepoint to knitting to ceramics, etc:
http://www.kaffefassett.com/Home.html
6) The same train of thought that a woman doesn't need a penis to drive a Mack Truck applies to men who knit. Despite the stereo types that are picked up and carried with us during our lives, no vagina is necessary to knit.
Here is an interesting article on knitting, in general:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_knitting
and a detailed description of knitting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knit
Anywho - as for myself, I started knitting for a couple reasons. Two years ago, my doctor concurred that the arthritis in my hands was getting worse quickly; I told him that I practice playing my keyboard instruments 3 4 hrs. a day to keep my hands and brain in shape, and that I also type quite a bit each day. He told me that I needed to be doing something with 'finer detail, such as knitting, crochet or sculpture." While I have started to learn to sculpt, I took his suggestion to heart, and bought a set of size 9 knitting needles, and a $2 skein of yarn at a thrift store. Granted, my first couple samples looked more like a huge hammock, rather than organized knitting with good tension and gauge.
I have always been interested in the fiber arts, and I stop by each fiber artist's booth at the local art shows that I attend. While most of those artists use a knitting machine to mass produce enough of their designs to keep up with sales, I do enjoy looking at their work and their design ideas. There are very few 'art show fiber artists' that produce their yarns from raw fibers to a finished, wearable article of clothing, but there are a few out there. Some use silk, cotton, wool, and a few other natural fibers. They take the fibers from their raw state (directly from the plant or the animal), and they card, spin, dye and knit their fibers into wearable, beautiful clothing. The art of taking a fiber off a still-living animal's back, or from a plant and turning those strands into yarns will always fascinate me.
How did I ultimately learn to knit?
I learned everything that I know primarily from two websites: YouTube.com (look up "Knit Witch", and WonderHowTo.com. You can literally learn how to make and do anything you want to learn from those sites. Lastly, I have a couple knitting books. I have only two knitting books, honestly I do. But...I have over a hundred pairs of knitting needles, ranging from sizes 0000 (the size of a sewing needle!) to 50 (the size of a broom handle!)
If is no surprise that I like the unique stuff. If you tell someone that you are wearing a fine hat made of 'dog hair', they will either scowl at you, or turn their noses up, as if a bad smell hit their olfactory nerves. If you tell them that the hat is made of "chengora", instead, the look is altogether different: They think you spent $500 for a hat at Nieman-Marcus, or they are more confused now than before. Chengora is a more stylish name for - dog hair.
I can and do follow standard pre-printed knitting patterns that are drawn up by someone else. I do that more for discipline, than anything else. To this point, all of the articles that I have knitted that you have see on my Facebook account (search MJKeller568@aol.com on Facebook to find me) are designed by myself, and no pre-printed patterns have been used. That is soon going to change, however. I have never attempted gloves in my life. I am going to have to follow someone else's instructions to 'get the hang of it' before I attempt to design my own gloves. Once I have knitted a pair, I will know the feat that I am up against, and the next pair will be completely of my own design.
The next endeavor: Socks! Turning a heel scares the crap out of me! I can knit a very advanced level slip-stitch pattern hoodie / cardigan winter coat that I have designed myself, but I find socks (and gloves!) intimidating! That is my brain playing tricks on me again. If I go into my music studio and I try to read music that is a rather simple tune, I can eventually learn the song, but I am sweating bullets before it is even recognizable. However, if I attempt a much more difficult song, it comes easy to me! Can somebody explain that phenomenon to me? I don't understand it.
The moral of this saga is: With the exception of procreating, a penis or vagina should not determine who does what. If you want to learn to do ANYTHING, don't let another person's preconceived ideas and filters that they have applied to their lives (and thus, to yours) limit you in anything that you do. You are living your own life, and when the time comes for you to die, you will be doing that for yourself, as well. They won't be doing it for you. Get some spunk about yourself, and learn a new craft, art or other skill. Another story for another day is how learning to play an instrument, to knit, etc, or even learning a new language will **greatly** and noticeably expand your brain. The only down side to more intelligence and more knowledge is that those who are going in the opposite direction become exponentially more annoying! :)
- Michael
1) Men were the first to knit as an occupation.
2) Big ole strappin' men that were on Whaling ships did extraordinary knitting, some of the finest and most detailed embroidery and scrimshaw to pass the time between catching whales. When a whale was sited, they had to put down their yarns and needles, and wrestle a huge whale!
