So I was sitting at Panera (yes, again, but not the same one I was at yesterday. I know that I spend an inordinate amount of time there but they are pleasant, they let us sit there and knit for hours without buying much, the food isn't bad and it isn't full of things competing for my attention like laundry and the piles of stuff that should be cleaned up.) and a young employee walked up to me to ask about my knitting.
She wanted to know how long it took me to learn and was it different from crochet. It seems that her aunt crocheted but she wasn't sure of the word (I think if I am not mistaken knitting and crochet use the same word in Spanish). She asked questions about what I was working on and how I learned and whether knitting or crochet was harder. I commented that I thought knitting had better pattern support for things one might actually want to wear. (That same aunt had made her a dress which she said was beautiful but sits in the closet -- I am assuming it is not the kind of thing that a high school girl would wear in this area and the aunt was back in Mexico and wouldn't know). I then said that I had learned to knit from a book when I was close to her age. Her response was "So you have been doing this for a long time, you have a lot of experience."
Now I know that I have probably been knitting since before she was born but there is nothing like having a teenager tell you that you are old. But she was OK, she was genuinely interested, very polite and she even gave me a free cookie later (although that might have been because Isel got her so flustered on the cash register when she ordered a salad and sandwich she couldn't face it again).
**I will be glad when nablopomo is over and I can go back to posting three or four times a week when I actually have something to say. If you haven't weighed in on the button conundrum be sure and leave a comment in yesterday's post. While the Celtic knots seem to be winning out, I may save them for the Trellis sweater that I will be seaming this week and go with the second place choice.
The next time you're in Panera look for two ladies sitting and knitting. Come over and say 'Hi'. I love to sit in there, with a huge mug of hot choclate and knit with a friend. Of course, our Panera is in New Hampshire....but, you never know.
Posted by: Old Knitter | November 29, 2006 at 07:33 AM
Hey, you can call or send me an email summarizing the events of the day and I can tell you what to write about. Easy peasy!
Oh, and by the way...it's not my fault that girl was all hyper and pushing all the buttons at the same time. :P
Posted by: isel | November 29, 2006 at 07:50 AM
"I will be glad when nablopomo is over and I can go back to posting three or four times a week when I actually have something to say."
This statement—almost word for word—also appeared on my blog (except that instead of three to four I said two to three--that's all I can manage) ;). I guess we are all feeling the pain.
Not my favorite thing either to have my age pointed out to me by a whippersnapper--even a nice well-meaning whippersnapper. I'm sure I did the same thing when I was a kid.
Posted by: Rozanne | November 29, 2006 at 03:42 PM
If you have to go to a chain, you can't do much better than a Panera! At least they try to do a little better than most about the quality of their food. I've been known to order chicken or turkey at Panera, not something I normally do.
And ouch on the age thing. A couple of years ago a stranger referred to my adult friend as my daughter. I had to breathe deeply for a while after that.
Posted by: Laurie | November 29, 2006 at 04:51 PM