The amount of time I spend (some, mostly non-knitters, would say "waste") on Ravelry is roughly proportional to the amount of knitting I get done - and inversely proportional to the amount of blogging I get done. This is only a theory, with no hard empirical data to support it, but I feel fairly confident in setting it forth as a sound one.
Before I discovered Ravelry (or did it discover me??), I resolved to record my adventures in knitting right here on my blog. Not long after that, however, I got sucked into the alternate universe that is Ravelry, and well, let's just say that this is only my second or so blog entry since Christmas-time.
Not a lot of blogging, quite a lot of knitting.
However, this blog entry is not about all the amazing knitting I've done in the past 3 months (I've done a bit, not all that much, and not all that amazing). There will be no rhapsodic descriptions of this or that bit of lace, no step-by-step progress journals of my recent projects, finished and started (you can find that on Ravelry, if you're so inclined). Nor will there be an in-depth discussion of the merits of cuff-down vs toe-up sock construction (now that I have experience with both, I can say with total confidence that I'd go with toe-up any day). Not even a sentimental recounting of how connected I feel to the community of knitters, thanks to Ravelry. (Btw, I heartily agree with the Yarn Harlot's assessment of how the non-knitting world views said community: "It is my experience, that people don't have a clue about knitters. They think that everything we do is pretty nutty. If you don't believe me, rent a mini-van and drive to another country for a sheep and wool festival with four knitting friends. Hell, just say you have 'knitting friends' and watch ordinary people glaze over.")
No, there will be none of that. This blog entry will be about how Ravelry has connected me to the real world and my very real life, in the form of memories past, experiences present, and adventures future.
It's easy to get lost in the Ravelry experience, a neat, relatively tidy world of FOs, WIPs, and queued projects, and like-minded people with whom to discuss them. The Ravelry forum, in particular, is a nifty place to communicate with this community of kind, giving people remarkably like yourself.
People who...
- understand your obsession, indeed, are unabashedly fiber/yarn/knitting/spinning/crocheting addicts like yourself.
- educate themselves on the various types of knittable fiber and their merits.
- get ridiculously excited about the prospect of adding to their stash.
- know that stash refers to yarn, not illicit substances - though I suppose some may consider yarn an illicit substance.
- make detailed plans for a yarn crawl.
- start mapping out their next trip to MdS&W almost as soon as this year's is over.
- know that MdS&W is shorthand for the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and that it occurs annually during the first weekend of May (aka right around/after my birthday - see, it's fate, this May Day baby was destined to make MdS&W her annual birthday blowout).
- who inspect the construction of a sweater with as much intensity as an engineer inspecting the construction of a building for safety.
- who commiserate with you when you realize you dropped a stitch 5 inches of complicated lace-knitting ago, you wish it were anatomically possible to kick yourself for not having put in a life-line at a reasonable point, and you gaze at the I-thought-it-was-perfect-and-almost done shawl, frantically brainstorming ways to correct your mistake without ripping back, all the way back.
- are filled as much with advice and helpful suggestions as with sympathy and understanding winces.
People who...
Okay, okay, so I got sidetracked (almost immediately) into waxing poetic about how connected I feel to the community of knitters. That's just because knitters are a kick-ass awesome bunch, and Ravelry is a great place to encounter bunches of them! The point I was aiming to make, before I got sidetracked, is that forums are not only a great way to communicate with said awesome individuals, but also a great starting point for reminiscing, musing, daydreaming about things past, present, and future.
Today, on the DC/MD/VA Fiber Arts discussion board, I came across a thread entitled, "Inexplicable Knitting Behavior in Annapolis 4/7," which is related to the Yarn Harlot's upcoming visit to the Borders in Annapolis for a book signing in a week or two. The Yarn Harlot had recently posted the guidelines and point breakdown for a Sock Picture Scavenger Hunt. In response, a creative Raveler posted the DC version in honor of the Yarn Harlot's book signing visit. (You should check it out, there are a lot of fun ideas on there. Ooh, I should even add to the DC list - at the Tidal Basin during the Cherry Blossom Festival, with tourists wearing "Washington, DC" t-shirts, etc etc. The possibilities are endless.)
And then, a very astute Raveler made the very good point that perhaps there should be an Annapolis version, since the Yarn Harlot would technically be there and not in the immediate DC Metropolitan area.
Now, as those of my friends who have been my friends for the past several years probably know, I have an on-again, off-again relationship with Annapolis that goes back years and years. And as I brainstormed activities to add to the Yarn Harlot Sock Picture Scavenger Hunt, Annapolis Version, the memories came flooding back - the good, the bad, the ugly, and the just plain bittersweet. Many of these memories hadn't entered my mind in years. A few of them, I had actively and resolutely pushed aside in the immediate aftermath of their occurrence, for whatever reason (usually negative and breakup-related). In some cases, I had trouble recalling certain key details because I hadn't thought about these things in so long. Google, Wikipedia, and the USNA website became my research assistants as I compiled my list of scavenger hunt locales.
