Men Who Knit?

POSTED BY: cljohnston108
UPDATED: Monday, October 1, 2007 03:06
VIEWED: 14583
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CLJOHNSTON108

Thursday, January 18, 2007 10:47 PM

With all the unusually cold weather we've been having in L.A., I started thinking about getting myself a Jayne hat, since I've never seen anybody else wear one on the street.
(Come to think of it, I've never seen anything Firefly-related out on the street!)

After looking around some, I had the thought of maybe learning to knit, because a) you'll have to pay up to 40 bucks to have someone make one for you, and b) someone will pay up to 40 bucks to have you make one for them!

I looked around at these patterns that Browncoats have posted...
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=19076.20
http://redshirtknitting.com/?page_id=222
http://community.livejournal.com/bigdamnknitters/
...and I thought, "Jeez! That's like a whole 'nother language! And I'll probably get Carpal Tunnel! And... I'm a GUY! A straight guy! Straight guys don't knit! ... Or do they?"

So I Googled for "men who knit"...

http://www.menwhoknit.com/
http://www.menknit.net/

(Apparently, there's not a single Browncoat among them, cuz I searched for 'jayne' & 'firefly' and came up with bupkis! )

Somebody even made a DVD on the subject!

So, what say y'all? Should I take up a new hobby, without fear of my manliness being called into question?

LITTLEALBATROSS29

Thursday, January 18, 2007 10:56 PM

I think it's a shiny idea !

If you learn to knit Jayne hats , I'll buy one from You

Bryce
*********************

CLJOHNSTON108

Thursday, January 18, 2007 11:45 PM

Hey, cool! Thanks for the vote of confidence, Alby!

I'm looking at the videos on this site...
http://www.knittinghelp.com/

My big worry is that, since you don't work from drawings and cut out pieces of fabric, but rather go one stitch at a time, it seems easy to lose track of what you're doing!

That always fascinated me: How do people knit things like sleeves symmetrically on both sides?

Do you need to keep a count of everything?

"I was told there'd be no math!"

SHAMELESS

Thursday, January 18, 2007 11:50 PM

Yes. Yes you do. You need to keep track of all of the stitches - but don't worry, it's easier than you think! Most of the patterns either have something like, Knit stitch the whole row, so you don't really have to keep track of the stitches - just knit and knit until you've reached the end of that row! Other patterns have repeating... well, patterns, such as Knit 5, Purl 2, Knit 2 Together - repeat until the end of the row, so you just have to keep track of where you are WITHIN that thingy. Plus, the more you knit, the more you recognize what kind of stitches the ones you just knit are (that is a purl stitch because it looks like one, and it's two stitches back, so now I know where I am), and you learn how to count rows. And there isn't really much math - unless you can't do basic arithmetic.

As for manliness... well, real men wear pink, a man walks down the street knitting, you know he ain't afraid of anything, and it's always the insecure ones who mock anything "womanly". So have at it!

------------------------------------------
RPG launcher bought in third world country illegally - $10
Landmines - $50 per
Attack/track dogs bred 1st class - $250-500 per
Highpowered assault rifles - $600 per
The look on your face when I show up on your doorstep with a bigfoot - ... Priceless

"You gotta love that the first pirated HD DVD is the one about space pirates who broadcast a video that the government wants to keep secret.

Can't stop the signal."
-reavers_ate_my_dvd

CLJOHNSTON108

Friday, January 19, 2007 12:05 AM

Thanks, shameless! I feel better now!

Also, I love your sig!
________________________

"Spry for a dead fella!"

FLORALBUNNY

Friday, January 19, 2007 2:14 AM

Sleeve-knitting hint: If you want both (or all
three -- or more -- we aren't picky here) to come
out looking about the same, knit them on the same
needle at the same time. Just remember not to
cross your yarn over from one sleeve to another. Heh.

There are little counters and markers you can use
(make your own by tying little loops of contrast-y
yarn or using twist-ties) which will help keep track
of your rows and stitch-pattern.

Wish I had my knitting champ grandma here to help
you out!

bun
~Bastards made me a turtle 'cos I brought the yarn~
~We aim to exponentiate~
~serious stickies in the ol' keyboard this eve.~

CLJOHNSTON108

Friday, January 19, 2007 3:23 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by FloralBunny:
Wish I had my knitting champ grandma here to help
you out!

Y'all are doing great on your own!
All these little tips are gonna really come in handy!

________________________

"Spry for a dead fella!"

FLORALBUNNY

Friday, January 19, 2007 3:38 AM

Think how much more you'd know if you could sit with
me and watch me wave my arms about.
Between Grandma and books on the topic, and just
looking very closely at fancy patterns, plus a
bunch of experiments, I learned how to reproduce
just about anything.
Amazingly, a lot of it turns out to be more math-y
than craft-y.

bun
~Bastards turned turtle~
~We aim to exponentiate~
~still having stickies in the keyboard...~

SABRI3L

Friday, January 19, 2007 4:03 AM

I think men who are crafty (especially knitters) are very sexy.

Knitter of Cunning Jayne Hats

http://www.myspace.com/gazthegloomy

SHAMELESS

Friday, January 19, 2007 5:03 AM

Awww, thankee! I like it too! Obviously, cuz it's mine. Anyways, glad to help!

------------------------------------------
RPG launcher bought in third world country illegally - $10
Landmines - $50 per
Attack/track dogs bred 1st class - $250-500 per
Highpowered assault rifles - $600 per
The look on your face when I show up on your doorstep with a bigfoot - ... Priceless

"You gotta love that the first pirated HD DVD is the one about space pirates who broadcast a video that the government wants to keep secret.

Can't stop the signal."
-reavers_ate_my_dvd

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