Before I begin this post, I feel the need for a
disclaimer. I am not what you call
an avid sports fan. In fact, you
may describe me as the anti-avid sports fan. I watch no sports either live or on TV. I attend my children’s sporting events
to socialize with other parents, take gratuitous pictures of my children, and
occasionally keep up with the actual score.
That having been said, I absolutely cannot understand the
fuss that was created over a woman in England who was caught knitting in a
public place. Big deal. It was a sporting event. Again, I’m not impressed; I knit at all
my children’s sporting events.
(See disclaimer, above.)
The event was televised. This merely means that, if she drops a stitch, she can watch the heated
exchange on instant replay. Yet,
this knitter made international news.
The BBC taped this knitter knitting during a heated moment
in a Wimbledon match.
Responses to this woman’s activities have been mixed. Some people feel that she should have
abandoned her seats since she clearly doesn’t care about the tennis match. Other commentators were confused as to
why she was knitting a sweater during the summer. Knitters have vigorously defended her actions, noting that
multi-tasking is possible, wondering how many people were Tweeting or otherwise
engaged in cell phone activity during the match, and commenting that people are
supposed to knit sweaters in the summer BEFORE they are needed in the fall.
Personally, I do believe that this knitter hoped to attract
attention to her activities. After
all, bright pink yarn does make a statement. I’m sure she had a pair of socks or some other project with
less conspicuous yarn somewhere in her stash. Yet, she boldly chose to go with the bright pink. I also don’t think she was that “into”
the match since she was videoed doing a row of purl stitches. I would argue that, if she were that
excited about this match, she would have found a project that involves a simple
garter stitch pattern.
Regardless of her knitting selection, I give this knitter a
tremendous amount of credit. She
joined her family for a spectacular sporting event without missing a
stitch. You go you knittin’ girl!