First, the list from a fellow Raveler:
At the State House (exterior)- 1 point
At the State House (interior)- 2 points
With your local representative (for Maryland residents)- 5 points
With a pint of beer from Ram’s Head Tavern (local beer)- 2 points
At the Naval Academy- 1 point
With a Middie (Navy cadet)- 2 points
At the Middleton Tavern- 1 point
With a crab cake- 1 point
In a crab net- 1 point
At the harbor- 1 point
At St. John’s (college)- 1 point
Near a boat- 1 point
On a boat- 2 points
On a boat in the Chesapeake Bay- 10 points
At the Kunta-Kinte/Alex Haley memorial- 1 point
And then, my additions (with the gentle admonition to avoid calling the Naval Academy Midshipmen Middies, because they hate that, according to all the Mids I have ever known):
At the Naval Academy:
- In front of/at Gate 1, 1 point (5 points if one of the MPs that check ID is in the picture, 15 points if you convince one of the MPs to hold your knitting)
- Anywhere on the Yard, 1 point
- At the Visitor Center, 1 point
- In front of Herndon Monument (obelisk monument), 2 points
- In front of the Tecumseh Statue, 2 points (15 points if it’s been painted)
- In front of Bancroft Hall (the dorm that houses all 4000 Midshipmen), 2 points
- In front of Bancraft during the noon mealtime formation, 5 points
- Along the water right beyond the gift shop/visitor center, 2 points
- Inside Dahlgren Hall, 2 points (10 points if the ice rink is still there)
- In front of the Chapel, 2 points
In Downtown Annapolis:
- City Dock, 1 point
- At Aromi d’Italia (yummy gelato), 1 point (with gelato in hand, 5 points, because I love their gelato ;o)
- At City Dock Cafe, 1 point
- In front of the harbor cruise sightseeing boat/Harbor Queen, 1 point (10 points if you’re on it)
- At Chick & Ruth’s Delly, 1 point (15 points if you’re there during the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance)
- At one of the many restaurants/bars/pubs, such as Griffin’s, McGarvey’s, Buddy’s, Chart House, Riordan’s, O’Brien’s, etc, 1 point each
As I pondered potential scavenger hunt tasks, occasionally groping for the name of this restaurant and the location of that place, I paused often, bombarded with quick flashes of memory, recalling moments, people, places, and things that were far too personal and far too me-specific to be included in a general scavenger hunt.
My longtime friend's graduation from the Naval Academy in an awe-inspiring ceremony, which was my introduction to the Academy and the culture that surrounds it, as I watched the graduating Midshipmen toss their covers into the air. The time I spent in Bancroft Hall, aka "Mother B" (illicitly, as it turns out; civilians aren't allowed beyond the Rotunda and Memorial Hall). The chilly mid-May afternoon two companions and I watched my then-crush and his fellow plebes attempt to scale a 21-foot phallic symbol coated in hundreds of pounds of lard in the traditional Herndon Climb. The magical afternoon we naive kids then spent sitting along City Dock, shyly holding hands. The even more magical evening we sat silently but companionably along the sea-wall, still hand-in-hand, watching the sun set and the stars appear. The awkward, hesitant goodnight kiss we shared on the walkway between Dahlgren and Bancroft moments later - our first. My first visit to Aromi d'Italia, where I joyfully consumed the most delicious gelato I'd ever had. The evening I attended the Marine Corps Birthday Ball and ended up meeting a lifelong friend and kindred (though non-knitting) spirit. The week-long foreign affairs conference at the Academy I attended a couple of years later, with its round table discussions, speeches from various dignitaries, and activities, both official and extracurricular, the latter of which mainly consisted of touring the local pubs with my drinking companions for the week - the tall, handsome, witty officer-and-gentleman moderators of my round table and the neighboring one. Being abandoned to my not-yet-bf's entire extended family mere moments after meeting them for the first time during his Commissioning Week - and then in the course of an afternoon and evening, falling hopelessly in love with them. Floating into Dahlgren Hall on his arm as his date to his Graduation Ball, my slinky black satin evening gown setting off to perfection his pristine white uniform. Sharing a pub beer with him and his parents afterwards, still in our formal wear, still falling in love with all of them. The start of a summer fling, as we wandered Annapolis & environs together and hung out with his buddies in DTA (Downtown Annapolis) as they waited for their first post-graduation assignments. Saying a painful goodbye as he went his way and I mine when the summer ended, and with it, the romance. Leading my high school friends on a tour of DTA bars the night before our classmates' wedding.
So many memories, so many moments, and still only the surface of all I experienced and of all I remember. Annapolis is a place I will always associate with my coming of age, with learning and painful realization, with magical moments, with good people, with well-intentioned but not-yet-mature boys on the verge of manhood, with laughter, joy, and pain. I'll always be fond of Annapolis. It is a pretty town, with a decidedly unique character, one shaped irrevocably by its proximity to the sea, its long history, and its association with the Academy. Who knows, maybe there will be more moments - good and bad - to add to my mental catalog of memories.
Right now, all I know is, Ravelry has helped give me back the moments I'd forgotten, intentionally or not - and I'm glad of it.
