Inclusivity

Over the weekend I received a curious email. Mary wrote to let me know she had posted a review of Charts Made Simple in Ravelry’s On The Other Hand forum. With Mary’s permission, here’s an excerpt:

I just had a chance to look at a new book that’s out and thought you all might be interested, as it has to do, somewhat, with lefty knitting.

The name of the book is “Charts Made Simple: Understanding Knitting Charts Visually,” by JC Briar.

Now we all know charts are very helpful for left handed (mirror) knitters and I was interested to see what Ms. Briar has to say about charts, never dreaming she might include tips for left handed knitters.

But she does!!!!

Though the book is written for “conventional knitters,” she specifically mentions lefty knitting (without judgment or rancor) as an “unconventional” knitting style (I love that!) and defines it — correctly, I might add. She then adds this in the preface under the section: “Charts are for every knitter”: “This book assumes you knit conventionally — but also includes tips for the unconventional knitter.”

She goes on to add: ”are you a true lefty knitter? … Charts are for you, too. Charts show which way each decrease is supposed to lean … And lefties can follow chart rows in the direction that naturally makes sense for them.”

We’re included! This is the first time I’ve ever seen this in a text on knitting. When I read this I just about dropped the book in amazement.

There is an even an entry in the index for lefty knitters and you can zoom directly to the mention of left handed knitting for specific chart issues! Her references to lefty knitting are well placed, she mentions our style without judgment or rancor. She accepts the fact that some knitters knit lefty and she is fully aware that charts are our friends!!!!!!

In other words, she gets it.

Mary’s review caught me off-guard. I mean, I was glad she liked the tips for lefty knitters. But, wow, she really liked them. She was surprised by them, even. And what’s this bit about “without judgment or rancor”? Do lefty knitters often face that much derision?

And then I remembered why I tried to make Charts Made Simple as inclusive as possible.

Years ago—long before I started teaching knitting—I was visiting a yarn shop and chatting with the owner when it came up in conversation that I happen to hold the yarn in my left hand. The shop owner was intrigued, and asked if she could watch me purl.

So we sat down, and I pulled out my knitting, and I did my usual “lazy purl.” The shop owner took one look at the resulting stitch—sitting on the needle with its right leg in back—and jumped out of her seat. “Your stitches are all twisted!” she exclaimed, literally turning her back on me and refusing to watch or listen further.

As you may have guessed, I was a bit put off. More than a bit: I quit visiting her shop.

I can deal with typical knitting instructions. By convention, they assume the knitter always wraps the yarn around the right needle such that the new stitch sits with its right leg in front of the right needle. These conventions suit most knitters, and permit succinct instructions.

I understand what conventional instructions are trying to say, the end goal they’re trying to express. And in my classes I can counsel students into understanding how to interpret those instructions—even if they wrap the yarn “the other way” when they purl, or they knit lefty and create new stitches on their left needle.

What I can’t quite deal with is the notion of a “right” way to knit. A single “right” way implies a multitude of “wrong” ways, and I just don’t buy that. There is no wrong way to knit. It’s all a question of what works for a given knitter: if you enjoy the process and like what you create, then it’s all good.

So, Mary… you shouldn’t have been surprised. I’m all for including all kinds of knitters. And thanks again for the generous review. 🙂

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