WITH THIS RING...

I’m noticing the emergence of new webrings lately. It seems like the knitblogging community is subdividing as it grows ever larger. There is a webring for acrylic knitters, and one for knitters with cats, and of course another one for knitters with dogs. There is a sockknitters ring and a machine knitters ring, and if you want to have it all, there’s a ring for sockknitting machine knitters. (I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a sockknitting machine!) There is a ring for queer knitters and a ring for friends of gay/lesbian knitters, and a ring for male knitters. Based on geography, there is a ring for Californian knitters and New England knitters, and Nordic knitters, and knitters in Toronto. There’s a Mile High Knit Bloggers ring, and I don’t want to admit what I immediately thought. It’s actually for knit bloggers in the Denver area. Long Islanders, did you know you have a ring just for you? There’s a ring for beginner knitters, and one for master knitters. There’s even a ring for knitters in the knitting business.

If you don’t fall into any of these categories, I bet you won’t have to wait long. There will be a category for everything, coming soon to a webring near you.

I am reminded of the kids I work with, who subdivide all the students at school into different groups. Today, kids dress to match the group they are in. Saggy pants, gel bangle bracelets, spiked collars, black….all black. What you wear tells the world if you are a Goth, or a headbanger, a skater or a stoner. In my ancient adolescence, clothing was not a good way to discern who was who. Everyone pretty much dressed alike. All the girls wore pleated skirts and Mary Jane collar blouses. The boys all wore slacks….chinos or corduroys, and they all wore working belts. Hairstyles conformed to a norm also. By the time boys started wearing their hair long, and girls were expressing inner selves with purple spikes, I was out of high school.

Can you tell what group a knitter is in by the things that she or he knits? Are there personality characteristics that distinguish the Rowan knitters from the Fair Isle knitters from the lace knitters from the frou frou novelty yarn knitters? Are sock knitters different in some meaningful way from dishcloth knitters or felted bag knitters? Are Colinette knitters somehow apart from Debbie Bliss knitters and is this separate from Homespun knitters? Are there fundamental differences between cardigan knitters vs. pullover knitters?

As I travel the blogs, it seems that most of us mix it all up like a Long Island iced tea. A shot of this, a shot of that, another shot, and ANOTHER shot… whoops….we’re drunk on yarn, on color, on texture, on pattern. Some of us do gravitate to one main interest, and become highly expert in that area.

All those quizzes that try to typecast us….What kind of knitter are you? What kind of yarn are you? What kind of needles are you? There are forces trying to put us all in little boxes, and yet the blogs seem to serve as a clearinghouse for so many inspirations that we are all tempted out of our boxes and into other neighborhoods.

But I wonder, are there any generalizations to be made about groups of knitters? If there are, it might go something like this….

…Goth knitters…..use black yarn
…Headbanger knitters….make crocheted chain mail
…Geek knitters….use math instead of Sweater Wizard to develop patterns
…Tech geek knitters….use Sweater Wizard
…Preppy knitters….make v-neck vests
…Jock knitters…..make tank tops
…Hippie knitters…..make shawls and ponchos
….Cool knitters…..make whatever the hell they want and refuse to be typecast

I’m a cool knitter. Hmm. Cool Knitters Webring….coming soon to a webpage near you.

Comments

[Uli]

Oh, that's a very creative entry. I love it. Consider it the "want to belong to something" syndrome. :-))

I'll be a cool knitter in the ring of cool knitters!!!

Enjoy your day.

[Allison]

Yeah. Everyone wants to be part of the "cool" club. I think it also plays into the profileration of KnitAlongs.

[Kathleen]

Thanks for not forgetting the Long Island Knits Webring.

[Jane]

Wonderful! And sign me up for the "Cool Knitters" ring. (hee hee)

[Lynette]

What a great entry! Although I'm not trying to fit into mode of knitter, I do like the idea of being a 'cool' knitter. And why shouldn't we have a ring?

[annie]

I hate to put myself into one category, which means, I guess, that I am a "cool knitter". Who knew?

Great entry.

[Larry]

Terrific post! I've never actually made it all the way through any of the rings I joined way back when. I haven't even tried for almost a year. Gotta fix that. How do you un-join?

[margene]

Cool knitters....aren't we all! It's all knitting. We do seem to be divided into little groups but also we're all part of the bigger picture. Being a part of the knitting community online is like being in a club even if you're not in a ring. Love the post.

[Chris]

But what about us stoned knitters? We need a ring. The ring for those who can't go a day without a "fiber fix". Knit exclusively with "hemp" yarn. Always trying to score some more....yarn. You know them when you see them, the glazed eyes, lack of sleep from "just one more row". Be afraid, be very afraid!

[Amy]

Don't forget about the Procrastinating Knitters -- we really *want* to knit ... we'll get around to it ... tomorrow!

Nice post. Good observation :-)

[Kerstin]

Just wait. Soon there will be a "I Wanna Be a Knitter" ring. For those who say "I could NEVER do THAT" when they watch us knit.

[Emma]

Very good post,and so true ! I don't really 'get' the need to belong to a little,exclusive club.Maybe some people need to be a big fish in a little pond.I wonder if people intend to be so clique'y ?

