like a ninja!

So, I know I’m a fast knitter. I’ve always been speedy, but my time knitting socks on the bus has really gotten me in an amazing groove of late. I knit a whole pair of socks in one week and then another single sock in the next two/three days. I’m nearly done with yet another sock (not a match to the aforementioned one), which is looking as if it’ll be a kneesock (yay!).

But it was all driven home to me today, when two complete strangers took the time to say something. On the bus to work this morning, a woman leaned over and said, “You are SO FAST! I’ve been watching you . . . just . . . mesmerized.”

The best compliment, though, was this evening on the subway home from dinner. A group of hipsters came on–three women and a man–and they were chatting animatedly. Suddenly they got a bit quiet, and I heard the guy say something and gesture with his hands. I looked up, and the guy repeated his hand gesture, which mimicked my knitting movements, and repeated what he’d said: “Like a ninja!”

I replied, “I can kill a man with these moves.”

They had a hearty laugh, and they asked me what I was making. I showed them the simple stockinette sock, and they asked how it changes direction, or if that’s too difficult to explain. I said, “Well, if you increase and decrease the number of stitches in a particular way, it turns the piece.” They got it. One of the women said she knit half a scarf, once. Another joked, “That’s why after Christmas everyone is wearing short scarves. Because a friend learned to knit . . .”

• • •

I am loving all the responses to the contest! I wonder: Are you guessing based on how many books you have, or just how many you think I have? Hmmm. I am not sure if I should say this, but . . . so far no one’s guessed the exact number.

Contest is open til 8pm EST Sunday! Oh, and only one guess per person. I’ll leave you with a shot I took admist the sleetstorm we had here today. My expression says it all, doesn’t it?

sleet. ugh.

22 Responses to like a ninja!

  1. Carla says:

    Okay, can we guess again? I think my guess was too low- based on what I own- ( look of shame/pride?) I change me 50-something…. to 72!
    Fianal answer.

  2. Coleen says:

    hmmm… Ninja Knitter… I like it!

    We had that icky sleeting stuff down here too. I would love to know what happened to the 70 degree weather we had YESTERDAY!

  3. Elinor says:

    That’s pretty funny! I always like hearing what the muggles have to say when they watch a garment take shape. It’s like magic to them. :-)

  4. Num Num says:

    My public transportation story: on the 57th Street crosstown bus, two yentas accosted a woman getting on the bus. “Where were you, we were worried about you,” they shouted. She looked startled, as well she might, since she didn’t know either of the women. But she did ride the same bus every day and had been on vacation for a while. It was their business?

    I love your speed and precision and I love your hat even more.

  5. Kristy says:

    I love it when people you don’t know want to comment on your knitting. It’s one thing to impress other knitters, but totally another to impress a non-knitter!

  6. Ashley says:

    Dang–can I send you my second Jaywalker and have you knit it in 2-3 days? Please?

    I love your stories–particularly the hipsters. I think you need a t-shirt that says “ninja knitter.” Hell, I think we all need one.

  7. Rachel says:

    I’m looking forward to seeing your ninja moves next week. I resolve not to be jealous.

    Heather took a second guess?? I want a second guess!

  8. Collette says:

    Based upon how quickly you knit, I have jealously decided you have no need for any knitting books whatsoever and must immediately forward all said books to me. (Ooh, the green-eyed monster is alive and well here. Must. Knit. Faster. I want to be a ninja too!)

  9. Kristen says:

    Ninja! Woo!
    I like the self-timer on my camera, but in public I’m paranoid that someone will pick my camera up and run away with it. Not really SCARED that it will happen, but paranoid. The purchase of this camera was not approved by the household, since I’d just bought a new camera last May, but someone somehow packed it into a box that still hasn’t been opened since we moved in August.

    Anyway, if I were to buy another camera, it would be my third within a year, and that’s unacceptable. Self-timed shots are only taken at home, and even then, I don’t do it because my one cat somehow knows to stand between me and the camera. Or he bites the wrist strap and takes the camera away.

    My completely random guess on knitting books is, um, 42. It worked for Douglas Adams.

  10. stacey says:

    lots of snow here – not so much sleet…..cute hat! My husband always makes sure he sits a bit away from me when I’m knitting – he says he’d never want to get stabbed with one of my sock needles!

  11. Knitting Bandit says:

    Being the intimidating Knitting Ninja you are I’m going guess you don’t have a lot of time to search through books and lug them around the city with you. Maybe you only have 28?

Leave a Reply to Knitting Bandit Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *