And take pictures.

And doesn't everybody knit when stuck in traffic???

and drink coffee

What about that is surprising? Doesn't everyone do that?

Is that wrong?

As long as you don't text or blog and drive I think your safe.

I knit too, but I'm a passenger.

I want to be knitting right now. Or napping.

Been there...done that!!!!

One of the very few up-sides to having a broken neck is that I cannot drive. So I get to knit while my Beloved does the driving!

YES! I do too! I'm not sure whether (very) slow and steady is better or worse for one's car than stop and start, but stop and start is better for one's knitting :-)

Me too. It keeps me from yelling not nice things about the weather/construction/bad drivers.

So does my daughter, Joy. I'd much rather grab a good book and read while waiting.

Me, too. I have knitting specifically for the car: not too fiddly and something that can be thrown down at a moment's notice if the traffic starts to move suddenly. Or the drive-thru line at Starbucks...

also at stop signs.... :)

I look forward to traffic delays. Car wash is a good place to knit also. Very zen with the whoosh-whoosh of the automatic sprayer. Convenient when the ball of yarn fits in the cup holder.

Favorite cartoon show a motocycle officer pulling over a woman who is knitting. Officer says "Pullover!' Woman says "No Cardigan!"

And spin...

Me too..but I'm in the passenger seat :)

Me too..but I'm in the passenger seat :)

I live in a town where it doesn't take long to get anywhere, so I'm never hung up.

Wouldn't it suck though if you were in that traffic jam for a few weeks in China and didn't have your knitting?

There is a drawbridge between my work and my home. I find I almost enjoy it when the bridge goes up on the way home, because that's usually good for a row or two.

Me too. :)

But naturally! Doesn't everyone? (Oh, no, I guess not...that explains road rage.)

There was a lively debate awhile ago on a certain knitting forum regarding the safety of knitting while a passenger in a car. The "Car Talk" guys (US public radio) also got in on it. My reasoned opinion - ok if not using really tiny pointy needles, and ok if my husband is not driving. :)

But seriously, deep down I do admit that it's not such a good idea, even if stuck in traffic - think about if you get hit from behind. As our moms might have said, "You could put out an eye!" I think about that as I knit away in the car.

There was a lively debate awhile ago on a certain knitting forum regarding the safety of knitting while a passenger in a car. The "Car Talk" guys (US public radio) also got in on it. My reasoned opinion - ok if not using really tiny pointy needles, and ok if my husband is not driving. :)

But seriously, deep down I do admit that it's not such a good idea, even if stuck in traffic - think about if you get hit from behind. As our moms might have said, "You could put out an eye!" I think about that as I knit away in the car.

There was a lively debate awhile ago on a certain knitting forum regarding the safety of knitting while a passenger in a car. The "Car Talk" guys (US public radio) also got in on it. My reasoned opinion - ok if not using really tiny pointy needles, and ok if my husband is not driving. :)

But seriously, deep down I do admit that it's not such a good idea, even if stuck in traffic - think about if you get hit from behind. As our moms might have said, "You could put out an eye!" I think about that as I knit away in the car.

Yay for confessions!

you are not alone. What else would you do?

Me, too! Stop lights, traffic, draw bridges, railroad tracks...

I do, too.

And I have been known to count stoplights as "briefly stuck in traffic".

We are clearly not alone. I'm working on how I can spin while waiting in traffic too...

Socks. Plain vanilla.

You mean there are people who don't have a simple knitting project sitting in the passenger's seat? I never leave home (or anywhere else) without one. As long as I have an audio book on the cd player and knitting needles in my hands, a little delay is just fine with me.

Leslie in Beautiful Bucks County, PA, where the weather is perfect for knitting and most anything else at the moment.

Um yeah! Totally normal.

I have a very short driving commute..so I don't. That and I'm a little concerned about trying to knit, drive and be conscious in the mornings. Pre-coffee knitting is dangerous.

I do miss public transit knitting...

I'll knit any time I know I'm going to be stopped for a while - helps keep boredom (or sometimes road rage) far, far away.

And read. I count stoplights as "traffic" too.

Doesn't everyone? Although, it's only the times when I have stupidly forgotten my knitting that I actually get stuck in traffic. That always sucks.

I ALWAYS have my knitting with me...just in case I get stuck in traffic (or get a flat tire or something). Seriously, you are not alone.

I knit at red lights also.

Don't we all? I have a horrible 90 mile commute (each way), of which I drive half. I knit when stuck in traffic, and I knit on the half I'm not driving.

Shocked.

Who doesn't?

Right you are! The knitting, and the camera, always come with me too. Really helps pass the time waiting at the railroad tracks.

...and waiting for trains. And as a passenger, when traffic picks up or gets dicey, I hold my doublepoints parallel to my stomach so as not to be impaled in case the airbag happens to go off. I am sure it is a little like trying to get a seatbelt on just prior to crashing, but it is the thought that counts, right? And when did you hear about someone having a knitting needle removed after a car crash?

Of course you do! Doesn't everyone? And if not, why not? Sure lessens the stress.

I considered going a different way through town today so I could sit at the longest red light in town to knit.Sounds normal to me.

