Finding Your Hobby: Knitting

A basket of yarn rests on a couch in Middleborough, Mass. on Sept. 7, 2015.
( Carolyn Lessard / AP Photo )

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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WMYC. Are you a hobbyist? Would you like to be? All through this membership drive, we're going to end the show by looking at some of the popular ways we spend our time honing new skills and finding community virtually and in person. Among other people, as obsessed as we might be with yarn, clay, paper, glass, or getting up early to sit and watch the birds. Today let's kick this off with a look at knitting and crocheting. We are joined for this by Nancy Ricci, a knitter, crocheter, weaver, and pattern designer who can be found most days at Knitty City yarn store on West 79th Street. We won't have time for calls, but you can text us at 212-433-WNYC to share your latest project, who taught you to knit, or your favorite bit of knitting lore. Nancy, welcome to WNYC.

Nancy Ricci: Hi, Brian. Thank you so much for having me.

Brian Lehrer: I guess I could say, like a few things we'll talk about in this series, knitting and crocheting didn't start as hobbies, but in this case as how you got a sweater if you wanted one, a very practical thing. How did it become a hobby?

Nancy Ricci: How did it become a hobby? Well, for me, how it started for me, I was waiting-- I'm not from the US, I'm from Amsterdam and I married in New Yorker, Trevor. Shout out to Trevor. Trevor used to work on the first national tour of Wicked. I was with him on the tour and I was waiting for my green card and my work permit, and I couldn't do anything and I was going nuts. I was completely going nuts, and he said to me, "Hey, my coworker who works at wardrobe, she always knits backstage. Do you want to learn how to knit?" That's how it started for me.

Brian, I was away from my family. I was in the USA. I was trying to find my way here in the USA. I was incredibly lonely because Trevor was working day and night on the show. Knitting pulled me through. I learned how to knit and it pulled me through and it introduced me to a world that I wasn't familiar with.

When I first came into a yarn store, I was like, "Oh my God, what is this? All this beautiful yarn, all these beautiful colors, and I can actually knit?" Not only became it a hobby for me, but it also became a way for me to get established in this new country called the USA.

Brian Lehrer: It's a great story. For someone listening now who wants to try it for the first time, where's a good place to start?

Nancy Ricci: A good place to start is at yarn shop, Knitty City, at any yarn shop that you have in your area. Go to a yarn shop, take a knitting class or a crochet class. If you don't have a yarn shop close to you, go online, YouTube University, Brian. YouTube University has all kinds of video tutorials and how to knit and how to crochet.

What I also can say, at Knitty City, we collaborate with Bryant Park. Every year in summertime, we go to Bryant Park and we teach people how to knit for free, and it's really a community project. We knit scarves for people in need of warmth, and we do that all summer. All you have to do is come. We have the material. We have the tools. We teach you how to knit. Bryant Park distributes all the scarves in February, usually February 14th, for people in need of warmth.

Brian Lehrer: That's so great. Obviously, it's something you can do by yourself. It's something you can do with other people in a group. Are scarves, the best way to start?

Nancy Ricci: I would say scarves is the best way to start. Also, I teach children, and sometimes the scarves can take a little bit too long. What I also say to kids when I teach kids, make a neck warmer or make a headband. Way faster than a scarf.

Brian Lehrer: Are there any big controversies in knitting or schools of thought, might be a better way to say it?

Nancy Ricci: Yes. What I can say is that there's two styles of knitting. One is called continental style, also referred to as Euro picker. One is called English style, also referred to a thrower. Where you thrower, you hold the yarn predominantly in your right hand. When you're a picker, you hold the yarn predominantly in your left hand.

Brian, I am a thrower for life and sometimes pickers try to convince me to go their way because they think it's faster, and I say, "Uh-uh, I'm a thrower for life." There's always a little bit of controversy there between pickers and throwers.

Brian Lehrer: All right, guess the world is divided into two kinds of people, throwers, and pickers, [laughter], and you're a thrower. Before you go, I wanted to ask you to share some knitting lore. I understand there's a sweater curse.

Nancy Ricci: Oh, have you heard about a sweater curse? That's a big thing. If you are in a relationship with somebody, don't make this somebody a sweater, because by the time you finish your sweater, this relationship will be over. That's the sweater curse.

Another thing what I can say is second sock syndrome. Sock knitters, they can have second sock syndrome where they only need one sock, and then the second one never gets knitted. The last one I want to [laughs]--

Brian Lehrer: In other words, don't do socks because then you're obligated to do two things.

Nancy Ricci: Yes, you're obligated to two things and there's some hardcore sock knitters out there. Second sock syndrome is well known. Lastly, I want to say is Sleeve Island. When I say Sleeve Island, there are many sweater knitters that are out there that know what I'm talking about. You make your sweater, usually, you make your body first, and then when the knitter comes to the sleeves, they always say, "Ugh, I'm stuck on Sleeve Island." That's also something that we say to each other, being stuck on Sleeve Island because it takes forever.

Brian Lehrer: Well, we've got some wonderful tributes to you coming in on text messages. Somebody writes, please tell Nancy that her videos on Instagram inspired me to learn how to spin my own yarn.

Nancy Ricci: Oh my God.

Brian Lehrer: Someone else, Knitty City is a great community, we were there after my mom died as a complete novice. Pure joy therapy. I could go on. Thank you, Nancy Ricci, who knits, crochets, weaves and works at Knitty City on West 79th Street in Manhattan. Thank you so much.

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Nancy Ricci: Thank you, Brian.

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