Brief Encounters

I took the train home today as I do every day. I hopped on, took a seat, placed my brown leather hand bag on my lap, unzipped it and took out my knit work and resumed knitting.

A girl about my age sat beside me. First thing I noticed about her was that she was wearing a beanie made from the exact same yarn as mine (plus my matching scarf I had hung up very visibly beside me, purple Novita Crystal). I wondered if she'd notice we had something in common. In my head I imagined her taking a long examining look at my scarf, leaning over to me and whispering something like "you addicted too, huh?" with a been-there-done-that kinda look in her eye. I imagined two strangers on the train recognizing the knit fanatic in each other, a kindered spirit, a secret alliance, sharing a secret Commuter Knitter hand shake.

But quiet she remained. No secret hand shakes. Not even a nod. Nothing. So I thought she might not have knitted the beanie herself. Fine, thought I. But then what did she do! She placed her brown leather hand bag on her lap, unzipped it, took out her knit work and resumed knitting. Astonishment itself! She WAS a knitter after all.

So there we sat. With our matching purple beanies (though mine was stuck inside the sleeve of my coat but that's beside the point), knitting in silence side by side, her metallic double pointed needles clinking gently, the yarn swooshing quietly from one of my bamboo needles to the next. A poetic moment, one might say. For an instant we were secret agents, colleagues and comrades, members of the Secret Sociaty, pretending not to notice each other. Our mutual silence became our secret hand shake. No words required. Been there. Done that.

Pattern by Novita (Finnish)