I always have knitting with me in the car, so that in the highly unlikely event that I get stuck somewhere I won't have to sit and twitch. I never pick it up when I'm driving. Even at stoplights. Even at roadblocks. Even...well, you get the idea. And the reason I don't can be explained in one word: AIRBAG. I just don't trust the drivers around me not to run into me at some point, and the idea of having my needle-filled hands driven back into my chest with explosive force makes me feel a litte queasy.

Not only do I have only a 12-mile commute, but 3/4 of it is on back roads (dirt) and there is not a traffic light in sight.

However, last spring I got caught behind the road grader. Road crews have a real mission when it comes to road grading, and they take their time. He graded the road for a ways, I sat and knit a round or two. Then I caught up with him, waited and knit some more. Got several rounds knit this way, until he finally waved me by.

Me too! It's the best way to make it through traffic. :)

ME TOO!!! People (even knitters) seem to think this is strange, bad or even dangerous. My commute is much shorter now so I don't get much knit time in stalled traffic, but it's always with me just in case!

Isn't that what traffic is all about? Cleverly disguised knitting breaks?

I feel way too uncomfortable to knit in traffic. I guess it's because I'm from California and for some reason, we're terrible drivers. So I feel like I should try to keep my wits about me. I dance and sing and serenade the cars next to me instead. ^_^

I knit in the drive through at McDonalds.

Almost makes me wish there was traffic out here in the boonies so I could knit while driving! :)

:-) I particularly like knitting while waiting for the train to cross at railroad crossings, and when bridges are up. It takes so long for our average freight train to go by, that you can turn off the car and get a few rounds in. Knitting turns an otherwise frustrating experience into a nice break.

And here I thought *I* was the only one too impatient to wait through a left turn arrow without getting in half a round...

Who doesn't!
Is that an automatic I see, I thought you like standard?

In the middle of South Carolina, freight trains cross main thoroughfares, and are known to stop across intersections for long periods of time. (Personal best is 35 minutes.)
I can get a LOT of knitting done waiting for one coal train.

As do I. I didn't know that was anything confession-worthy...

Wow. For the first time in my life I'm sorry that I don't live somewhere with heavy traffic.

DITTO!!!!

Don't we all?

Last fall I got caught in traffic and had long enough to knit an inch of cuff, turn the heel on a sock, and start the foot. Can you imagine how crazy I would have been without the knitting?

Yep - I'm a traffic knitaholic as well. Sat in road construction traffic for 30 minutes today. Knitted my way through it, I mean what else is there. Right?

That's why I love the bus. Stuck in traffic or moving right along, I'm knitting.

Me too! It really freaks my daughter out but I only knit at stop lights or when stuck in traffic.

Reminds me of that bad joke about the dizzy blonde speeding down the highway, knitting away. The cop pulls up alongside with flasher going and yells, "Pull over!" And she happily answers back, "No, it's a cardigan!"

Doesn't everybody?

I always have several knitting projects stashed in my glove box or the console. You never know when you will be caught by a train, or stuck in a jam on the freeway. Anytime is knitting time.
Sorry about your stinky yarn. Good luck with your return.

I knit when stuck in traffic, and when I am in the drive thru, and at red lights. I knit at meetings, and sporting events and at home, and on my lunch at work. I bet there is not a knitter who thinks there is anything strange about any of those things.

Always, without fail. When leaving my house even to just run to the store, I have my purse, keys and a sock. You just never know.....

Just makes good sense, really.

Maybe, if they required everyone to learn to knit before issuing a driver's license, there would be less 'road rage'. Just a thought.

I did almost as much flying as you last year. I found myself almost ticked off when they started calling for boarding because I had to put my knitting down. But then, I can't knit and walk at the same time like you do.

Oh, and here's another thought you have to show the car you have your knitting with you so it will start.:) Kind of like the DUI breath-alizer thingy that won't let you start your care if it senses ketones.

Honestly woman! Who doesn't have knitting in the car? I always have "car knitting" in the back seat. The glove compartment is the "yarn holder". I also have "desk knitting", "tv knitting" and "bedside knitting". I've been known to do the ukulele thing in traffic.

Care = car Jeeze!

Honestly woman! Who doesn't have knitting in the car? I always have "car knitting" in the back seat. The glove compartment is the "yarn holder". I also have "desk knitting", "tv knitting" and "bedside knitting". I've been known to do the ukulele thing in traffic.

Easier in a car than on a bike. Do bikes get stuck in traffic?

Hey as long as the airbag doesn't go off, I think you're safe! (Must admit I was somewhat distracted by the first tushie to the right of that car in front of you, though...)

Sh-yah! I knit everywhere too. Though not with my kids in the car...they'd tattle!!

I used to have to cross a railroad track to get to work, and always had knitting beside me for those times when there was a long freight train crossing. Everyone else would be stewing about being late, and I'd be relaxed and happily knitting.

I knit while stuck in traffic, listening to a book on my iPhone with the headphones on. If you have an issue with this - please contact the DOT in Illinois and ask them to kindly not rip up every road in Chicago at the same time!

