Knitting in public unashamedly

Working on my Mother's Day present for my mum at Hardrock Climbing Gym in Nunawading.

Here's another one of my confessions; I knit in public all the time and do it unashamedly. I am the kind of person who takes my knitting everywhere I go because life with kids means that I don't get much knitting time during the day so I will try to fit it in whenever I get the opportunity. That means that I often knit in the car if Hubby is driving, I knit at swimming lessons, I knit on the train if the kids are not being too rowdy, I knit while supervising bath time, I knit just about anywhere I can. Even, today I took the opportunity to bang out a couple of rows at the climbing gym while I waited for my husband to arrive. Admittedly I arrived shortly after it opened so it was totally empty but really, I wouldn't have been perturbed at all if I had an audience.

I am used to an audience. I have a weekly routine where I arrive about 45 minutes early at one of Miss L's activities and I pull out my knitting while she has a little snack before her class. This class is held at a church so some of the church members volunteer to set up some coffee and tea and to have conversations with the waiting parents. I like to sit down at the big communal table, pull out my knitting and join in the chat. Every week the others around the table will ask me what I'm working on and have a feel of my yarn or admire my projects. I like how the knitting has opened up opportunities to converse with the other parents and because that relationship has been initiated sometimes the conversations will lead to deeper faith issues.

I think there are only a few places where I will withhold from knitting. The main one being during church. I am tempted to knit during the service because it is one of the few blocks of time where I am child free because the kids are in Sunday Club. However, I will not do it out because I want my heart and mind to be fully focused on praising God and learning from his Word during that time. I also refrain from knitting during my bible study group because I'm devoted to being fully present so that I can learn from the Bible and to respectfully encourage and pray for my friends.

Some of the more unusual places that I recall knitting in have been: at the zoo while the kids were engaged by the new lion enclosure, while waiting in line to get into the cinema during the film festival and at St. Paul's Cathedral while waiting for M's ordination service to begin.

Where do you publicly knit? Do you feel funny doing it? Have opportunities for conversations arisen from your public knitting experiences? I'd love to hear your thoughts too.