After reading Mim’s blog entry on knitting celebrities, I got to thinking about why I admire certain knitters more then others. I have to say it’s not because they don’t seem like real people, but more because they do seem so very real to me. The same goes for any celebrity that I admire. The more I know about them, the more I can relate to them on a very human level and the less they appear on a pedestal.
That’s why blogs are so wonderful. I love to hear about the pitfalls people have with their knitting projects just as much as the successes. Not because I glory in other peoples mistakes, but because I love to see how other people learn from them. And I love to see how often we knitters often make the same mistakes no matter how long we’ve been knitting or how talented a knitter we may be. It’s a common thread and it connects us in a way that I often have a hard time explaining to those who are on the outside.
It’s like when I find out someone is also bipolar*. There’s an instant secret handshake and a nod of acknowledgement of “Oh yeah you know where I’ve been and just what all I’ve been through”. Knitters have that same secret handshake without having to cross those sacred intimacy barriers that makes everyone uncomfy about oversharing.
I find it amazing that a simple hobby can connect so many people. The waves of impact this connectivity has seems to just echo through the universe like a tidal wave force. It breeches the walls of social structure and brings strangers together in special ways.
I see knitting celebrities as leaders of the pack. They represent the best of us and while they represent only some of us, they do represent the best of us. I don’t think that they’re becoming moral compasses or anything like that, but they are symbols of our community. My admiration for them is also symbolic in the sense that it’s not only the person that I admire but the very journey that they take on their blogs and the courage they have in putting it all out there for the world to see.
So my hat’s off to those enterprising folks who have the courage to put their personal lives along with their knitting on their blogs and my hats off to those adventurous knitters who show us the way to put our fears away and just take the plunge, however that may be.
As always I write for me and hopefully for the reader who can relate to me.
*Special thanks to the Knitting Curmudgeon for her post.
September 21st, 2006 at 6:04 pm
*gives you the secret bipolar handshake*
I know what you mean. My mistakes don’t seem as horrible. I frogged yesterday and thought “It’s alright. Everybody does it.”
September 22nd, 2006 at 1:43 am
I totally agree – it really does give a sense of connection when I read blogs of people who go through the same things as I do. Horrible knitting mistakes, yarn addiction, even issues with kids.
September 22nd, 2006 at 3:08 am
Sharing my mistakes on my blog makes me feel better, especially when people email me that they have done the same thing. I enjoy sharing my knitting adventures and reading about other’s knitting experiences. Thank you for sharing, Opal!
September 23rd, 2006 at 2:23 am
Great post! I liked Mim’s post on knitting celebrity, too.
September 26th, 2006 at 11:55 am
I’m so glad I found your post! Thanks for expounding on your thoughts. I felt that my post was just ramblings on the way to something, and THIS is what I think I was headed toward :) Very articulately put!