Knitterguy

NYC

As it turns out, I still have a few vacation days to use before the end of the year. (This is an embarrassment of riches.) That means between Christmas and New Years. There is a very slight, very small, possibility that I might be able to get to New York City.

I’m not sure when I decided I want to go to New York City. I’m not even sure why I want to go to New York City. It might be related to my reading of Ruth Reichl’s “Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise”, in which she describes moving to NYC when she got the job as restaurant critic for the New York Times, and how she went about doing the reviews. (Book is a fabulous read, BTW, even if you’re not a foodie. Well worth it.)

It could be from talking with Lars and Mar and Mark and bloglessJim, ‘though I honestly don’t know what they’ve said that would inspire me so.

It could be from reading concert listings in “The New Yorker” magazine many years ago, or listening to the broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera.

It might be from listening to someone – can’t remember who – tell me that Montreal bagels are poor imitations of New York bagels, and that if I wanted a real bagel - a real bagel - I had to go to New York.

It might be from my sister’s recounting of how my niece changed her clothes in the middle of a crowded street and nobody blinked. (She’d just sung in a vocal competition and needed to change from her gown to her jeans, and for some reason ended up doing it in the street. And knowing my niece, she did it with incredible panache and elegance, ‘cause that’s my niece.)

It might be reading a bit about the Cathedral of St John the Divine after hearing a recording of its pipe organ, and deciding that once in my life I should stand in a church that’s the size of 2 football fields.

There must be a textile museum?

Now the thing about going to NYC, it seems to me, is that there’s so much to do that if you don’t have plan, you’ll be paralyzed by the choices.

So here’s my first question: if you could go to NYC, and you had a limited budget, what are the must-see and must-do things? (Granted, between Christmas and New Years is not likely the best time to be a tourist, but I’m usually not into touristy things anyway. I’m often content to see some nice things, and have lots of interesting conversation with good people, over a nice honest meal.)

And my second question is about timing. I will have some vacation days to use up between January and March, so would it be better to go to NYC in...oh, I dunno...mid-February? Early March? Late January?

And, believe it or not, I don’t want to go yarn shopping. (Seriously. I’m in the midst of a huge downsizing.)

Midwest Knitting Retreat 2009

So, last Thursday, with the wisdom tooth not protesting, I loaded the Corolla, plugged in the GPS, and headed to Michigan (MI) for the Midwest Men's Knitting Retreat. I drove to Howell MI, and stopped at The Spinning Loft to visit with Beth. We talked spinning and fiber; she filled me in on details for her spinning retreat in Pennsylvania next year (April 23-25). (I think it will be a great event. Limited spaces and they're filling up: 2 people called to register while I was there.) Beth runs a kick-ass shop. The wall of fleeces has to be seen to be believed: if you are looking for a particular breed, talk to Beth. I bought some charcoal grey merino that will be perfect for a project that's percolating in my mind. Beth was hosting a weekend class with Jacey Boggs, and it was great that she could fit me in to the schedule. A splendid visit.

On Friday I drove to the retreat centre via Lansing and stopped at Threadbear Fiber Arts. I wasn't looking for anything in particular and didn't buy any yarn. It was my first time at the shop and it's really a great place. It's big and very, very well lit.

The GPS guided me to our retreat location, which was Circle Pines Centre.

The big white farmhouse was our playstation for the weekend. As the only group there for the weekend, we hung out in the large sunporch and ate in the dining hall. Most of the guys stayed in the big cabin. (I was in a smaller cabin a bit of a walk away from the farmhouse.) They even have a bathhouse. Weather for the weekend was great: sunny, bright, moderate temperatures. Honestly, we should have spent time walking the trails on the property.

Many of the guys had started the retreat on Thursday in Chicago, so they were commuting up on Friday morning. Their stop at Marr Haven Farm must have been really good, because they arrived late. (Those of us already at Circle Pines sat outside in the sun and knitted.) That threw the schedule for the day off-kilter, but we pulled together and proceeded without a word of grumbling. After supper, we had show’n’tell. This is Vince with his working of MMario’s “Queen Anne’s Lace”.(Ravelry link)

Much knitting followed. First picture is Matthew, Matthew and Stephen. (Yup, 2 Matthews.) Second picture is Vince and Jason. Third is Ben and Bob. Last is Bill.

