Out of the knitting closet and into a conference room…

I knit in public. Some times I draw attention and I politely answer any questions from the muggles. I have a project that is perfect for on the go (socks or Maude lately) that I knit during lunch or in very bad, full stop traffic.

When I worked at the Ad agency I didn’t have a problem knitting at my desk or in a conference room during lunch. I was lucky that I didn’t have to knit alone some days. Although I did have muggle company on occasion, when schedules afforded it, Jen and I would have a knitting lunch. It was a nice break in the day. I could even sit at my desk and knit if I wanted to listen to a podcast or music. As long as I had an “I’m on lunch” sign stuck to the outside of my cube, no one bothered me.

When I left there and started working at the butt-crack of hell, my co-workers had so little interest in me as a person that no one knew anything about my knitting. I didn’t even take my knitting bag out of the car. At lunch I’d go find a shady parking lot and sit in the car and knit. Most days it was necessary “de-stressing” time for me.

The new job came along and I’d bring my knitting into the office instead of leaving it in my car. I wouldn’t knit in the building, but would take my knitting outside and sit in the car or the courtyard and knit. I’d talk about my knitting when asked and showed off hand knit socks I was wearing to those co-workers. It was just normal muggle interest.

Now that I’m a full time employee, when the days are crummy I’d like to sit inside and knit. So I tried it out a couple of times. The first time I knit here I sat in my office but I closed the door (I KNOW! I have an office with a door and a window and everything!), turned on the radio and started to knit, with my back to the door. I was interrupted every 10 minutes. The next week I tried knitting in the little kitchen we have. One of the guys I support interrupted me every 10 minutes asking me when I’d be able to put some documents together for him and then checking to see if I was still knitting. Sheesh!

So yesterday, I ate my lunch in the kitchen and then washed up and headed to a conference room off the beaten path. I sat in the back corner and positioned myself so that passers-by wouldn’t see me in there. And I knit.

Not only did I knit but I sort of remembered a pattern that I wanted to try out and I started to incorporate it into the leg of my sock. It’s not the most intricate pattern and I’m sure it’s not exactly what I had read, but the thing is – I was able to do it. No interruptions or noise or mental ramblings of my own to distract me from counting and thinking the pattern through. Then when I came back to my desk I wrote down what I’d done so when I get home (or tomorrow) I won’t forget what I thought out.

So now I have my secret hiding place for lunchtime in office knitting. I even have a second place to check out one day (an empty office way in the back). This way if I’m discovered, I have a fall back location.