Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Ok, I'll say it: I'm a knitter.

Day 1: This yarn was love at first sight.


It's true. I am a knitter.

My transition from 20-something to old lady is in the works. I'm skipping all the steps in between. I'm retiring from my job (that I've only been at for 6 weeks) and finding a porch to sit on--WITH A LEMON DRINK. I'm having no marriage, no children, and going straight to grandma. Anyone have kids who would enjoy homemade baked goods? I would even provide them with crayons and Highlights magazines.

Last weekend I discovered Forever Yarn, a knitting shop within walking distance of my house. It was filled with chit-chat and affection. Each woman was surrounded by skeins of yarn (aka a yarn ball) and partly finished projects. I scheduled three lessons, the first of which was last Saturday. Arriving early I admired the yarn and picked out a style suitable for my first lesson. A handful of women showed up to knit with each other, share ideas, and split goods from the farmers' market across the street. By the end of my lesson, I had learned to relax in my seat and had successfully knitted half of the skein.

The driving force behind my grandmafication is the Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History, which recently featured an exhibit of crochet coral reef. Although the exhibit is no longer on display, the organizing group is The Institute for Figuring. This hobby ties together many passions in my life: female companionship, mathematics, environmental activism, and art. The shape of coral reefs is represented in a specific type of geometry (like the curly structure of kale). It is called hyperbolic geometry and although it's been recognized for hundreds of years, it was discovered only in 1997 that it could be modeled through crochet. Co-Founder Margaret Wertheim explains this at a TED Talk.

It is going to take some time for me to be able to create a sea of coral reefs in my living room but I am looking forward to the journey (and getting to eat prunes without judgement).

2 comments:

  1. woah... WOAH. Grandmafication?!

    Step 1: fart loudly in the kitchen
    Step 2: act like nothing happened

    Boom... You're a Grandmother.

    ReplyDelete