Me too!!! Any speed requiring less than third gear on the straight part of the freeway, and the needles come out. (Totally freaks my husband out.)

I do that too! Especially when traffic going into Tampa gets backed up (which it does often, and thats where my main LYS is). Happily however I am most often riding, as my husband prefers to drive (and I prefer to knit)

I'm confused. Are we supposed to be surprised? (grin)

yup me too!

I knit in the car on the way to the cottage, but I'm always the passenger. It occured to me the other day, though: what if the airbag goes off? My knitting needles would either puncture the airbag, or more likely, puncture me.

me too. i thought everyone did. i keep emergency knitting in the car in case i ever leave the house without my knitting. hey, it could happen (haven't left without it yet) and i want to be prepared!

I love having to stop for a train.
Can get quite a bit of knitting done during those
freight trains.
Marlyce in Windsor, Ontario

Likewise.

That is one down side to living in a bucolic, midwestern town (with 3 yarn stores, natch): no traffic-related knitting.

And yet somehow, we manage to survive.

Me too. And then I worry about an episode of Greys Anatomy where they have to pull a little DPN out of my abdomen after a car crash. (I used to wonder if it would be an episode of ER, BTW)

Me too. I keep emergency knitting in the car, "just in case". I also sing along with the radio, with feeling.

and, in a bizarre coincidence, my "car socks" are the same color...

Seriously one day there was a car on the 401 and it kept crossing the center line and hitting the rumble strips. We wondered if the person was drunk...this was pre-cell phones. Finally took a chance and passed the car. It was a woman reading a novel while she drove...had the novel up against the steering wheel...seriously must have been a can't put it down novel.

Oprah may start a "No Knit Zone" in addition to her "No Phone Zone."

Me too.

me, too. I have a Car Sock-always lives in my car unless it goes into a meeting or a waiting room.

I'm not surprised that you knit in traffic. It would be more of a confession if you didn't. :~) I usually have knitting with me. My family thinks it's strange if I don't.

I carry yarn and needles instead of a gun when I drive so I don't hurt anyone when I get traffrustrated.

I did this just the other day as well during stop and start traffic on I-95. I was getting funny looks from people, but hey, they were all on their cell phones. At least I was doing something productive.

So do I. And also at long red lights.

I've been known to do it!

Before I got the current vehicle - I had a beater. 1991, I drove it for the last 7 months with no Reverse gear. (Seems that most people didn't keep cars all that long, no-one knew that Reverse gear eventually "died") So, had to be careful where I parked. One time, Discount Day at the Grocery store, no other place to park, fine, pulled in to face another vehicle, thinking "They'll be gone soon, nobody stays long on the 1st Tuesday of the month" Ha! This guy operated a shop in the strip mall, and didn't leave until closing time! I was sat there for almost 1 hours. I had two different socks with me, finished the foot on each, and turned the heel on each. And hate to wear those socks!!!! But, even with the new car? I always have car-knitting! And always will.

I do too! Usually a hat on a circular needle... a few stitches here and there really add up (and keep me mellow).

Me too, but traffic lights are better. I think everyone should knit in traffic and at stoplights. It's very calming, and then hands at 10 and 2 when one resumes driving, right?

Me too! Though now that I live in a hamlet with no stoplights, generally, I get to knit only if I'm waiting for the train to pass, so I can drive over the tracks outta town...

Thank you! Now my husband will have to stop giving me dirty looks when I run back in to grab my knitting just so we can go two miles down the road to the grocery store - we pass a railroad stop, a gas station (which he invariably stops at) and some friend of his (who he invariably stops to talk with). He doesn't understand, but this will help him at least realize that there are well over a hundred other people out there just like me!

When did you get a car? And a commute?

You say it like it's a bad thing. Last December, I was stuck on the highway heading home for Christmas. It took me 6 hours to travel from Phoenix to Tucson (100 miles) b/c of a really bad accident. Then a few days later, I got stuck on the interstate again on the way to Dallas b/c of bad weather. I knit a hat and a scarf during that time. I don't want to think of how miserable all those hours would have been without my knitting. Knitting saves lives.

Me too. It cuts the stress level, but my husband reprimands me on this all of the time.

My confession is worse: when I drive boring straight flat stretches of highway (like London to Sarnia) with the cruise control on: I knit. I got a third of a scarf done the last time. And it was on circular needles, which have a lesser chance of impalement than double-points. Shhhh.

Don't we all? (Except when I read, of course.)

Only with the car in PARK!!! (But yes, I do it too.)

Oh good, I'm not the only one. :) I read a book with a character who kept a sock project in the glove compartment, "just in case." I thought that was a brilliant idea, but if I love the wool enough, I couldn't leave it in the car when it's cold. It might catch a chill.

It helps especially when on a deadline! Athough I try to keep it out of other drivers' view; don't want a ticket!

Doesn't everyone? I got a couple inches of a sock knitted from Toronto airport to Jarvis Street exit while on the Gardiner Expressway one time. I also get caught at train crossings at least 5 times a week around home!

well. yeah. sorry steph, gotta 'duh' you.

I will stand right beside you and profess to this sin. The saying applies: "I knit so that I do not kill people."

