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A Few Tips On Doing The Two Most Favorite Pastimes Simultaneously
Avid knitters know this well. One cannot really just sit around, with nothing to do on their hands, when they could knit yet another awesome piece.
But what if you want to do more than just knitting? What if you are the type who loves to read while knitting? Watching TV is a well known great companion to knitting, but how about reading?
Unfortunately, while there are plenty of knitters who love to read at the same time as they knit, the two don’t go hand in hand that well.
As in the old saying about reading and eating, you will end up understanding nothing at all. You will end up missing stitches, messing up your pattern, or reading the same paragraph over and over again, without making any sense out of it.
So this is the end of multitasking for knitters? There are some who beg to differ. Certain things can be done, and, while they are not ideal, they still work so you can enjoy both reading and knitting.
(Knitting murder mysteries from Amazon – click images to explore further!)
One solution is to go for a really easy pattern that you can basically work with your eyes closed. This way, you will be able to focus on the reading part, without messing your knitting work.
Another solution identified by passionate knitters is to do some reading first, like one chapter or so, and then knit several rows, followed by another chapter, followed by several rows … and so on.
Especially if you are working on a really complicated pattern, this is the best solution, because you will not have to undo your work, when things go awry.
If you are not keen on splitting the two, and still yearn for doing both things at the same time, a solution would be audio books. Mind you, this is not for everyone, as there are people who feel distracted by the voice telling the story.
Either way, if you really cannot live without one or another, there are some solutions, as you can see above.
(Knitting murder mysteries from Amazon – click images to explore further!)
For the love of yarn, just get a bookstand at the bookstore or Amazon (anywhere from $3 -whatever) and put it on the table or end table and knit until you need to turn the page, turn the page and read the next 2 pages!
I opted for the audio book reading. I listen to books while I am driving (instead the radio), I listen while I am on the computer, when I knit, mostly all the time with many activities. Through my working life, because my job was working alone, that is when I started with “talking books” on cassettes. I have read (listened) to hundreds of books in the past 30 years this way. As most of my friends like to “hold” the book they read, (and I was the same as a young woman), doing two things at a time is most appealing. Now I have audio books downloaded on my smartphone, my tablet, so I am never without a book to “read”.
Reading the newspaper while you knit is easy as it lies flat on the dining table. For books, a friend recommended A clothes peg on each side. It works!