On Saturday morning, Matthew demonstrated his brilliant approach to blocking shawls. My photos don’t do it justice: Matthew’s working in 3 colours of Zephyr is excellent. (The shawl is the “Orenburg Warm Shawl” by Galina Khmeleva from Piecework Sept-Oct 2002. I used to have that issue but it has vanished from my bookshelf – dammit – and is OOP.)

In the afternoon, Chris at BriarRose Fibers opened her home to us and members of her local knit group for a small reception. (Some guys may have bought a bit of yarn.) If you have only seen Chris’ yarns on her website, you really don’t see the depth and subtlety of colour. They are really splendid: no wonder her booth at Rhinebeck is swarmed.

First picture is Chris explaining something to somebody – I forget who. Second picture is Chris speaking with Stephen. (Have you all seen his nifty scarf patterns? Here’s a link in ravelry.) Third pic is Stephen and Tim (seated), with an unidentified friend of Chris'.

Then we jumped over to Circle R Alpacas to look at the critters. Some guys may have bought a bit of yarn.

Saturday after supper we hung out. Watched a video – one of the Harry Potter movies featuring amazing handknits – and knitted and talked. A couple guys used the sauna.

Sunday morning was more knitting and hanging out ‘til lunch. Then we packed up, said our goodbyes and headed our own ways. I went back to Howell, and joined Beth, her family and Jacey Boggs for supper. Monday I mailed some Christmas cards and drove home.

All in all, a nice trip. One guy said it was the first time he’d ever been with other guys who knit. There was a wide range of knitting expertise in the room. The guys were great to be with; weather was wonderful.

Thanks to Todd and Bill for the organizing. Thanks also to Beth for hospitality while in Howell.

See you all later.

Memo

To: All staff

From: Head Office

Subject: Vacation Days Allocation for 2009

In order to meet contract obligations and provide consistency in service delivery, staff are to ensure that all vacation days allocated for the calender year of 2009 have been used before the end of the calender year. Please consult with your manager to finalize scheduling of any vacation days owing.

In other words, I have a few vacation days I have to use (or lose), so I'm going to the  Men's Midwest Knitting Retreat , Nov 13-15. (Scroll down the page a bit.) I considered going to Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, until I looked at the bank balance and the cost of airfares.

The guys have organized an interesting program, which starts in Chicago on the Thursday with a tour of Lorna's Laces and a reception at Loopy Yarns. On Friday, they drive to Circle Pines Centre in Michigan. I'm driving from the east, so will miss the fun and games (and purchases) in Chicago, and will meet the boys at Circle Pines. I will, however, be stopping at The Spinning Loft in Howell, MI (in fact, I will be at the Best Western motel in Howell on the Thursday night) and hopefully at Threadbear Fiberarts.

(This assumes the trip doesn't get kiboshed by dental surgery for a wisdom tooth extraction.)

See you when I'm back.

This Business of Men Knitting…

A recent thread on Ravelry got me to thinking about this topic, and while I believe there are other bloggers who would do a much better job of writing about this subject than I can, I thought I would put some thoughts out there. Hopefully this can encourage a different kind of discussion than what typically results when the matter of men knitting gets raised.

The thread’s topic was on the social cost of men knitting, and as is typical of these kinds of threads, the content shifted relatively quickly and we read posts that declared that men had invented knitting, about how men knit differently than women do, about what it takes to do research for an academic dissertation, about the use of over-blown rhetoric, some displays of nearly overt misogynistic attitudes. I say this is typical of these threads, because it’s what I see happening over and over when online discussions –and not just on ravelry, I’ve seen it on maillists P.R.–  discuss matters around men knitting. (Anybody remember the Pre-Ravelry era?) I’ve often wondered why these threads grind to a halt, or completely lose the focus of the original question and deteriorate into such nastiness.