For what it's worth, though, I'm from Nashville but currently living rurally so it hardly seems like there's ever any traffic congestion. That makes me a little sad, sometimes. I've become the sort of person who seeks out the longer store checkout lines.

Oh thank GOODNESS! I thought it was just me! ;)

I am always tempted but seldom give way to temptation. There it sits on my 1.5 hr commute, mocking me.

I was mostly excited to see, though, that the Yarn Harlot drives a VW that looks a lot like mine on the inside (but neater).

Your car looks much neater than mine. Where are the other coffee cups?

I'm going to have to remember that. I don't think you can get a ticket for that!

Sigh - I wish I had time to knit at red lights! I don't do much driving and the sets of lights on most of my usual journeys aren't "long reds" so there's not much time, plus here, with the impatient Boston traffic, if you don't move your car within one millisecond of the red light turning green, you get a very loud honk from the car behind you!

and so do I!

I always have my Emergency Knitting Kit in the car with me. Seriously, it even says "Emergency Knitting Kit" on it. All official like. There's always time for a row or two at some lights around town.

Was that your all-time shortest post?

Yep - red lights, tailbacks, railroad crossings -

Me too! I sent you a response to your email.

But why are you using your yarn holders for coffee???
Isn't that heresy or some kind of sin?

We are in the middle of massive road re-construction here. Adds 25-30 minutes of knitting time to my commute daily. Even the flag people stop by my window to check the progress of whatever project I have along for the day!

I am going to have to have hand surgery (trigger thumb -- third digit to need this surgery) -- well at the rate of appointments, it could be a few months away.

I told my primary care doctor that we -- meaning her, hand surgeon, and I have to keep my hand good enough to knit "so I don't hurt anyone. You know, men."

She loves me and thanked me for making her day.

Jackie

We are taking a road trip this week. I'm planning the knitting bag now.

Jackie

I am right there with you!

In New Jersey, all the gas is full-serve. Driving through is a delight, since I get to knit while someone else pumps my gas! WOO!

i think knitting and stopped in traffic is a great way to accomplish a project. Sometimes i just keep a project for the car!
and
funny how we hear all about this great but diesel smelling wool and then here you are driving in stinky diesel smelling traffic. maybe just use that wool in the car and you won't know the difference!
kidding though, that fuel smell does stink mightily!

mee too as a passenger and it's always a sock

And this is earth-shattering news?

Whew!

For a minute, I thought you were going to say that you knit while you bike.

Now that would be scary!

In addition, I knit while waiting EVERYWHERE! Doctor's appointments, bank-grocery store-drugstore line ups, you name it. At least you have something to show for it. I DO NOT knit while I'm driving!!!

Me too. I know people who read when driving. Now, THAT'S dangerous.

Me too :) - it also helps to ensure I'll hit almost every green light all the way across Steeles...

I do to!

At least you don't knit WHILE you're driving. I've done it. Don't recommend it! It wasn't one of my best moments!

If you are driving, you are being reckless. Unsafe. Dangerous. Imagine your daughters getting hit by someone who was only partly paying attention to driving...

If you are a passenger, good for you.

Me too! Although it's remarkable (or pathetic) how obvious I try to make it appear to other drivers in nearby cars that I am putting the knitting down and putting my hands back on the wheel when trafic gets moving again.....

You call THAT a confession!

I thought that traffic jams and trains made all knitters giddy.

That's better than what my dear one tends to do in the same situation.

(That would be taking the opportunity to do a little flossing with his library card.)

I know. Eeeww.

When I need to knit, I pray for red lights. :-)

LOL! Went to the hairdresser's today and was looking forward to having 40 minutes to knit while the "color took". Horrors! I forgot to throw my knitting in my tote which NEVER happens - I take some kind of knitting everywhere! I thought I was going to have a panic attack....not much different than my 3 yr. old granddaughter forgetting her "blankie"...!!!

at least you wait until traffic stops...

So very glad to see that I am not alone in this habit!! I love the guy in the truck next to me the other day who did a triple take trying to figure out what I was doing :)

brilliant time management.

That's so awesome, fantastic time management skills. I wish I had thought of that as I sit everyday in the car lineup at my son's school. A sock is definitely coming along for the ride next time :)

I used to do the same thing, only just at traffic lights. There aren't a lot of traffic delays on my 4km commute to work in Dartmouth, NS... plus, I'm back to biking and while I would love to figure out a way to knit while cycling, methinks it might be a dangerous activity.

me too. I call it Red Light Knitting.

I was stuck in traffic today and almost began spinning on a drop spindle. Unfortunately, I wasn't stuck long enough to be worth it.

Sigh. Dang traffic. It's never bad enough when you need it.

me too!

Of course you knit in traffic. And sometimes you wish you could catch one more cycle of the light so you could finish the row. I really regretted when the road construction was completed on my route to work and we began to zip along with no delays.

...and? I have whole projects that were finished while waiting in traffic. It makes me much more able to go with the flow - or just sit there - as the case may be.

And I see you're using your Signatures! I LOVE mine! I'm using a 47" circ to finish a cardi, and I can't believe how easy 4 stitch cables are on stilletto points!

