I for one have not found it to be a problem when knitting and reading at hte same time. If you can multitask (or raise more than one child!), you can read and knit at the same time.
Although, I do see your point re:Auschwitz.
Audio books while knitting?
I find I can only listen to Audio books if I donāt need to concentrate on what Iām knitting (ie: stocking stitch/garter stitch scarves or plain items).
Music, my favourite for knitting is either relaxation classical, Lounge or soft jazz. Anything more upbeat and I prefer to dance to it. 
But I also knit in front of the TV, depending on the program will depend on how much concentration I need for the project.
Holly - I hope you enjoy finding audio books to knit to!
Guess which books I bought today from audible.com?
*Old Time Radio Shows: Detectives, Volume 1, Part 1
*Old Time Radio Shows: Detectives, Volume 1, Part 2
*Old Time Radio Shows: Detectives, Volume 2, Part 1
*Old Time Radio Shows: Detectives, Volume 2, Part 2
*Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
*The Chronicles of Narnia (all of the books!)
*Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
*Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
*Emma by Jane Austen
I am trying to build up a library - we love books! We have been listening to a chapter of this, then a chapter of that and watching no t.v. Itās interesting to see how much more you pay attention to someone speaking when there is nothing for you to look at and you are relying totally on your ears to get all of the information! :mrgreen:
Iām sorry that Iām reviving a year old thread, but I love listening to books while I doā¦ well a whole bunch of things. I wanted to share LibriVoxwith everyone. It is a site where you can download readings of books that are no longer under copyright. My hubby and I listened to [U]The Secret Garden[/U] on a road trip to Florida and I was incredibly impressed. The recording was good enough to have been professional.
I will warn you that the recordings start and stop with each chapter. You can either listen to each, āthis is a LibriVox recordingā¦ā message or you can skip to the next chapter. It all depends on what you find less annoying, but I figured the price was right, and I love the classics.
Donāt forget all the things you can get on iTunes. Many old radio programs are now podcasts, such as The Green Hornet and Suspense.
Also, on librivox.org, you can find tons of audiobooks and poetry that are free downloads. They use volunteers to read books that are no longer under copyright, like old classics. Not all of the volunteers are professional quality, but some are tremendous, and I like free!! :cheering:
These audiobooks can be listened to on you computer, synced on an ipod or mp3, or burned onto CDs.
I LOVE doing this! I keep books on CD and tape in the car. If I have an off period subbing, I borrow a player from the library, find an office, listen and knit! :knitting:
My family loves the Mrs. Pollifax books by Dorothy Gilman (I think). Theyāre great mysteries that take place in interesting places. Good for pre-teens and up, but probably not younger because of the suspense.
I second the Narnia recommendation! Iāve checked out all seven from my public library, and theyāre very well read. (I especially like The Silver Chair - Jeremy Northam does a great Puddleglum.)
Another great series is [I]The Hitchhikerās Guide to the Galaxy[/I], by Douglas Adams. Itās British humor at its finest.
Shakespeare is also fun to listen to, especially if you get a recording with sound effects. (Swordfights are hard to imagine audibly.)
Methinks I will have to check out this Librivox thingā¦
Thanks for bumping this thread! I need to find something more brain enriching and it would be nice to listen while knitting but also while out walking, It would encourage me to do the latterā¦
I am inspired to pursue these options~:thumbsup:
I am also āreadingā audio books while knitting. I lvoe to read, but kind of hard to do with hands full of yarnā¦lol. I am listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Preparing for the Deathly Hallows release!
Iāve never done audio books. Are there ever any non-fiction types like mathematics or sciences?
Iām sure there are. I was downloading some books from LibriVox last night for my hubby and I to listen to on the plane to Europe, and I saw a book on relativity by Einstein and [U]Origin of the Species[/U] by Darwin. If theyāve got it in public domain books, Iām sure theyāve got it in more contemporary titles too.
If you are looking for [I]really[/I] hard science, you should check out MITās OpenCourseWare. MIT provides a ton of their course information online for free, and several of the instructors record their lectures. I think it would be great fun to pick an interesting class and take it virtually while I knit away.:cheering:
That is a great idea!! I am a huge reader and hate having to decide if I want to knit or read. This way I can do both! It never even occured to meā¦ Thanks for the idea! :cheering:
I have been listening to some 1940s radio shows while knitting. Those are really fun.
My LYS was doing the same thing the last time I went in there, and it confused me so much. I was talking to the owner and not paying any attention until they started talking about Australia getting involved in the war. :think: It took me a bit to get my bearings straight and realize they werenāt talking about Iraq.
OK, this is a seriously old topic, but Iām going to dare to revive it, a) because āsomeone previously involved in the conversationā might actually like to be notified? And b), fourteen years on there are a lot more audio books out there!
Depending on how complicated your project is, listening while you knit can be so good. For one thing, as least for me, it makes one feel less guilty - you can busily learn something, or just āreadā the book you would otherwise read for yourself at some other time. Iām not a great one for audio fiction (funny that, but as an actor myself I find it hard to listen to actors doing āfunnyā voices for all the characters - Iād rather imagine them for myself), although there are a lot of good suggestions in this thread. With non-fiction you can really learn things, and now Iāve got over reading too many books about US politics (I come from the UK, and this is displacement activity - I canāt bear to read about the gruesome present UK politicsā¦), I can move on to something either more educational or more fun.
The very most fun and interesting listen Iāve had of late, and one I SO recommend to anyone who has the remotest interest in any kind of popular music, is more of an extended podcast, really - itās about five hours of Malcolm Gladwell in conversation with Paul Simon, and is called āMiracle And Wonderā. Itās five hours of wonderful insight into the creative workings of an iconic contributor to the modern music scene; itās honest, funny, moving, entertaining - Paul Simon picks up his guitar and plays and sings this and that as he goes along, to āillustrateā his story telling, and Malcolm Gladwell, with Bruce Headlam, a musician who shares this journey, create a brilliant framework for Paul Simon to tell the listener not so much his autobiography as his creative life, his inspiration, his travels, his whole working environment. I found it enthralling, and so hope some of you may have already heard it, or if not will consider getting it. Worth every cent! And if you join Audible (there are various packages) there are dozens of freebies and āonly on Audibleā extras to be had. Please do, anyone out there interested, revive this topic with me? Or tell me if thatās already been done and Iāll pick up somewhere else!
I too listen to audio books. The Clifton chronicles by Jeffrey archer are a seriously good listen. I think 4 or 5 in the series. Trouble is I never stop knitting because I am so engrossed in the story
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