CoKnitting is the life for me

Last week I posted a note to the coworking group on Google Groups, questioning my sanity and asking for help. I could’ve sworn that, months ago, it was at a coworking website that I first discovered a book called Knitalong by Larissa and Martin John Brown. (Also be sure to vist the Knitalong web site)

Eva, Chief Cat Herder over at CubeSpace was kind enough to post back that, at least on this count, my sanity was intact. It was, in fact, Cubespace that announced the release of the book, seeing as Martin Brown is a sometimes coworker at CubeSpace.

Know something about me and knitting books: knitting books are my own, personal porn stash, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean, I keep them nearby, covet what I find inside even though I know much of it is unattainable (given my skill set). Looking at knitting books simultaneously calms me and makes my heart race. I love knitting. And I LOVE knitting books.

Interestingly, knitting is one of the few activities I genuinely enjoy doing with others on any kind of regular basis. I am, at heart, a loner and an introvert. I understand the need to be around others — I totally get the idea of coworking (but of course I do). But, for me, coworking is mostly about being glad others are nearby, with collaboration being a smaller part of what I, personally, am looking for.

Now knitting circles on the other hand… Put me in a room full of knitters and I am happy as a hot pig rolling in cold mud on an August Sunday. Which is why I like KnitALong, which has quite the explanatory subtitle: Celebrating the Tradition of Knitting Together. They cover lots of territory, from knitting circles long ago to current knitalongers that meet online and agree to all work on the same project at the same time.

I was thinking a lot about this lately as I prepared for another one of my famous working vacations. Not only is it highly likely I’ll take work with me when I travel, it’s also often/especially possible that I’m traveling because of the work and that the work will somehow be related to craft.

Such is the case this week. I’m a guest blogger at a Knitting and Yoga Adventures retreat on Monhegan Island, a little speck of land about ten miles off the coast of Maine in the mighty Atlantic. So I’m spending seven days knitting, stretching, hiking, and getting to know more than a dozen women who share my passions. Each day, we start a new knitalong. Yesterday we all hopped right on a mitten project. Today we started a cool little bag. Tomorrow we’ll do lace.

I didn’t set out to have vacation that would re-emphasize for me the importance of coworking. I didn’t set off to the Atlantic with some hare-brained scheme to make this trip fit into the writing I do for LaunchPad Coworking. But I have to say, being up here with this group has really given me an extra shot in the coworking arm.

During the day, I go on long walks with women who, though I’ve never met them before and might never see them after this week, have at least a couple of things in common with me. We talk about our kids, our careers, our beliefs and, of course, our craft addictions. Then we come back, sit down, and not only work at the same time on the same project, but we observe each other — as with a Montessori class, regardless of where you fall along the skill set spectrum, everyone stands to learn something from someone else.

With so many of us here for the same reason, I’m much less inclined to put down my knitting “just for a minute to throw some laundry in,” or whatever. I pay attention to questions others ask the instructors and I make a note of the answers. I observe how fast some folks go (can’t ever shake that competitive streak of mine). And I watch how some have a knack for putting colors together.

If you aren’t a knitter, you might think I’m a dork for saying this but — Holy Moley being up here with a bunch of like-minded crafters is just making my life hum. (I know the ocean views, majestic cliffs, and changing northeast foliage don’t hurt matters.) It is such a good reminder about the benefits of collaboration that abound far beyond avoiding isolation. I’m picking up pointers I never would’ve thought to ask about. I’m getting ideas. And I’m getting motivated. And yes, I’m already scheming the LaunchPad CoKnitters club to meet at least once a week.