Alas, I'm rarely stuck in traffic, so there's not much point in keeping knitting in my car...I will take a simple project to appointments "just in case", but I haven't kept anything in my car. I think maybe I need to start.

While, I don't knit while driving, but I do knit when my Dh drives, and I encourage him to drive often. I don't feel comfortable enough to pull out so much as a dishcloth to work on at a red light. But since you confessed about car knitting is it okay to admit that I knit in the bathroom?

me too. couldn't make it through the hour long commute (each way) otherwise.

Whenever I try to knit while stuck in traffic, the lane moves up a little and I have to put it down. Always. So I take it with me from now on and it is my lucky knitting project. Good thing it's something that might turn into a baby blanket but may remain a blob on my front seat.

I NEVER go anywhere without knitting!

I got stranded three hours without it ONCE. Haven't been stranded since, but I think that's the karma thing.

And, now, it's the husband who drives! Hmm, cars are good for knitting.

That's why it's crucial to have knitting at hand always. I was stuck at a train crossing for 45 minutes last summer. Other drivers who had foolishly forgotten their knitting were losing it. And long red lights are such a waste of time if you can't get in a quick row or two.

While I can imagine traffic being slow enough to want to knit, please don't. If you are in the drivers seat, you owe it to everyone else on the road to pay attention, even in sluggish traffic.

Not cool. Not trendy. Not safe. Seriously.

I'll chime in. Yep, so do I and at traffic lights. Oh my!!

do it on a bike and i'll be impressed.

I knit while my husband drives, although the gauge gets a bit tight when he DRIVES TOO FAAAAST.

ssshhhhhh.....i do, too......

Doesn't everybody.

Though I will admit the 1st time I did it with my husband in the passenger seat. He had a small fit. Don't see why. I only knit when not moving.

Though I have noticed that other driver's seem to think this is a very odd thing to be doing. Had my pic taking by more strangers than I can count. It's a great way to not stress about how slow the traffic is moving.

Only trouble I every had was trying to get through Fort Worth Texas at rush hour heading South. The traffic kept starting and stopping every minute or so. I kept having to set my knitting down just as I got it all set-up to knit again. I'd usually get in a stitch.

Glad to know that I'm not alone!!

That's when I get the most productive knitting done. :)

I have knit in my ambulance...as the driver. in my defense...it's California traffic.

So what else can one do, when stuck on the London Circular?

I'm telling Oprah on you...

Sometimes I think the reason I keep putting off learning to drive is so I can always knit in the car, and don't have to wait for traffic jams.

Confession: So do I. Only for me, it's a sure-fire method of getting the traffic moving.

Doesn't everyone?

Sorry, Stephanie, but speaking as someone who holds an advanced driving qualification and who also drives trucks, motorcycles and bicycles, I think you are out of order to be knitting in your car even if you're stationary in a queue temporarily.

It is slightly comforting to know that I'm not the only one.

I've thought on further. Those of you who claim that you would go nuts if you couldn't knit when traffic causes you to stop temporarily should really consider whether you should be driving at all if you are unable to cope with normal driving conditions. Seriously.

I keep a sock (plain, stockinette stitch) with me at all times. There are some EXCESSIVELY long red lights in my town, and I inevitably get stuck at most of them during my daily commutes. Stuck in line = sock time. I can usually get a couple of rounds in by the time the light turns green. :)

We'd be arrested if we tried to do this in the UK - even women adjusting their hair have been pulled over in the past! Seriously - like Pat S says, it really isn't worth the risk. I have knitting with me in the car - but I do it when parked and waiting for my kids to come out of school (it gives me some Zen whilst the 2 smaller ones are fighting in the back!)

I'm not so sure that's a confession so much as a given.

Can I second that? Even when traffic is moving (on Storrow Drive, in Boston), heaven help me, but if we're going less than 20 mph, I knit. No accidents yet.

I do too but I also sing, practice my bellydance moves (upper body ;) and write down stuff. Nope, no confessions. Just a good use of time. ;)

Hmmmmm.......a mini blogette. Nine whole words today, Stephanie?!

Now what am I supposed to read with the rest of my coffee this am?!

hmmm...so do I. Sometimes those lights are long enough to do a whole row! (And oh joy when I get to a train crossing that is down...)

I have a bumper sticker that says "Don't Knit and Drive"

Also at stop lights and while waiting for construction. The year my daughter was pregnant, I got 12 pairs of baby socks knit waiting for the flag person. It got to the point where the women flagpeople would come over to see what I was working on today. And would call to each other on the radio..."You know that knitting lady? She's got these really great purple booties today."

Since Springfield, Missouri has the absolutely L-O-O-O-O-O-O-N-G-E-S-T red lights in the entire North American continent - you bet. There is always a knitting project on the car seat, waiting to grow a row or ten every day.

Living in a large metropolitan city, I also knit in traffic jams. I love it when I have to stop for a train! I usually keep something that is being knitted with lots of stockinette like a sweater back, that way I can keep an eye on when the traffic starts to move.

