Att'n: DENNIS

Thanks for the kind words Noreen and Don.

Go ahead tell the story! Hugs & God bless, Dennis & Gail

Spike Driver spun a FINE 'yarn':

Spike Driver. . .

Jay, who is a realtor and somewhat general contractor (questionable) AND a former Vandy Football player (AND was even on the bench for the 49-ers and the Seahawks) was watching us knit from across the street. We invited him to learn how. He responded that it was 'girly'. I responded that I have a friend who is a Marine who knits AND crochets. HE responded that my friend must be more of a man, pause, more of a WOMAN than he (Jay) is. I told him I'd bring you back from IL to deal with that unenlighted comment! Had Don been there, he'd've given Jay an earful! I was having too much fun knitting to REALLY get 'into it' with Jay, but DID get a GOOD snicker in by adding, maybe LISA (his wife) is MAN enough to knit! (being that Lisa has what I call 'buy-me's" or "after-market" errrrr upper 'parts', I thought it was hilarious! I'm bac, really really bad! Love, Noreen

That is a good one Noreen! Thanks for sharing! Dennis

I have stopped long ago , to use this terms as such ,,, in my [written] lectures i explain the Historical development, the moving of the knitting between the genders. It might interest you that this a tottaly Western point of view, our Ethiopian tribe had only Males Knit and weave , till they came here . In many ASIATIC societies males Do all the Crafts that are sold, and women do the ones for home use. Defenitions of Gendral crafts are Culture and Period related. As to the man who had those strange reactions ,,, i wouldn`t waste my breath on him. Our new Exhibition will be about Knitting [ not useful stuff] it will include Only Lady Artists ,,, no man wanted to join ,,, i was so sick of writing about the Gendral issue that i only gave it a tiny remark in my Gallery Paper ,,,, As i find that nowadays i brings to the surface other SOCIAL ISSUES ,,, mirjam

Mirjam, I would not waste my time in him. I have knitted and crocheted for so many years the I have heard it all, I think. I quit listening to men that thought it was degrading decades ago.

Thanks for the kind thougts Mirjam, you do not have to worry about me, but thanks Your man friend that loves to knit & crochet, Dennis

Hello, I've been lurking on and off for a couple of months here, but this subject is a sore one with me as well. My grandma taught me crochet and embroidery when I was 7 or 8 yrs old. Quite a few of the people I work with are surprised that a *mere* man can do this kind of work. One of my co-workers made the statement that "It's not a 'manly' thing to do." No accounting for some people I suppose.

So far this year I've done two shawls for my daughters, a pineapple pattern centerpiece (36" diameter) for a lady I work with, and am working on a cardigan. The cardigan is being done with worsted yarn the others were all done in size 10 cotton thread.

It has been interesting and educational following some of the projects being done here, and I share some of the frustrations at having to frog stitch occasionally.

Bob

It is sad that some people can be so narrow-minded. But don't let them get to you. Just keep enjoying your hobby and join in here again.

Here's an interesting story about men knitting in prison -

Bob, Thanks for the kind reply. As you can see I am a true family man, Gail and my three children will be the first to say that. Did you catch the word after family, no doubt friend. Don't let them bother you, enjoy your great hobby and have a ton of enjoyment as I can see you are already doing. I will bet your family enjoys your hobby with those great hand made gifts! I know my daughter, 2 sons and three grand children love there gifts. My wife "Gail", tells every one about the gifts I make for her with a ton of pride.

It sounds like you've been busy. We would like to see a picture if possible. I have been doing most of my knitting and crocheting for charity the last several months.

As for frogging I don't even want to talk about it, do you get what I mean? :)

Please check in more often. There is a wealth of knitting and crocheting information here and the friendliest people you will ever meet. And, I am not the only MAN in the group, as I am sure you know by now.

A man that knits and crochets, :) Dennis

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Welcome, Bob. Size 10, eh? Wow! I'd love to see some pictures!

Higs, Katherine

Welcome to rcty, and good to see you standing up to be noticed! ;o)

Tell those unknowing people that Rosey Grier (ex-football player in case you didn't know... I have no idea if you are old enough to know him or not) does embroidery to help him relax, and I'll bet they wouldn't have the nerve to tell him that it unmanly! He is one HUGE man! ;o)

*hugs* Gemini

Yep, I know who Rosie is. I didn't know he did embroidery though. Amazing the tidbits and odd facts you pick up on usenet.

And thanks for the welcome too.

I learned a l-o-o-ong time ago not to care too much about what others thought of me. So, screwball comments don't bother me much if at all. I'll see what I can do about pictures. Should I post them as attachments in this group, or somewhere else? Don't want to upset the natives, if you know what I mean.

I like the fact that there are more men acquiring needlework skills, of whatever choice. Never could get the hang of knitting myself, four or five different people have tried to teach me. I keep busy enough with the rest though, so I probably wouldn't have the time to keep after it.

It is. For those people, I like to borrow a quote from Louis L'Amour "A might narrow between the eyes." Discovered it in his novel "The Daybreakers", one of the Sackett series.

I've heard of that story about the men in prison. Amazing.

I'll see what I can do on that, I've got some of the centerpiece but not the shawls. I do have a white shawl I made first in the same pattern though.

I hear that. Sounds like his job resembled the military life. Long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. Crocheting (sp?) is a good way to spend idle time and hold off the boredom for a while.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

needlepoint actually. he even published a book on it (Rosie Greer's Needlepoint for Men, 1973). here's some highlights:

i'll add my welcome. my 6 year old son knits on a frame. he's attempting needles but the coordination isn't there yet. he has some interest in tapestry weaving, so we may build a loom this summer & try that out.lee

I also goofed on what it is that he does (but I do remember seeing him on the Johnny Carson show and that Johnny Carson got his trademark expression on his face that let you know "I am NOT stupid enough to say that this is unmanly")... but I was close, yes? I've never done needlepoint *or* embroidery, so I don't really know the difference in them. Embroidery is what is done with colourful threads on pillowcases, etc?

Real men might knit or crochet or tat or do crewel, but - Real men do not "FROG".

Well, they might. But, they would never admit it. It is like stopping and asking for directions. That standard was set by D. Boon - never lost, but a mite bewildered for neigh on to 3 days!

Therefore, the only time you can talk about frogging is when you are BRAGGING that it took you more than 3 days (72 hours) to frog it out!

And, Bragging is perfectly acceptable male pastime anywhere, under any circumstance.

Aaron