WWKIPD

Here in Edmonton knitters gathered together for WWKIPD on the 13th of June. I came back a day early from the lake just to be there and I am so very very glad I did.

River City Yarns has held a fund raiser for the Alzheimer's Society for several years, and this year, did it in conjunction with WWKIPD. River City asked that people register with us for 10 dollars, and then join along with us and spend WWKIPD riding the rails of the Edmonton light rail transit system. The registration fee goes directly to the Alzheimer's society and we are still accepting donations for that. Thank you. Thank you to all the knitters and non knitter's who registered and helped us support a cause near and dear to so many of us.

The store is accepting knitting donations all summer long and with every donation of a knitted good you get a little package with a little surprise knitterly coupon in it along with some other good things. We have an ongoing silent auction (or direct purchase of the item) of donations from our suppliers that will go on all summer that will also continue to raise funds for the same good cause. So come in and check out what is up this week, or today. There are some seriously great things coming up.

My job on Saturday's event was to ride the train, and help any one who needed it or had questions, make sure that all the knitters were having a good time, and ask silly questions and give away little knitterly prizes. Oh, and did I mention that I rode the train all day?

There is just no way to describe the looks on muggles faces when they got on the train and realized that over half the car full of people was sitting there and knitting. Cool fellas and hot chickies (I can say that no longer being young and never having been hot or cool) would get on the train, looking nonchalant, and you could see when they realized what was going on around them. Slowly, ever so slowly our sheer numbers would dawn on them, and they would sort of back off and this slightly glazed look would cross their eyes.

The really oblivious would sit down on whatever seat was available among us, and after a few moments would look around and try really really hard to not notice something was just a little different about those around them. One guy, went to the back of the car, and asked us to hold the knitting in the center of the aisle so he could take a picture. We did, and he just kept saying 'this is too surreal', and 'Nobody is going to believe it'.

Lots of people asked questions, lots of people were interested, and we may have, in the nicest and most un-subversive of ways, turned a few new people over to being knitters.

I had an absolutely wonderful time, and talked to so may great knitters, some whom I have known for a while and some who were new friends. There were so many different things on people's needles. Some of us had charity knitting, some had lace, some had afghans, some had sweaters, some had hats. There were big things small things. There were expensive yarns and very price conscious yarns. There was wool and there was acrylic. There were metal needles, plastic needles and wood needles. There were quite simply, all sorts of knitters and we were as one.

Through the day, as knitters would join us to ride, I would ask what the silliest thing they knit was and some of the answers were funny, some were sweet and some were poignant, like the woman who knit a womb for a friend who really needed a new womb. And the knitter who knitted a bra for a friend so it wouldn't rub on fresh scars. In places and situations where words cannot convey a shared sorrow, the knitting did.

Last Saturday, knitting took a large group of people few of whom had ever met before, and gave us instant family ties. Knitting tied us across ages, across abilities, across income, across sophistication, across education. This smallest, most benign of things has a power, and a unique community that simply cannot be denied.

I am honoured to be counted among you.