I was thrilled to discover my "new" car has a knitting pocket in the driver's door. A ballband dishcloth-in-progress lives there in a little cotton bag so that when the drawbridge between work and home or writer's and home is up I have something to knit. It's good for waiting rooms too, in fact my doc knew I needed a new anti-depressant when she walked into the exam room, said, "where's your knitting?" and I just shrugged. I have a new Rx and my knitting in hand.

Well, yeah. Doesn't everybody? I can't tell you how many socks I've knitted sitting in traffic (unmoving traffic, of course).

You're not the only one who does that! A simple project you don't have to concentrate on, a couple of stitches here, a couple of stitches there, over a week it adds up. Just so long as you're not knitting WHILE driving...

Honey, you are woefully bhind the times. :) I knit at stoplights and in drive-thrus, too. In fact, I keep a sock going in my car just for these precious few minutes that would otherwise be wasted and unproductive.

I live in NJ. There is a lot of traffic. I knit in traffic. It keeps me from having road rage.

I also knit in the car whenever stopped. I am a social worker who once did home visits in rural areas. I had a flat tire and was most of the day trying to get it to a tire shop and get it fixed. I did not have any knitting with me. It was a looooonnnnggg day. I also knit in church. It has troubled some over the years when my husband was pastoring. You would have thought I was committing some horrible sin. Knitting helps me stay calm and helps with control of chronic pain. I now have knitting everywhere, even in my desk at work.

In some places this could only lead to over-legislation.

Always knit when stuck in traffic, especially at the border while waiting to get through - keeps me from being rude to Homeland Security :)

Doesn't everybody?

It seriously is calming. I go from "ughhghgh, why is this light so loooong?" to "Cool, I got to finish this row!"

I hate to drive...I could pass those hours being a knitting passenger.

Me, too! I was recently stuck on I-80 in Pennsylvania for over 3 hours. Thank goodness I had my knitting and snacks to tide me over till the cars started moving again. Otherwise, I would have been pulling my hair out!

So a police officer is out on patrol when he sees a woman knitting while driving her car. He can't believe she would do such a thing! He pulls up beside her and says, "Pull over! Pull over!" She looks at him, smiles, holds up her knitting and says, "No, it's a cardigan!"
*rimshot*

Seriously!!! I knit at stop lights, in car pool line at school, the doctor's office, during boring movies, during football games. I also confess (I work in an ER) that I knit in between seeing patients in the ER if it's slow!!!

I didn't think you drove? Didn't even have a license? I thought you just went on the subway or your bike all the time.

me too!

As I am the only person in this household with a driving licence, I do not get passenger knitting time. And living in a rural area means there are no traffic lights for miles. But there IS knitting in the car for when a passenger says "Stop here, I'll just be a minute."

Stuck on 95 going into NY with a 5 speed Mini last Saturday late morning. Sigh. What I could have gotten done in stop-and-go traffic.

Meetings are good for knitting - ignore the dirty looks and keep eye contact with the chairperson and you are good. and I walk to work - I can knit and walk - as long as it's socks or a scarf - lace not so much. Breaks down in winter - never have learned to knit with mitts on.

Just think how little road rage there would be if everybody took out their knitting while sitting in traffic!

Me too!

knit on, sister. me too :)

That's why there's TWO cup holders. One for your coffee, one for your skein of sockyarn.

Do you ever get your yarn tangled around the steering column? Do not ask why I ask this.

Doesn't everyone? (Wait- judging by the comments the answer to that is YES!) I can also get in a few stitches at long red lights to the amusement (consternation, WTF?!?, scowls, etc) of fellow red light sitters. I'm sure they wish they had knitting too.

I knit in the car when my hubby drives. Keeps me awake as being in the passanger seat tends to send me into the land of nod (apparently a throwback from infanthood that I never grew out of. Drives him a bit batty cuz it tends to cut down on my conversational skills but then so does my being asleep so he'll take my knitting. there was one drive where I almst got left by the side of the road. I kept lining up the handwarmers for his friend with his hands on the wheel. But hey I had my knitting so I would have been fine till he felt bad and circled back lol.

Makes commuting a heck of a lot less pissy.

Glad to know I'm not the only one!! :)

funny how we knitters are probably the only people on earth who look forward to traffic jams, bridges being raised, long stop lights, delayed flights... I could go on, but you all get the idea. We are just so very zen... I love us!

I must confess...I knit at Mass. Stoplights too;-)

I do too since they started work on the road under the bridge... one side at a time so in the mornings it's a good 10 minute wait 'til I get through.
*3 rows, move forward
repeat from star

Hahaha. I do the same thing. The first red light after I get off work is so crowded, it sometimes goes through two or three cycles before I can get through...so I knit too :D.

A must in my area with all the road construction and detours. There are three other roads detouring on to my work to and from home route so that knitting is always in the car.

My husband did have a sighting a couple of years ago. He was driving on a very busy city street when he came upon a car not only going very slow but not very straight heading. When he got along side the lady, she was busy knitting and steering with her thigh. He could not believe what he was seeing. When he told a cop friend, he just laughed and proceeded to tell him all the things he see daily.

I do, too!

phew...i'm glad i'm not the only one who does that...