I’ve been knitting for just over 30 years, and during this time I’ve heard statements that men knit differently than women do; that we have a different approach to the craft; that we are more technical knitters; that we handle colour differently; that we have a different aesthetic about the art of knitting. I’ve have always been puzzled by these comments, because I simply don’t see it. I’ve asked people to better define these comments, and get vague answers, or answers that do not pan out when the craft is looked at from a larger perspective. They point to Kaffe Fassett’s creations as demonstrating that men handle colour differently than women do….but I wonder if this is because he is male, or is it a reflection of Kaffe as a human being? Were Kaffe female, would she handle colour differently and/or less well? Or better? Can we say that men handle colour differently than women when we only point to Kaffe as the example?

I hear that men are more technical knitters, yet the majority of technically-astute knitters I know are female. I know that many people dislike the squareness of some designs by Elizabeth Zimmerman and some of my knitting buddies have commented that Lily Chin’s designs seem sterile and dated, but both of these women really pushed the technical limitations of knitting process. The best books, IMO, on the construction, mechanics and design of knitted lace come from Susanna Lewis and Margaret Stove. Can anyone think of a book on knitting technique authored by a man? Can anyone think of a book on knitwear design written by a man?

Men complain that there are no decent designs for sweaters for men. Things get fuzzy in defining what men want in their garments, and it’s been my experience that when men are asked what they want in a sweater design, their specifications pretty much match what already exists. Perhaps we want designs with a new and fresh look or an edgy look, but is it really possible to have new and fresh looking (or edgy) designs when menswear is notoriously conservative?

Men request sweaters using cables. There have been plenty of men’s sweaters using cables, there are plenty of men’s sweaters using cables, and there will be plenty of men’s sweaters using cables. Cables are usually within the range of most knitters’ skill level; patterns can be written relatively easily for them; sweater designs featuring cables have a solid, reliable, conservative look. Add it all up, and a decent pattern for a cabled sweater should appeal to the widest market share of knitters and wearers. But many men reject these designs because, well…frankly, I don’t know. Somehow they’re not right. Perhaps the designs aren’t new and fresh enough. Or edgy. (Whatever that means.)
 
I think there are several things going on. Traditionally, the people knitting menswear have been women knitting for husbands, sons, boyfriends, etc., and the question they have been asking is “If I knit it, will he wear it?”  The magazine editors and book publishers and yarn companies have understood this, so the number of designs published and those accepted for publication has been geared to this. Magazine editors also have to deal with the advertisers’ interests: would anyone be surprised to know that if a certain yarn is used for a design in a magazine, sales of that yarn will increase? Certain yarns would never be accepted for menswear. (Remember eyelash yarns?) Designers may have great designs for menswear, but if they can’t be sold, there is no incentive to develop them past a very basic concept.
 
In recent past…maybe the last 10 years?...we have seen a significant rise in the number of men knitting for themselves. They learned with simple projects such as beer can cozies, ties, scarves, hats, mitts and easy boxy sweaters. Many of these guys are ready to move on to more advanced projects, and they say they find the available offerings lacking. Yet I wonder if we can effectively communicate to the designers and editors what we really want? If not, no wonder we see few offerings for us in the print publications.

I think the male knitting community is in its infancy…maybe still a pupa. There have always been a handful of us  –compared to now– and perhaps we have been more independent minded or something, through necessity. We have had opportunities to explore our knitting interests within a much larger pool of female knitters that hopefully we considered to be our colleagues, and hopefully many considered us to be theirs.

The man who knits is still an exception. If he goes to a mixed-gender gathering, he will likely be singled out in some way, because he is a man who knits. This is detrimental to all attendees, I think. I hope that as the public generally becomes more accustomed to seeing men knitting, the tendency to see the craftsperson’s gender first will fade into the background.

I hope that as more men knit, those with a strong design sense will learn the tools and techniques to design for men. I hope that as this happens, male knitters generally will develop a better ability to discern what they want and to communicate this to those who influence what appears on the pages. Then, we will stand a better chance of being counted as a valued market share whose needs and wants can be met. Perhaps we will be asked to write some books on technique and sweater design.

Finally, I am not a member of spinning and weaving forums, or those for tailoring and sewing or crochet or bobbin lace or tatting or temari, and I wonder if the same questions come up about why men pursue those crafts and any social phenomena around men’s participation in them. If not, why not? What is different around and about those crafts?

Comments?