So is the knitting community like gated with an HOA? Am I the neighbor with a Christmas display that is “an eyesore” for the neighborhood?
JFC. I showed up to an open knitting meetup club at the community room with a loom and hook and you’d think I was “the drunk, noisy, off-the-rack cousin” at the black tie wedding.
Pardon the dual metaphors but I was shook. Me and my knitting loom out here giving cooties to the unvaccinated.
What’s the beef #knitting gang?
@Idissent I mean I did have a canvas tote instead of a fancy ceramic yarn bowl too… to add to my utter plebeian appeal.
@MotherDucker
I can't imagine why that would matter
@MotherDucker I'm so sorry! It's hard to find good hobby buddies when folks are judgy and exclusionary. I don't do HOA's and mostly avoid those that prefer them (as opposed to that's just what was available and they don't care). They are the epitome of cloning, group think and remind me of pod people.
I hope you find knitting buddies that are more creative since creatives are more relaxed free thinkers generally.
@MotherDucker Unfortunately most knitting groups/guilds whatever tend to be primarily older white women that look down on anyone that doesn’t look like them and who doesn’t just knit. This is from my own experience so others mileage may vary. I had planned on starting an inclusive fiber arts meetup but then covid hit and it just hasn’t felt like a safe option but seeing these kinds of stories reminds me there truly is a need that is not being met. I’m sorry you had this experience.
@Autumn I was indeed the only one under ~55.
But yikes. Knitting is knitting. My hat is gonna come out looking like your hat, right?
I hope you do end up making your meetup. It is needed. Maybe when we get our first woman president some of this I am right/ my way is the only way/ different is personally offensive to my delicate sensibilities nonsense will crawl back under a rock where it belongs.
@Autumn @MotherDucker online ones are usually pleasant. I've done a handful since covid and they've all been much more inclusive, plus I don't have to go out and people or waste gas to just be shunned because *gasp* I prefer crochet over knitting
@Yarnchick @Autumn honestly, I didn’t even think of this. Is it like a zoom thing? Because I would totally do that.
I just knit caps for my chemo patients, because why wouldn’t I? Didn’t even get to mention that at the meetup because the interaction was so damn icy. I’m sure me being a masker wasn’t helping.
@MotherDucker @Autumn yes, they've all been on zoom, unfortunately they've trailed off over the past 2 years and I'm too lazy/socially inept to be a leader and start a group myself.
I know of one really good group locally that does regular zoom meet ups, but they are at a very inconvenient time for me😭
@Yarnchick @MotherDucker This week is really packed for me with Flock in Seattle 8/8-8/13 and then the one year anniversary of Size Inclusive Collective next Thursday and my birthday Friday. BUT, I don’t see why we can’t start our own online zoom meetup. Are there days/times that work better for you?
@Autumn @MotherDucker that would be cool! I'm flexible except for the dinner hours, central time zone because I cook 7 days a week. Let's chat after your big week. Safe travels & happy early birthday Autumn!
@MotherDucker ugh, that was awful🙁 I would love to find a good meet up group too but they're all ICK around here too.
@MotherDucker oh yes, there are knitting snobs, not just against loom knitters, but also treating crochet like some lesser form.
and then there are the different forms of knitting, which seem to have local hierarchies (i got thrown out of girl scouts for knitting "wrong").
fortunately there are also fiber groups that are open to everyone however they choose to work with fiber. i'm sorry that group was snobby towards you. loom knitting is fun & fast, and can be challenging if you want it to be.
I appreciate you being inclusive on this topic. 🩷
@ATXJane @MotherDucker it annoys me when people gatekeep hobbies... like i was told i can't do any number of "traditionally masculine" hobbies, because i'm a girl. i also don't tolerate anyone telling boys that some hobbies are "girly". it's all snobbery & gatekeeping and it's wrong
Sorry you've been subjected to that nonsense. Fiber arts are just what the genre says. Fiber arts don't care how they're produced, nor do they mind what materials make up their composition. Imposing such categorical disqualifiers is abject bullshit, and reveals much about the flawed practitioners who feel justified in using them.
@MotherDucker
Oh my God