Knitting on DVD

Last night I watched the DVD The Art of Knitting, which I checked out from the library.

Most of it was interesting enough even if there wasn't a lot of new info for me. I guess a more accurate assessment of it would be that it was a pleasant program to watch in the background as I sat on the couch and knit. I did enjoy the discussion on different fiber types from the woman who owns Prism Yarn. I also got to see an alpaca shearing demo. (When I told Scott last night that I wanted to change careers and become an alpaca farmer all I got was a "That's something my mom would say." I'll take that as a compliment.) Perhaps my favorite segment was the discussion on dyeing with the two women who make up Twisted Sisters. I know nothing about hand dyeing nor about the color theory behind it and I found it fascinating.

Too bad the production was so low-budget, though. Some of the segments were filmed at fiber festivals and the background noise and terrible lighting nearly made me turn off the DVD at several places. The DVD topics were lacking in specificity, too. "Shearing" took me to the alpaca demo, which was fabulous, but it only addressed alpacas. "Spinning" took me to a quite brief profile of a family-operated mill but didn't give real information on hand spinning, which is what I expected.

And then there was the section entitled "Zen and Knitting." One of the first things I loved about knitting was its meditative quality, for lack of a better description. But that was, for me, something I appreciated simply because it was therapeutic in a quiet and repetitive way. The author who led the zen discussion started off okay but really soured for me when she got all poetic about how each stitch of my knitting is symbolic of my place in this world. Eeew.

In real knitting news, I am making progress on the second sleeve for the baby sweater. I should finish it this weekend with no trouble.