Knitting not knots

What I listened to

When I was a child, around ten, I was fascinated by knitting, so when I saw the talk "How yarn bombing grew into a worldwide movement", it interested me. It's an unusual way to use knitting and crocheting. 

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What it says

In this TED Talk, Magda Sayeg tells us how she became an artist almost by accident as a result of knitting a door handle cover, then covers for street sign posts and eventually a bus and even larger things. Today, this "yarn bombing" has become an international phenomena, adding touches of warmth to dreary urban landscapes. 

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My response 

I really like Sayeg's description near the end where she describes knitting and crocheting as "granny hobbies". When I learned to knit and crochet, it was from my grannies and ageing aunts. In fact, it was pretty weird for a young boy to have such interests – we were supposed to play rough, do wood work, ride motor bikes and so on. I did also enjoy making things with wood and riding motor bikes dangerously, but knitting and other "women's" crafts also interested me. I almost never made anything practical, but I just loved the way a long piece of wool could be turned into something soft and pretty.

My family, especially my father, was very supportive of this rather strange hobby for a young boy, and I don't remember any of my mates at school being unpleasant about it, even when I developed a bit to the stage of crocheting lace borders for hankies. Maybe I liked it because it was something that I created, and that was satisfying, even if I didn't have the patience to knit a whole sweater.

What the speaker does not tell us is whether she creates her art by hand knitting or by machine. I hope by hand. It sort of seems a bit like cheating to use industrial-type machines to do it.

It is decades now since I've knitted anything. Maybe it would be good to get physically creative again.