Ear Candy

It’s rare that I just sit and knit, despite all the meditation books out there that suggest doing just that. I only know a rare few who do. Most of us, to be honest, gotta be entertained while we knit.

We were curious enough to learn it, once upon a time, and we all quickly figured out that our already-in-place TV routines were the perfect times to pick up the knitting. Over the years, I’ve noticed a trend in that knitting changes how I watch TV. I thought it was just me, but have since read knitting authors describe this same effect. This has been a gateway to other habits-while-knitting, and I am already far down that path.

It’s an auditory path.

Horror and thriller movies are no good for knitting, since their stories are told through action that you have to actually be looking up to see. And if you have a simple enough pattern going that you don’t have to look at it constantly, these movies will still hinder you. Ever notice your knitting slows down when the scenes get tense? I’ve often caught myself frozen in mid-stitch, staring wide-eyed at the TV like a deer caught in the headlights. Well, a deer who was knitting at the time and got caught. Ever drop a stitch as a result of one of those startle moments in a film? It doesn’t take long to learn that these are not good knitting movies. For these, put the knitting away and just eat the damned popcorn.

Dialogue, however, is a boon for us knitters. So knitting has caused me to drift more and more towards documentaries, because the narrator is describing whatever the visuals are, nonstop. Is it any wonder I have since gotten hooked on podcasts, which are recorded dialogue done talk-show style? And having good company while knitting or a class lecture to hear, again for the ongoing dialogue. Or, back to that TV, old favorites on discs that I can play over and over. I know the stories already, so just listening with occasional glances up are perfect.

Once in a very rare while, I’ll break from my norm. Sometimes I’ll do the wine + wool pairing with some trancey kinda music, like didgeridoos or something, or folksy stuff. Now that I’m thinking on it, I’ll have to be more self-mindful to examine what I’m actually doing during those times, to see why those happen. Hmmm . . .