Being the knitting snob that I am, I get really aggrivated when someone sees me knitting and says 'ooh, I wish I knew how to crochet!'.  They usually look very surprised when I tell them it's knitting.

I knit all over the place, but I've found that the Metro and restaurants are the best places to have people watch you knit.  I love to have people watch me knit, not because it feels like they're adoring me, but because the look of fascination on their faces when they see what I'm doing just tickles me - and it sometimes leads to a couple of other new people, knitting too.

I really enjoy knitting in public!

Yeah it can be a little bit amusing watching people watching me knitting. I see a lot of guys who look really curious but don't have the nerve to actually ask about it. The women will just walk right up and say something.

! I guess she really haven't seen it before!

Guess not.

The old arts are being lost on the techno generation.

Funny you should mention that, because reading Mason's knitting blogs has made me seriously think about taking up crocheting again! I'm intrigued by knitting, I just really don't think I have the patience for it.

But right now I don't have the time. I play the guitar to relax. Getting halfway decent at it, too (even though some purists snub their noses at my use of a capo!)

Well, how would you feel if someone saw you playing the guitar and said, "Ooh, I wish I knew how to play the banjo."

You mean that cute Ukulele?

Or if you're singing your original song and someone says, "Oooh, I love Bob Dylan."   

Honestly, I don't think I'd be that irritated. I had a dulcimer at one point, jythier, and that's an instrument that is not readily recognizable. I've heard people call it a mandolin, a ukelele, and all number of oddball names. It didn't bother me.

As a folklorist, I see my primary role as that of an educator. This means being patient with people who have little knowledge of the subject area.

But either way, I wasn't knocking the fact that it bothered anyone. Just mentioning that it was funny she mentioned that line even as I've been thinking of resuming the same hobby that's so often confused with knitting.

Actually, I have had one of my tunes confused with Dylan's, and one of my more recent songs confused with Guthrie. I've had to inform them they are original pieces. To me, that's a HIGH compliment!

I thought of that after I put it in... how about, "Ooo, I love Woody Allen" when you're singing a Guthrie song?

OK, now you're comparing apples and lag bolts. How about "I love Ricky Martin"? At least keep it in the music arena, man!

LOL!

Isn't it Woody Guthrie? I can definitely see some putz making that mistake.

These people piss me off worse than words can describe.

The important thing to remember is this: until the early 20th century, there was no set tuning for a guitar. There was lots of tunings. It wasn't until snobs like Andres Segovia came along that people got all uppity about the guitar. that's why there's still so much versatility in some of the newer instruments, as well as there being many guitarists (among them some of the best fingerpickers out there) who've decided, "To hell with always being in standard tuning. I'm going to invent my own tuning."

That's where true innovation begins. Play with different tunings, like DADGAD, or CGCGCE, or whatever the crap you feel like playing in. Invent - and innovate.