[brandy]

I have conformed and am going with the tank along. Whats nice about this "a-long" is you can make ANY tank you like.

In my diversity class we learned that;

A) People always feel better in groups or clicks of peoeple with similar things. It could be race, age, or as granular as interests and tastes.

B) Diversity leads to a better product, or a better end result. Diveristy is good, though against a beings natural urge to "group".

That's me trying to sound intelligent.. lol :)

[rams]

Girl, you telling me you didn't have any girls with ratted beehives, black nylons (not pantyhose yet)with nail polish stopped runs and ankle bracelets in your school? Tenth graders with boyfriends in the service? Go on. (And the knitting then, some of you will remember, was mohair sweaters on size 10s with yo raglan sleeves. My, my.)

[Joanne]

Speaking as one of the co-founders of the Long Island Ring, it was started because other knitting rings refused to list our site. There were either delays or out and out refusals to list new people.

I don't know if that has motivated any of the other ring starters.

[Bron]

Great post and right on target! I never go through the rings anyway - some, like Knitting Blogs - are just too big with too many dead links. Makes me wonder why we join in the first place?

[Ellen]

Bravo! Down with knitting cliques! Up with knitting clicks!

[Sandra]

Need cool knitters button? Lemme know.

[Sandra]

Need cool knitters button? Lemme know.

[abby]

"Are there personality characteristics that distinguish the Rowan knitters from the Fair Isle knitters from the lace knitters from the frou frou novelty yarn knitters? Are sock knitters different in some meaningful way from dishcloth knitters or felted bag knitters?"

well, of the things you listed, i've done fair isle, lace and frou frou scarves, socks and a felted bag. does this make me a freakishly inconsistent knitter? i love your blog, k. love it. i always find something of merit in your entries - something to make me smile. btw - i have a hunch on a singer you might like if you haven't already heard her. her name is patty griffin. i dunno why i'm recommending her to you - it's just a hunch. anyway, thanks for blogging. you're one of my 'must reads'!

[Mary Beth]

Great post! And thanks to Brandy for the diversity lesson. Why do we FEEL better in like groups if we KNOW diversity brings about a better product? Humans are strange creatures.

[Michelle]

Great essay- and don't forget the Grandma taught vs the yarn shop taught knitters, knitters in public, knitters with over 50 wips, charity knitters... My 15 year old and I were talking about cliques this morning- mostly about a girl she knows who couldn't get in certain cliques and became so anti-clique, she started another clique. Also, about the difference between groups and cliques. Everyone needs groups of like-minded folks to hang out with on the net and off- that stay open minded to life around them. I wanna be a cool, freakishly inconsistant, open minded knitter!

[Vera]

Currenly I belong to the knitting blogs ring, crocheting blogs ring, secret pals, creative chicks, sock knitters, and Typepad rings.

Oh, I plan to join the Six Socks ring as soon as I get one on the needles.

I guess that why there's so much "ringing" in my ears (groan).

I've always considered myself a bit of a dork, so I suppose I could start a "Nerdy Needleworkers" ring. Imagine what that button would look like.

I enjoy going through rings and reading what others are doing. I do hate the dead links and the discontinued blogs.

I guess it's just human nature to want to group together, but I do try to venture out and read non-crafting blogs to see what else is out there.

Thank you Sharon, for such a thought-provoking post.

[abby]

i referred to you as k, as in knitknacks, instead of s, for sharon. duh.

[amy]

Hey Sharon - what a great post. It does seem we join rings sort of to further categorize outselves - but not necessarily to alienate or pigeonhole. When you join a ring and plop the button on your site, it's sort of like saying, "hey, I'm part of 'that' community, too." Wonderful post - and clearly you've generated lots of conversation around this!

[Melissa]

I'm the other co-founder of Long Island Knitters and North East Knitters. Why did I make these rings? Because the "BIG" rings were all owned by the same person, who refused to add us. We wanted more traffic to our blog and were attempting to spark some interest in local knitters getting together to play. The intent was not to be exclusive, but to invite locals to come out and play. We happen to be social and fun-loving.

[Melanie]

I'd like to echo the thanks for a thought provoking post. I belong to several knitting blog rings (as well as a crochet one, one for fiber arts in general and one for grammarians). Like Amy and Vera, I've never thought of them as cliques. But your post got me to thinking of reasons people do start/join rings.

I think that to a new knit (or other craft) blogger, the blogging community can be a pretty daunting place. The Knitting Blog ring alone has over 300 blogs, and there are plenty more who don't belong to that ring. Where to start reading? One way to narrow down choices is to find bloggers with whom you (generic you, not personal) have other things in common as well as your craft. Joining a ring also helps others to find your blog, so you don't feel you're blogging into a vacuum. The danger of cliquishness comes in if you read *only* the blogs in your ring.

Speaking just for myself, I've "met" plenty of great bloggers through rings but I would have missed out on some great ones if I read exclusively within the rings. I found some of my favorite "must-reads" (including yours) through other weblogs.

Though I'm not such a newbie anymore, I do want to stay in them to "meet" more knit bloggers, and maybe to help some of the newbies become part of the community.

[Sarah Crawford]

Kintting is a fun activity. So glad that the online community has grown this much and people really get into touch with other people, share impressions and talk about techniques and ways of achieveing better results.