Knitting works much better than reading, at least with knitting you can look up sometimes....

I knit while riding in the car; unfortunately I have not yet figured out how to knit while riding on the back of a motorcycle. I can just picture dropping the ball of yarn and watching it go rolling off down the highway, unraveling as it goes...

Could this be why that beautiful green yarn smells like a truck stop? (sorry, I had to say it) Did you ever get it returned?

I have done that too. A few years ago the local health department had a flu clinic and disabled people were allowed to drive-thru to get their shots. I took me 3 hours in line, you bet I knit. I finished the back of a sweater while in line.

Yup.

And if I can get someone else to do the driving, better still. (I have my husband totally convinced that he LIKES to drive 12 hours straight on our annual ski vacation.)

And . . . . ???? What else would you do while sitting in traffic???? I'd think there was something wrong if you didn't knit in traffic. :o)

The tough thing about knitting-on-the-go as I'm finishing a project I find myself saying, "Where's the traffic? Four more rows till I finish. (I know. Knitting is an addiction.)"

Yeah? So? I knit in line at the bank, in line at the secretary of state's office, while stuck in traffic, while stuck at train crossings and while waiting at the pharmacy. I also knit while sitting in the waiting room at the hand surgeon's office who is going to treat my carpal tunnel. He doesn't like that.

Re: cat chase
My husband came home one day to find one of our cats dead in the driveway. He found a box and proceeded to bury Lester. When finished, he stood up and turned around to find Lester sitting behind him, watching him! Husband quickly dug up box and opened it just to make sure we didn't have a zombie situation. NOT Lester dead in the box. He's now referred to as Not Dead Lester.

How dorky am I that (after only four months in Toronto) I think I can recognize the location of the picture if I just try really, really hard? Maybe if I squinted just a little bit more...

Why haven't I thought of this? I live in the Seattle area, where traffic is just atrocious. I knit when my husband drives, but man, working on a sock when I'm driving and stuck in dead-stopped, awful traffic sure would lower my blood pressure!

Glad to here that I'm not alone...I knit at train crossings (we can even get stopped by 2 trains at the same crossing), very long lights and construction zones. In response to those who think it's dangerous, it's no more dangerous than knitting in your car in a parking lot.

I've gotten to where I slow down,at intersections, hoping that the light will change to red. :)

Doesn't everyone? I have several sweaters where the entire sleeves have been knit while waiting for stoplights and standing in lines.

I also knit while in the driver's seat - traffic jams, trains, construction, accidents - any delay of more than a few seconds warrants picking it up.

Whoa. I think I'm about the 423rd person to respond.

Do you also try to kind of hide it when someone pulls up just enough to possibly be able to see inside, so you act like your just holding it in your lap until they pull forward again. And do you find yourself knitting, driving and then sneering at the women in front of you talking on her cell phone. Or do you knit and talk on your cell with hour shoulder and drive. oh. I never do that. neeevvverrrr.

I'm never stopped long enough for that to be worthwhile. Besides, if my dog is in the car, she thinks I should be petting her, if I'm stopped! LOL!

I wouldn't be able to concentrate. By the time I'd figure out what I'm supposed to be knitting, the light would change.

It's either that or cuss a lot.

I only do this when stopped at train tracks... so far. There have been times at red lights when I have been close. It's just a matter of time.

Doesn't everyone?

Did it this morning at the railroad tracks. It was a quick train so I only got one row on my charity scarf done but that is one more row.

I have what I call my Stop Light Scarf project that I keep in the car. Our traffic lights take forever to change and it lowers the frustration level.

It just makes good sense to multi-task. Is that a Caribou Coffee travel-mug I spy in your cup-holder?

Me too! My whole concept of time changed. I no longer think about how long I am sitting still in traffic, but how many stitches I can complete in that same block of time. Red lights aren't long enough and there are too few cars hooked to the trains.

Knitters are very good at multi-tasking and you are the queen of us all!!!!

Knitting changed the whole concept of meetings at work; a two hour meeting on [something boring]? GREAT! I'll be there!

I just spent three hours knitting in the car because of two wrecks. I'm so grateful that I had it to do because I would have lost my mind otherwise.

I have been known to knit in the car, but only when I'm at a dead stop. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) on my current freeway commute the traffic may slow, but usually doesn't actually stop.

I used to know someone who had an old VW van with a nearly horizontal steering wheel. He used to knit while driving and steer with his elbows. Now THAT is scary.

Unfortunately at my last full-time job, my boss would not let me knit during meetings. She said it was "unprofessional." Sigh.

To be fair, when I first started working there and brought my knitting to meetings, other people started to bring crochet -- and then our resident "artiste" decided to paint her watercolor greeting cards in meetings. I think that's what really prompted my boss's ban on all handwork. I did notice, though, that people with their laptops open in the back of the room never seemed to get a reprimand....

Your car is clean. I'm impressed.

Not at all surprising. (and you take pictures, you have the camera at the ready!) For years I've carried yarn and a small tool box and crocheted on the bus, standing on a line, whenever I have a moment of time. A row is a row is a row, after all.

So, is there a yarn stash in the glove compartment?

