On another thread, I have expressed how baffled I am that anyone thinks that walking and knitting should ever be done at the same time, how dangerous this can be for the walker and anyone within 10 feet of them. Now, this story did turn out to be beneficial for this knitter, but still-- a knitting needle through the heart. Does anyone need anymore proof that you should not be moving while you knit?! http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=8071664&page=1
Uhhh, that’s not a common occurrence. I’ve successfully knit while walking many times and had no mishaps.
Well, from that story, I don’t think she was actually knitting while she was walking, but walking into her friend’s house for her knitting group while carrying her supplies!
[B][I][COLOR=“Purple”]I was carrying the bag with the two needles in my right hand … and tripped on the first step and sort of fell on my chest, on her porch[/COLOR][/I][/B]
That’s not quite the same thing, then…
For myself, I rarely make decisions based on improbable “mights” and “coulds.”
People are killed in automobile accidents every day, and there’s nothing to say it can’t happen to me…but I still drive.
I’m not advocating walking and knitting particularly (though I’ve done it on rare occasion, browsing through a gift shop, as a matter of fact). But just like anything else, with proper precautions, there’s no reason it can’t be done.
And if one takes your reasoning to its logical conclusion, one shouldn’t go to a knitting group, either, since one might trip and fall, thus impaling one’s heart with a knitting needle.
I’m not trying to convince you to change your views, of course…just sharing that there are more ways than one to look at the situation.
That’s awful, but it was a freak accident. I have never heard of someone being hurt while walking and knitting before. :shrug:
Exactly what I was thinking. If I were to dwell on it further, the same accident could happen right at home while carrying my project or bag across a room… It’s safer to just never knit at all???
The problem was not that she had knitting needles it was that she was walking. If she had been crawing to the knitting group ther would not have been a problem.
No seriously, this was a freak accident, true, but we should all be aware of the number of sharp objects we deal with daily. With this awareness should also come a little care. If we have a knitting bag we carry with us often do we have a way of covering needle points or sissor points, etc.
Our gentleman friend was taking a nap one summer’s day.
He arose a few hours later, and called out for his wife.
No answer. "Well, she must be out in the garden."
He got on his shoes, walked out to the garden path.
His wife had stumbled on the path stones while carrying some
freshly cut flowers up to the house. Her cutting shears had
pierced her heart. She had bled to death in her garden while he napped.
True story.
Carrying ANYTHING sharp while walking can result in a horrible accident, regardless of your age.
OMG Dollyce, that’s horrible! :shock:
I just got off the phone with a friend of mine who owns an LYS and told her about the ABC News story and this thread. She sounded shocked and said that whenever she sees someone walking around and knitting in her shop, she asks them to stop and have a seat. She said that at one of the Stitches conventions a few years ago, an announcement came over the loud speakers asking anyone knitting as they walked around from booth to booth, to please stop for everyone’s safety.
I guess there are people who participate on this site who will not be seated when knitting. I guess you may be the same people who don’t wear seatbelts on occasion because the odds are that you will not be in an accident in which they will prove beneficial. I guess you may also allow your child to walk around and knit. As I’ve said before, if you want to do this when you are completely on your own, there is no one within 100 feet of you, then fine. But you have sharp objects in your hands. This is not about a difference of opinion. Sharp objects can injure. Fact. I really hope that all of you who insist that this is an acceptable practice never have to find out consequences.
And please don’t do it near me. Thank you.
I worked in ED’s for years (interspersed with everything else) and never saw anyone with a knitting needle anywhere in their torso. We did have one gentleman who died like Dollyce’s friend, right in front of his grandkids. This one was right outside Seattle also.
Wish I was good enough at knitting to be able to walk and knit, but still wouldn’t do it, too safety conscious.
When you can’t stick to a topic and instead grope for insults, you cheapen the discussion and weaken your point.
My child is autistic and will never be able to knit. Thank you.
Amazing article! You never know when a freak accident will save your life.
Dollyce, my heart goes out to your friend.
Craw, I’m very sorry that your child is autistic. I’m sure every day is a challenge for you and him or her. However, I don’t understand what that has to do with walking and knitting. My comment about children is very much on topic and not about insulting anyone. My point is that if you wouldn’t let your child, autistic or not, walk around with knitting needles-- and I pray no one would ever do that-- then no adult should either. It was completely on topic, as was my comment about seatbelts. There are statements on this thread about accidents with knitting needles being freak incidents, people have done it a lot with no problems. I’m sure there are people who never wear seatbelts and have never been in a serious accident. That should never be a promotion for not wearing seatbelts. There was also a comment implying that the desire to walk around while knitting is a matter of a different point of view, opinion if you will. Knitting needles are sharp and dangerous if you’re moving around while using them. You shouldn’t be knitting and walking around, just as you shouldn’t be cutting paper and walking around.
