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fredag den 23. januar 2015

Pendlerstrik -- Commuter Knitting

Uglemor har været til møde i København. På vej hjem sidder hun i S-toget og strikker. Efter de første par minutters intense kamp med sammenfiltret garn og pinde der er stukket af, kræver strikketøjet ikke længere Uglemors fulde opmærksomhed. Uglemor ser sig om i S-toget. Alle sidder fordybet i hver deres elektroniske dims. På nær damen med den bærbare over i hjørnet ser det ud som om alle tjekker facebook-statusser, spiller FruitNinja eller skriver beskeder. Der er overraskende nok heller ingen, der sidder med en e-bogslæser og nyder en god bog.

Uglemor strikker og ser af og til op på togets infoskærm. En reklame springer i øjnene: Huer med indbyggede hovedtelefoner: Hold ørerne varme på løbeturen og lyt til musik på samme tid. Onesize - fås i 4 farver. Straks dukker en modreklame op: Hjemmestrikkede huer: Hold ørerne varme under løbeturen og hør fulgelsangen samtidig. Fås i din yndlingsfarve og -garn.

Uglemor tænker videre. Tænk hvis alle der sad her i S-toget, begyndte at strikke - bare på vej hjem. det er 30-40 minutter om dagen. Så kunne man strikke en strømpe, et halvt halstørklæde, en hue eller en vante om ugen, mere hvis man er rappere på pindene end Uglemor med de ti tommelfingre. Jamen, vil nogen sikkert indvende, hvad skal jeg dog gøre med de mange huer, vanter og sokker, jeg vil få strikket på et år. Intet problem, siger Uglemor så. Hvis man nu tog inden om sin lokale genbrugsbutik eller til garnbutikkens udsalg og købte et par nøgler uld, gerne en lidt tykkere model end Uglemors spindelvæv, så ville man få nogle dejligt varme sokker, vanter og så videre ud af det. Fra landets varmestuer udleveres der hvert år vanter til hjemløse og flygtninge der bliver overrasket af den danske vinterkulde, og de kan altid bruge flere.

Uglemor fantaserer videre. Strikning er afslappende. Man kan se ud af vinduet, se på infoskærmene, dagdrømme eller snakke med sin sidemand medens man strikker. Og samtidig frembringer man noget nyttigt og smukt. Mon ikke man ville komme hjem gladere i låget end efter at have spillet AnimalFarm eller tjekket Tweets?
  • Uglemors pendlerstrik. begge veje (= en times ukoncentreret strik) giver en god tredjedel sok. Ja det er en tredje sok til Piraten, enten er der garn nok til et par mere, eller vi har en reserve. 
  • MotherOwl's commuter knitting. There and back again (=one hour of distracted knitting) yields a third of a sock and a bit. And yes it is a third sock for The Pirate, eihter there's enough for another pair, or we'll have a back up sock.  

MotherOwl had a meeting in Copenhagen. On the way home she is knitting in the train. After the beginning, where tangled yarn ends and needles playing hide and seek in the knitting bag, MotherOwl's whole brain is not by the knitting any more. MotherOwl watches the info screen, Trains are on time except form where the cables have been stolen, wet and cold tomorrow, commercials for milk and shopping malls. MotherOwl knits on and watches all the commuters on board the train. Everybody is busy picking at an iThingy with their thumbs. Except for the lady with the white laptop in the corner, none seems to be working. They're playing, updating Facebook, or just surfing. None are reading e-books either.

MotherOwl's eyes wander to the info-screen once again. A commercial: Are your ears cold while running? Try our hats with built in ear phones. Keep your ears warm, and listen to your favourite music. One size - Four colours. An anti-commercial pops up inside MotherOwl's head: Are your ears cold while running? - Home-knit hats keeps your ears warm and lets you listen to the birds' song. Made in colour and yarn of choice.

MotherOwl's mind wanders. If everybody commuting on tis line began knitting, that's 30-40 minutes a day, then everybody could knit one sock, half a scarf, one mitten, or a hat every week. Maybe even more, that's MotherOwl's knitting speed, and she has too many thumbs. But wait, all the commuters protest, what am I going to do with all the socks, hats, and mittens I would knit every year, I do not have children or grandchildren ... . No problem, MotherOwl answers. Go to your local second hand shop or sale at the yarn store, go buy something a bit more chunky than MotherOwl's cobwebs. That'll make warm and cosy hats, socks, mittens and scarves for the homeless and for the refugees taken by surprise by the cold Danish winter. The places where they hand out these items can not get enough.

MotherOwl keeps daydreaming. Knitting is relaxing, you can look out of the windows, or at the info-screens, even talk to your neighbour. And knitting cosy, warm, pretty items for your family or people in need, seems a much better way of spending half an hour each day. Everybody would return home more relaxed, fulfilled and happy from creating socks and hats, than from checking status updates or playing AnimalFarm.

4 kommentarer:

  1. Uglemor,

    What an entertaining post. I really enjoyed reading it. You are so right: So much wasted time. I'm guilty of this myself. I don't waste time while travelling on trains by playing with my iPod or phone. I don't travel on trains very often. But I do have times in my day when I could be knitting or doing something else constructive rather than browsing the Internet etc.

    I was interested to hear about your info screens. We don't have ones like yours on our trains. We just have a screen which tells us what the next train station is and which stations the train will be stopping at. Sometimes it also says "Take your litter home with you" and "Keep your feet off the seats"! No commercials.

    I have a few posts to catch up on. I'll be back after lunch!

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Yes, we're all wasting time, of course we're wasting time. But my point is that commuting time is a time, you *know* you're going to have to spend every day. You could plan to do something with that set time of your day. Unlike when just checking your inbox and then being tempted to ... and then - pouf - half an hour just disappeared. We could naturally be knitting instead, but the mail needs to be read, and cooking planned.
      I am sure you have a few things to catc up. I am looking forwards to reading of your trip to the caves. And the photos.

      Slet
  2. Hvor er det i grunden skræmmende, jeg er sikker på verdenen vil være et bedre sted, hvis alle strikkede lidt mere og var online lidt mindre;)

    SvarSlet
    Svar
    1. Ja, netop. Nu er det noget tid siden, jeg var med toget på netop det tidspunkt, og udviklingen var faktisk skræmmende.
      Strik for en bedre verden - godt slogan!

      Slet

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