I’ve been bringing my socks to work on at lunchtime this week. My goal is to have two pairs to bring to my knitting lesson on Saturday. Or at least one of each. I’m hoping that if I can go over my gusseting technique with the teacher 2-4 times, I should be able to suss it out. More socks means more repetition, thus reducing the likelihood that I will forget the content of my lesson on the drive home.

This sock yarn is definitely prettier as a skein than as a sock. Oh well. Sock number 1 is much prettier. I’ll get a photo of that one posted after I finish it.

The reactions I get from my coworkers as I knit during my lunch period are very entertaining.

• Many people avoid eye contact. My theory is that they think that if they notice my knitting openly in any way, they will be forced to find a way to comment on it. They are not prepared to do this, so they turn on the just-getting-my-coffee-here blinders. Now, I know that some of these folks may actually not notice me, but you can always tell when someone is pulling the not-noticing-you-on-purpose trick. I wonder why knitting in public makes some people uncomfortable. Is knitting a self-indulgent activity I should I save for the privacy of my home, like cookie dough eating or making love?

• My personal acquaintances, almost invariably,  express amazement at: a) my skill or b) my quirky desire to knit what they think of as disposable accessories. I smile and chat and knit without looking at my needles. They goggle. I love that parlor trick.

• One male coworker had a paranoid macho turnaround crisis right in front of me. He approached and expressed intense interest in the knitting, but then (paranoid turnaround) retreated, claiming that he could never knit because he’s too much of  guy and didn’t have the patience for it. Or the skill. After all it takes a long time to learn how to knit that well.  How do you do that bit again? That’s really interesting. You’re making socks, huh? (Paranoid turnaround) Which I could never do, I’d end up with one this big (hand make shape the size of a clementine) and one this big (hands make shape the size of a bowling ball).  What would you say if you saw me knitting in here, huh? Nervous laugh.

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