As I have said, if you are completely on your own, that’s your business. But one person here said she knitted while browsing in a gift shop; now you’re involving other people’s safety, perhaps mine. If I were ever in a public situation, say that gift shop, and saw someone knitting, I would ask the manager to ask that person to stop and put their needles away. If the only way you can possibly relax, or it somehow is sanity-saving for you, is to knit and walk simultaneously, then I guess go out in a field where no one else will possible cross your path and go for it. But other than that, this is a very, very bad idea.
This site is about helping each other with their knitting. I would include that to mean helping each other be safe. Anyone who encourages another knitter to walk and knit is akin to posting on a cooking site that you don’t bother watching what you’re doing while cutting with a sharp knife, and suggesting that others do likewise. Yes, the chances are great that we will never be injured by knitting needles. But these things do happen, and why in the name of all that is holy would we ever take an unnecessary chance with something like this?
Everyone has a different opinion on just about any topic you can think of. We need to be mindful of that and not assume that because someone doesn’t share our beliefs that they are wrong. Let’s be careful not to point fingers and be understanding. 
Wow, harsh and presumptuous words about the walking knitters not wearing seatbelts and allowing their kids to walk and knit, ie: irresponsible.
The fact of the matter is life is dangerous. Just about everything you do could result in some freak accident…And, the lady in this article wasn’t even knitting while she was walking, her needles were in her bag.
To put in perspective, washing, drying, and putting away kitchen knives could be dangerous, a child in a classroom carrying his or her freshly sharpened pencil back to their seat could be dangerous, crossing a street could be dangerous, flying, driving, taking a train, eating, drinking, catching a cold, etc. is potentially dangerous.
The solution is common sense; using common sense to take the necessary precautions to lessen the chance of your actions/activities harming you or anyone else.
Any one of us could pick up our knitting needles, begin to walk over to the couch to sit down to knit but end up tripping and falling, being stabbed by our needles.
The solution is common sense. Use point protectors and never have the tip of the needle pointed towards you while holding them and moving.
I mean this argument could go so far…Knitting while a passenger in a car could be dangerous as well. Say you have a bit of a fender bender…Maybe the accident didn’t cause much damage, but let’s say, for some freak reason, the accident was enough to cause you to stab yourself with your knitting needles.
Life is a risk, plain and simple. It’s all about using common sense and taking the necessary precautions to decrease the likelihood of your actions causing harm to yourself or others.
As I read and reread the original post it appeared to me the writer was using overstatement trying to make a point. I took that point to be that some people are not considerate of others. Some are not considerate because they knit in public and could injure others with the needles, others are not considerate because they talk loudly on cell phone in public place and disturb others, others are not considerate because they talk on cell phones while driving and this list could go on and on and on.
This is a public forum with many different people from different countries and different regions in the same country. How we use words are different. Let’s not be presumptuous and assume that what we just read was what was meant by the writer. If you find some thing that you find harsh or take offense to stop a second and then reread the entire post. Did the writer overstate something to try to add emphasis? Do we know where the writer is from and do the words have the same meaning in their region as they do in ours?
Please read every post through the eyes of love and assume that they were written in a loving way. In addition be careful out there.
Knitting in a modern car would very likely be bad in a minor accident because if the airbag doesn’t ram the needles through you it will ram them through itself puncturing itself and spraying everything with sodium azide.
Search it and read all about it.
But I agree. The original article wasn’t about knitting while walking, it was about carrying needles in a bag, something I bet imrachel does all the time without care to her safety or the safety of those around her.
Babies wrapped in acrylic bursting into flames. Knitting needles poking people 100 yards away. I’m amazed people even continue this outdated dangerous hobby.
“I want the original Knit Picks Options 200 stitch cable model knitting needles with cable stops in the case and this thing that tells time.”
“You’ll poke your eye out, kid.”
I was once talking to an ambulance worker who was telling me about how frustraiting his job could be…
I said to him “yeah…you must see some strange things, most accidents are preventable”
He said “ALL accidents are preventable”
This convo happened a long time ago (couple years now) and I am not sure how we got talking about it…and I am sure, as I was working at the time, it didn’t go much further…but I would have loved to have continued it.
Some might argue it, but when thought about…A lot (if not all) accidents are preventable…but to what end I guess…there has to be room for human error…