Knitting in Bars: I

Way down south in New Orleans, we spend a whole lotta time in bars. We eat and drink there, meet friends there, watch TV there, scrap, discuss, even have business meetings there. There’s a saloon on every corner in the Big Easy and most New Orleanians treat them like their living rooms. It’s not at all unusual to see folks wander in in slippers and pj’s at 7 am for a little coffee or hair of the dog. 

I used to knit at Buffa’s Bar & Grill in New Orleans. I worked there for a time, so I’ve in fact knitted on both sides of that bar. My boss hated it, though, and began referring to me as ‘Madame Defarge‘.

I’m beginning to realize that we treat bars a little differently here in Canada. I wandered across the street to The Old York in my jammies one time. Instead of a boisterous crowd of still-drunks from the night before, I encountered a locked door and a lot of incredulous stares from my neighbours. So sad.

So, in aid of making Toronto bars more living-room-y and in an attempt to socialize an otherwise solitary pursuit, I decided to knit. In bars. I’ve never seen it done. Never once have I walked into a bar and found a single solitary knitter.

Step one was finding an appropriate fellow knitter. I immediately thought of Tracey, who is willing to do almost anything that involves wine, and we commenced. Since we both occupy digs in the King West/Liberty Village area, we began at the Bank Note one September afternoon. It went rather well, all things considered. I dropped every single stitch and Tracey knit the heel of a sock that she has not picked up since but it was a resounding success wine-wise!

So successful in fact that we decided to do it again, this time choosing The Old York Tavern, a cozy, divey little place with nice, open-minded bartenders. We sipped away at a very tasty Chenin Blanc and nobody seemed to notice that we were fiddling with sticks and string.

Whilst Tracey plucked away at one of her famous chunky cowls in what I’m assured is a very pleasant shade of gray, I tackled something new I’ve been working on. My goal is to come up with some patterns specifically designed for knitting in public and this is the first one.