Knitting Karma

It had been in the planning for a year... reviewing the successes and ideas of 2010 and building on those concepts....tossing around new ideas... reviewing the rules.

It became one of the much-anticipated events for my Knit Night colleague and I... where should we go? What will we do? More concrete plans started to develop in the past week, the anxiety and anticipation starting to build....

The challenge: trying to maximize the composition of ten photographs to garner the most points in the Ravelry "Sock Knitters Anonymous" (SKA) scavenger hunt for World-Wide Knit In Public (WWKIP) day!

Saturday, June 16 was the day designated to take my sock "on the road". Our destination: Toronto. The international landmark of the CN Tower proved to be a great place to find signs in multiple languages, people who spoke something other than English as their first language, and definitely the place to be above 100m and able to knit in front of a crowd...all point generating photos for the scavenger hunt.

But the thing that struck me the most is how boundaries melt away when one knits, and is on a quest like WWKIP. It seems a simple sock can act like a sheild against potential embarrassment, shyness or fear.... perhaps it's Knitting Karma.

I introduced myself to at least a dozen people I didn't know, explained what I was doing, and included them in pictures. Every one of them shared a smile... and very few were really reluctant (ie: other than the Metro police officer's initial look of disbelief, for example!)

From the CN Tower we sauntered across Queen Street, and as always, Toronto is not without its own cultural adventures.

 

As part of last year's Ravelry activities, a European participant in the WWKIP scavenger hunt posted a picture of naked cyclists who happened to be "on tour" the same day as WWKIP.  

My friend and I were just recalling that photo when this moment occurred.... the Canadian contingent in Toronto at Queen and Bathurst...

It was a nice surprise to run into the Yarn Harlot (aka Stephanie Pearl McPhee) at the yarn store.... not that it's surprising to find her there, but rather more of a delight!  A few short weeks ago, you may remember we took Stephanie's class in North Bay. Well, this time we had the pleasure of meeting her daughter Sam. Both will be part of a team taking an incredible journey in support of the Toronto People With Aids Foundation, bicycling from Toronto to Montreal. Stephanie was gracious enough to pose for my "celebrity photo" for the scavenger hunt.

So, how did we do? My overall tally stands in the 60s, but has yet to be verified by the judges.... and is up against some fierce competition. In any event, we had a blast! I'm already thinking about ideas for next year!