[SCA-BMDL] courtesy

[Elss_of_Augsburg]

Hummmm. Very interesting question. How would Madame LaFarge answer it?
 
I have always thought that the answer to this lies partly in the amount of myself required to do the craft and partly in the activity that I am attending.
 
>From the "doing the craft" perspective:
 
For many, knitting and crocheting are crafts that one's hands do while one's brain and eyes are elsewhere. It is quite possible to do the work in the dark even, because the muscle memory continues to repeat the stitch without needing the eyes to constantly monitor the actions. Most of me is attending the meeting, with just occassional glances down to see what my fingers are up to.
 
I have never had the same success with needlework, as I am usually doing counted cross stitch and need to keep track of what I am doing. That means that my eyes and my attention are frequently diverted from the meeting and I lose some of the nuance of the presenter's facial expression and hand gestures. Also, I wouldn't be able to look around at the audience, to gauge the reactions of others. I would be less engaged in general.
 
I don't do quilt work, but everyone I have seen do it seems to pay a lot of attention to it.
 
>From the meeting and the *presenter's* perspective:
 
I would never do anything craft-related in a business meeting. Inappropriate.
 
I would be reluctant to do anything in a smaller, more personal meeting or gathering, as I would not want to call attention to the fact that I am only 99.9% engaged. Also, it is distracting to the presenter if my attention is not on her and I am not acting like the rest of the audience.
 
If the group or audience were large and impersonal enough, I would sit in and quietly do my hand-work. If the group (no matter what size) was interested in crafts or DIY, then I would feel free to craft and to participate however I wish. I almost always have a project to work on when I am attending an SCA event, and I would feel comfortable working on it in most situations.
 
Of course, this doesn't address knitting etc as anything other than just what it is. For a look at craft as social activism, see the discussion on Knitting as a Revolutionary Act at http://userpages.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/knitting.html
 
Elss
 
~who has had to defend herself while crocheting at Steeler games.


--- On Thu, 7/17/08, Raven <hraefnn at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Raven <hraefnn at yahoo.com>
Subject: [SCA-BMDL] courtesy
To: "Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands" <sca-bmdl at lists.andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Thursday, July 17, 2008, 1:03 PM

Hi all,

The following letter appeared in Dear Abby.  Many gentles in this barony and
the SCA knit, embroider, etc. at gatherings where the main activity has nothing
to do with their handwork.  Do you find this rude?  Why or why not? Please state
if you indulge in this habit.

Hrefna

P.S. Since some people may have their lives threatened by their significant
other if they respond with anything other then "Of course it's not
rude, Dear", those folks can email me privately to have their true
opinions posted anonymously.  


-------------------------------------

DEAR ABBY: Is it rude or inconsiderate for a person to knit, crochet or piece a
quilt while attending a meeting or other gathering? -- CURIOUS IN THE SUNBELT 

DEAR CURIOUS: Although I may get some argument about this, I do think it's
rude. When someone is attending a meeting or a social gathering, it is
considered good manners to give the speaker or other attendees your full
attention. And while I expect to hear from readers who say they can
"multi-task," to do so sends the wrong message. 



----------------------------------------------------------
And this above all to thine own self be true.
                                - Shakespeare, "Hamlet"


      
_______________________________________________
Sca-bmdl mailing list
Sca-bmdl at lists.andrew.cmu.edu
https://lists.andrew.cmu.edu/mailman/listinfo/sca-bmdl


      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.andrew.cmu.edu/pipermail/sca-bmdl/attachments/20080717/661142d5/attachment-0001.html