The Good the Bad the Rude

The World Tour continued tonight with two stops. Both were dramatically different stops.

The first stop was a at the 61c café in Squirrel Hill. Normally when I enter a café and begin knitting the people in the knitting group come over and ask me to join their group. That was not the case at this group. The two people that I surmised were members of the group were engrossed in a vivid conversation about the shortcomings of the people they work with. Since it was such an animated conversation I figured I would wait till there was a lull before I would ask them if this was the knitting group. I was fifteen minutes early so I figured it would only be polite not to interrupt. Well the conversation continued and a sat and knit at the table six inches from them. As the third person arrived and it was time for the group to start they moved their table away from me.

When I did get the opportunity to ask if this was the knitting group they stated they were a group that knit. I then asked if it was the group advertised. They said they did not advertise and they were just a group of friends that got together. As additional people showed up during this conversation they moved their chairs so they were facing away from me.

Now I have received some strange reactions to my knitting before. I once visited a group that told me I was not welcome because they were going to be girl talk and they would feel funny if I was there. I can understand if a group has a way they like things and men do not figure into it. I personally like women. I married a woman. So a do not mind sharing knitting with a group of women that I do not know. I have gotten used to it because well, men are chickens and do not knit publicly in the way they should.

Well I figured that this could just be a mistake. The post did say that they attended another café in Shady Side in the off weeks. The post did not say which week was where. So I figured there was a chance this was a private thing and the real group was in Shady Side. So I did what any inquisitive guy with a rolling fishing tackle box of yarn would do. I went to Shady Side. There indeed was another group in Shady Side.

This group welcomed me off the bat. Invited me to join them and said they were pleased that I was there. Even though I was very late everyone was welcoming and did not flinch at me presence. Well I asked them if any of them were the 61C group. They told me no. They are the Shady Side Stitch and Complain that meets there every week. The other group did indeed go there on the off weeks and sat separate from them.

I would whole heartedly recommend the weekly Coffee Tree Roasters group in Shady Side. They are nice bunch of people and appear to have been going strong since their inception in the spring. Go there have fun. The café is well lit and has a descent assortment of beverages and snacks. The prices are not that bad. They are too uppity to have a soda fountain, a personal pet peeve. Well it is Shady Side and a lovely neighborhood otherwise. I can always go to Wendy’s to support my rather pedestrian habits if I can spend some time in the company of such friendly people. And the furniture is comfortable and well lit.

The 61C café on the other hand is a hippy purgatory that has given up all that is tasty in favor of healthy. What kind of crack head thinks that there should be granola in a smoothie? Are you insane smoothies are suppose to be yummy and tasty, NOT TASTE LIKE CARDBOARD. There is no excuse for turning something that is supposed to be bad for you into something healthy. Especially if strawberry tastes like ground up sheet rock in pink water. Cafes are supposed to be decadent and bad for you. Even the Hippy loving, pot smoking, hemp wearing, veggie eating counter culture back water the Quiet Storm has SODA POP. By the way the Quiet Storm would not bother me if they could serve a little dead animal. And the place is poorly lit and the furniture is uncomfortable.

Maybe the 61C group was once public and has drifted away from that over time. If they were even the slightest bit polite they should drop a line to Pittsburgh Knitting and tell them no one is welcome. I have nothing against private knitting groups. I regularly have private knitting groups in my basement. There is nothing wrong with just doing something with your buddies. By the way my private knitting groups include myself, Aaron Sorkin, Gore Vidal, William Buckley, Stephen Hawking, Juan Carlos II King of Spain, and an android reconstruction of Pope Urban II. We keep the group secret because Bill Buckley is embarrassed that he cannot purl and will not admit that he needs help. And incase you were wondering Pope Urban II is all about Intarsia and Fair Isle.

Be safe out there and keep your stick on the ice.