Concert Knitting

What is it about music that makes the knitting go easily whereas at other times my mind might wander interminably away much to the detriment of even the simplest pattern repeat?

The sleeve of Otto was ripped yet again, but not completely this time.  Apparently knitting and talking are not always good companions.  The solution may be just to find something simpler to knit during Thursday knitting: finishing a sock perhaps?   And yet the first error did not occur due to the distractions of conversation but during the viewing of television.  Now I know perfectly well that I don’t really watch televison with rapt attention; I never have.  This is why I need something to do with my hands while I am present in front of the TV, so that I remain there, a captive audience, for otherwise I would usually wander off entirely.  And I do not believe that I was so raptly involved in Project Runway that my mind was not capable of a simple 2 stitch repeat; but apparently involved in something other than the TV and my knitting.

At any rate I managed to rip about six rows of Otto just before the concert began and get the stitches back on the needle in an orderly fashion.  Luckily I had my sock with me in the car, as I could not have ripped and picked up those stitches on the bumpy Taconic.    This time the pattern took and actual progress was made.

I love knitting during concerts although I have, at times, had my issues with Knitting in Public, and guilt, usually brought about by comments from other concert-goers. I do not knit in all concerts.  I did not knit at Tanglewood three weeks ago, although I had my knitting with me.  It could be because we purchased our tickets late and were literally at the feet of the Juilliard Quartet, and as I stared up at the performers I felt like an acolyte rapt at their feet.  I watched the bowing of the violin and viola, I stole glances at the music as they progressed through the work.  I watched fingers move, and the subtle tapping of feet, all this as I was carried away by the music.

Saturday night was a different kind of concert; not that the music was less than beautiful, or that my mind was not engaged, but more that I was there, one among hundreds in uncomfortable seats and although I loved the concert, sitting still has always been a difficulty.  By engaging my hands I seem to free my mind to enjoy the music, to soar with it, and to pay more attention.  Otherwise, no matter how beautiful the music my mind wanders, I start to fidget.  I think about how my back aches, or my leg wants to move, or just how soon before I can stand up and go “over there”.  I look at the other audience members and admire how they sit so still, so rapt with attention – or are they really thinking about Johnny’s little league game that afternoon?  You would never know to look at them.  But no one ever managed to train the fidget out of me, and I look at knitting as controlled fidgeting in many ways.

Listening to music soothes my mind and allows me to concentrate on the music and the pattern.  There were no errors.  The Brahms was wonderful.  We heard the German Requiem and it was spectacular.  It like it better this way, sung in German.  The German is poetic with the music.  You don’t need to read the texts to enjoy the music; sometimes I feel that I lose the detail of the moment if I am reading the text to closely.  But knitting is different; it allows the mind to soar with the music.  My hands work steadily, if perhaps a bit slower at times than in other circumstances, slowed by the rhythm of the music, the passion of the surrounding sound.

While I don’t believe that knitting picks up the spirit of the place or time when it was being knitted.  Knitting remains inanimate.  I do however, remember where I was with each knitted piece that was knitted at a concert or on a trip; the sweater is a reminder, for me far more reliable and evocative than photos or words, reminding me of where I was and what I saw and what I heard.

Perhaps I should be listening to music while I knit rather than watching TV.  Well that will have to wait, as the stereo system is still down while the woofers are being rebuilt.  The house is limited to the sounds of conversation or the television rambling on and on.

Comments

[Laurie]

I completely agree with taming the fidgets. Someone in a blog comment talked about gradations of adult ADD, and that knitting can be a nonpharmacologic sort of therapy for those of us who sit still poorly.

[Gina]

I agree that knitting at an open-air affair is definately fine. I probably wouldn't feel comfortable knitting at a concert hall setting. Not that I'd have much luck knitting with the lights low!