Before I learned to knit, I always carried a book in my lap to read while stuck in traffic. Or when I lived in the boonies, instead of cussing out the slow moving tourists on the one lane curvy road, I'd pull over and read until they reached the bottom of the hill. Now that I'm a knitter (that sounds soooo good) I also carry a car project. I just recently purchased a new to me car with cruise control. The only drawback I can see is that I can't just set the cruise control and knit away whilst moving on down the highway. I know, I know - it's a brilliant idea.

I see nothing wrong with that... =)

Yes, so? Why wouldn't you?

I do, and I'm in every way possible normal, average and mainstream.

It's a very good use of dead time, just like doctors' waiting rooms and parent-teacher conferences when the parent before you takes more than their allotted time and then EVERYONE is late.

I am a different species, I crochet...

Is your car a Jetta? The interior looks exactly like mine. Well, except for the project on the seat. And my coffee cup is dark blue to match the exterior. Oh, and I have different crap in the door. I tend not to knit in traffic, because I might say, "Wait, I have to finish this row" when it was time to move again, and that could lead to cranky drivers. Also, I don't see much traffic on the way to my school in the sticks.

...well,at least you don't knit and drive with your knees!

If the car isn't going to move for several minutes, I knit, like at drawbridges, train crossings, or standstill traffic. But not when it's crawling along.

well, of course!
what else would one do ?

Yep, so do I. Sometimes I've gotten OUT of the car to get knitting from the trunk but I try to keep something at hand. Safer that way...

Most of the time the yarn I knit with was purchased so long ago that, even if I could remember where I bought it, I've long since lost all documentation that would allow me to prove that, yes, I actually purchased THIS yarn at THIS shop.

So, no, I have never returned yarn, if only for lack of feasibility.

Oh, please don't, everybody. As unlikely as it is that something will happen, an observant driver, even at intersections, will see the emergency vehicle that needs them to get out of the way quickly, the car that is hell-bent on running the red light, the whatever that can happen when distracted drivers are hurling tons of metal down the road.

Thank you for that confirmation of what I'm planning on doing this Saturday. It's World Wide Spin in Public Day, and there's an event in State College, PA, that I'm going to attend. There's a Penn State home game that day, too. As well as THREE bridge reconstruction projects that take an already two-lane road down to one lane. Oh, there are only about 100,000 people trying to drive to State College for the game. Luckily not on the same road as I'm going to be on, but I WILL have knitting as well as spinning equipment in the car. Somehow, I think knitting in traffic is more doable.

of course you do! Any normal perfectly sane knitter would!

Moi, aussi!

Of course.

Oooh, I love that color!

Of course you do. Doesn't everyone? ;-)

I have knit at red lights, to the consternation of my family.

I'm surprised because I thought you biked just about everywhere.

At least it's not a cell phone.

I knit at stop lights, too. I wish I could find a carpool partner - it would make the commute SO much better - not for the gas savings, but for the knitting time!

I do that too. My area is surrounded on 3 sides by train tracks ... wait 4 side (2 parrallel tracks on one side) & I have to have a knitting project come with me. It helps the 100 car trains go by faster.

Rogue Roses Errata?
Top of Page 7 - round three, s/b ...twice...?
Thanks!

Me too!!! It's one of the only ways to keep my blood pressure down.

I used to knit while stopped in traffic until I moved to the country. Once, a man in the car next to me looked over and said, "You've got to be kidding." I just looked away and pretended I didn't hear, and kept knitting.

I have also done this. I actually don't mind hitting red lights or traffic anymore! I make sure to have a easy to follow knitting project on hand and voilà!

That just makes you like the rest of us. ;)

Doesn't everyone?

So do I. And blog about it.

- Pam (If you click on the link with my name, you'll see me blog about it)

Stephanie, first of all - LOVED your 15 minutes of fame on Graham Norton discussing "Kinnearing" (even though he was "taking the piss" as the Brits like to say).

Having said that, I was reading your blurb about button bands. Why you ask? Because I have adopted the top down, one-piece method recommended by Cabin Fever. I've done so many of them now, I can officially knit them in my sleep, sans pattern. I digress.

The button bands are of course included in the left and front instructions and they are garter stitch. Not my favourite so why stress - change to seed (moss) stitch and life is good. The reason I am blathering on here is because of your comment about not caring which side the buttons go on and I completely agree. Who gives a flying moss stitch? BUT, Dana Gibbons, in her "Buttons - Pattern 606" and in fact all of the top down sweaters, suggests putting the buttonholes on BOTH bands and closing the inappropriate ones when you sew on the buttons. I have espoused this method like a drowning woman grabbing for the lifeline for no other reason than whichEVER side you sew the buttons on, they are destined to line up perfectly with the corresponding hole. You have probably already considered and/or done this by now but if not, I hope I have brightened your day! Cheers and joy in knitting.

Judith

... and yes, I knit them when I'm stuck in traffic to keep my blood pressure under control and prevent me from otherwise aggravating neighbouring drivers by inappropriately gesturing.

Judith (who posted that last comment in the wrong area of your blog and now is left trying to "tie it in" with the current topic...)