3) Today, there are as many physical as well as virtual knitting groups for men as there are women. Here are some on-line men's knitting groups. I am a contributing member on these sites:
a) http://www.menwhoknit.com/community/
b) http://the-panopticon.blogspot.com/
c) The Boy Who Knits: http://www.boiknit.com/
d) The Top 10 Men In Knitting: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer05/FEATtopten.html
4) There are several good books on knitting, written by both women and men.
a) Son of Stitch 'n' Bitch
b) This is a small sample of books for knitwear for me, or written by men, themselves, about knitting
projects:
http://www.knitpicks.com/mens+knitting+pattern+collections_BL30040507.html
5) One of the most famous knitters alive today is Kaffee Fassett. He is a well known knitter and textile designer. He has written several books. This is the link to his website. If you flip through the pages on his site, you will find samples of all of his work, from needlepoint to knitting to ceramics, etc:
http://www.kaffefassett.com/Home.html
6) The same train of thought that a woman doesn't need a penis to drive a Mack Truck applies to men who knit. Despite the stereo types that are picked up and carried with us during our lives, no vagina is necessary to knit.
Here is an interesting article on knitting, in general:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_knitting
and a detailed description of knitting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knit
Anywho - as for myself, I started knitting for a couple reasons. Two years ago, my doctor concurred that the arthritis in my hands was getting worse quickly; I told him that I practice playing my keyboard instruments 3 4 hrs. a day to keep my hands and brain in shape, and that I also type quite a bit each day. He told me that I needed to be doing something with 'finer detail, such as knitting, crochet or sculpture." While I have started to learn to sculpt, I took his suggestion to heart, and bought a set of size 9 knitting needles, and a $2 skein of yarn at a thrift store. Granted, my first couple samples looked more like a huge hammock, rather than organized knitting with good tension and gauge.
I have always been interested in the fiber arts, and I stop by each fiber artist's booth at the local art shows that I attend. While most of those artists use a knitting machine to mass produce enough of their designs to keep up with sales, I do enjoy looking at their work and their design ideas. There are very few 'art show fiber artists' that produce their yarns from raw fibers to a finished, wearable article of clothing, but there are a few out there. Some use silk, cotton, wool, and a few other natural fibers. They take the fibers from their raw state (directly from the plant or the animal), and they card, spin, dye and knit their fibers into wearable, beautiful clothing. The art of taking a fiber off a still-living animal's back, or from a plant and turning those strands into yarns will always fascinate me.
How did I ultimately learn to knit?
I learned everything that I know primarily from two websites: YouTube.com (look up "Knit Witch", and WonderHowTo.com. You can literally learn how to make and do anything you want to learn from those sites. Lastly, I have a couple knitting books. I have only two knitting books, honestly I do. But...I have over a hundred pairs of knitting needles, ranging from sizes 0000 (the size of a sewing needle!) to 50 (the size of a broom handle!)
If is no surprise that I like the unique stuff. If you tell someone that you are wearing a fine hat made of 'dog hair', they will either scowl at you, or turn their noses up, as if a bad smell hit their olfactory nerves. If you tell them that the hat is made of "chengora", instead, the look is altogether different: They think you spent $500 for a hat at Nieman-Marcus, or they are more confused now than before. Chengora is a more stylish name for - dog hair.
I can and do follow standard pre-printed knitting patterns that are drawn up by someone else. I do that more for discipline, than anything else. To this point, all of the articles that I have knitted that you have see on my Facebook account (search MJKeller568@aol.com on Facebook to find me) are designed by myself, and no pre-printed patterns have been used. That is soon going to change, however. I have never attempted gloves in my life. I am going to have to follow someone else's instructions to 'get the hang of it' before I attempt to design my own gloves. Once I have knitted a pair, I will know the feat that I am up against, and the next pair will be completely of my own design.
The next endeavor: Socks! Turning a heel scares the crap out of me! I can knit a very advanced level slip-stitch pattern hoodie / cardigan winter coat that I have designed myself, but I find socks (and gloves!) intimidating! That is my brain playing tricks on me again. If I go into my music studio and I try to read music that is a rather simple tune, I can eventually learn the song, but I am sweating bullets before it is even recognizable. However, if I attempt a much more difficult song, it comes easy to me! Can somebody explain that phenomenon to me? I don't understand it.
The moral of this saga is: With the exception of procreating, a penis or vagina should not determine who does what. If you want to learn to do ANYTHING, don't let another person's preconceived ideas and filters that they have applied to their lives (and thus, to yours) limit you in anything that you do. You are living your own life, and when the time comes for you to die, you will be doing that for yourself, as well. They won't be doing it for you. Get some spunk about yourself, and learn a new craft, art or other skill. Another story for another day is how learning to play an instrument, to knit, etc, or even learning a new language will **greatly** and noticeably expand your brain. The only down side to more intelligence and more knowledge is that those who are going in the opposite direction become exponentially more annoying! :)
- Michael
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