New sock and knitting gear

Adam and I were discussing what constitutes a hobby, with Adam arguing that reading was not a hobby. His argument boiled down to two points: If the activity in question is a commonly listed question on an online dating profile (favorite book / favorite movie / favorite tv show)* and if it doesn’t require gear, it’s not a hobby. Though I agree that tv watching, is not, in general, a hobby, I was like, c’mon, reading! It’s a hobby!

*I think his theory was that if it was common enough to be a category in an online dating profile, then it meant it was practiced by most people, and thus, not a hobby.

Anyway. Gear. Gear is the favorite element of a hobby for many people, I think, and I finally bought some exciting gear for my hobby, knitting. Yup, I now own a swift and a ball winder! The purchase was somewhat expensive, but look what it makes:

Watermelon Yarn 

Yarn cakes!

And I was so excited by my yarn cake that I started knitting these socks right away:

Watermelon Yarn 

I am calling them the Queens Center Mall socks, because they seem kind of like the thing an eleven-year old outer borough* girl would buy after reading The Official Preppy Handbook, but getting it wrong, by buying the socks in a poly-blend at the Queens Center Mall. They’re pink and green, total ’80s prep colors, but also strangely garish, and kind of tacky. I totally love them. As you can see by my coat, which I had customized with the addition of pink ribbon (by my Queens dry cleaner), I think I just might be this girl. 

*If you’re not from New York, the “outer boroughs” are Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island, with the main borough being Manhattan. I think New York dominates the media enough that the rest of the country gets that each outer borough has its own sterotype. Queens, home of the Mets, Archie Bunker, The Nanny, The King of Queens, and George Constanza’s parents. I can’t think of any literature set in Queens. Apparently, we are an illiterate borough of tv-watching yahoos.

Posted in Gadgets, Socks, travelingproject, Uncategorized at October 1st, 2007. Trackback URI: trackback

4 Responses to “New sock and knitting gear”

  1. October 1st, 2007 at 10:02 pm #Adam

    Merriam-Websters says:

    Inflected Form(s): plural hobbies
    Etymology: Middle English hoby, from Anglo-French hobel, hobé
    : a small Old World falcon (Falco subbuteo) that is dark blue above and white below with dark streaking on the breast

    Oh wait, it also says:

    Etymology: short for hobbyhorse
    : a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation

    So, according to the first entry, reading, or knitting, for that matter, is not a hobby. But according to the second, I suppose reading and knitting are hobbies. So is drinking beer. Especially drinking beer.

    I want to see a picture of the swift and ball winder!

  2. October 2nd, 2007 at 11:23 am #Marcia Love

    Could you possibly post a review of your swift and ball winder?
    I’ve about decided I need to bite the bullet and buy this gear for myself
    — any opinions gratefully received.

  3. October 2nd, 2007 at 8:41 pm #Grace

    Nice socks! I like the pattern… mind sharing what it is?

    Also… I finally checked out that art store at FIT with all the LB yarn….. they have unfortunate hours…. and an equally unfortunate selection of ugly yarn and only cheap needles and scanty notions. 🙁

    On the upside, my favorite yarn store in Midtown – Vhardmans (I think) which was just past Daytona Trim on 39th between 7th & 8th has upgraded from a mere stall to a larger store closer to 8th ave. They have a really good selction of yarns and needles. Once they are completely unpacked I totally recommend you check them out if you haven’t already.

  4. October 4th, 2007 at 7:51 pm #Rachel

    How is that sock yarn striping so perfectly??? I am awestruck.

    I guess in my gut I don’t think of reading as a hobby, but I’m not sure I could articulate why. Maybe because I think of hobbies have having to do with skill acquisition, and efforts to get better at them? Whereas reading is just, you know, fun? No, that logic doesn’t work; I can think of counter examples. You know, I’m going to stop worrying about this. I like to knit! I like to read! The end! 🙂