“I often warn people, somewhere along the way, someone is going to tell you, 'There is no 'i' in team.' What you should tell them is, 'Maybe not—but there is an 'i' in independence, individuality, and integrity.'” ― George Carlin
Guys Knit: "Yup. We do." These validating words start the informational taglines on the back of The Sockmatician's (AKA Nathan Taylor's) book of the same title, with the subheading of 'The Instruction Manual'.
For any man who's had the misfortune of walking into an LYS, and had the owner (or more likely the clerk) ask you "What do you want?", which really sounds more like, "What are you doing here?", this post is dedicated to you... I've definitely had that exact experience before...
I've had this book since it was published in October of 2018. I knew that I wanted to include it in books that I chat about and find engaging. This is for a variety of reasons. It's a book that discusses the role of men in knitting; check that's me. It gives a decidedly male perspective to the subject at hand; also something that I can relate to. It is specifically geared toward men, as an encouraging guide and resource. I find that refreshing, and familiar. I believe that men can (and should) knit, if they have any interest in it at all.
Once I started researching the book, and thereby Mr Taylor as well, I found a series of posts on a variety of sites that described an incident that reportedly grew to be quite confrontational and emotional. In reading some of those posts, I had to question wether or not I'd want to continue with my original plans. This examination of his book is NOT meant to examine those events, but to talk about the book, just the book, and how I found it to be refreshing. So, onward we go.
At face value (for lack of a better term), Men Knit is a pretty straight-forward description of the how-to's of knitting. After a chapter devoted to how Nathan Taylor entered the world of knitting, it continues on with the requisite History of Knitting, and how the craft has evolved to today.
Then the actual 'instructional' bits are discussed, 'The Equipment', 'The Yarns', and finally specifics for how to do various techniques. If it wasn't for Nathan's cheeky sense of humor, and his general demeanor, I would find this a pretty standard fare, and not really think it was anything special. But throughout the text, Nathan continues to talk with the reader, almost as if he was sitting right next to them, about the process and the results. Additionally, whomever shot and compiled his photos, has a similar sense of humor and irreverence. It was enticing to page through the book to see if there were more pictures to giggle about.
Another feature that Nathan includes in his book are the video clips that were available via QR codes. Upon writing this, those initial codes are not working, but they are still available at:
sockmatician.com/guysknitvids. Once there, he has a new set of QR codes available to download&/or individually scan, if you're so inclined.
This is not a book that has a great number of advanced techniques, I truthfully didn't learn much of anything new, but then again, I've been knitting for a number of years. For new knitters however, and especially new male knitters, I think it would be a valuable resource. I did find a acronym however, coined in a hashtag by Nathan, that I found entertaining, and just a little inspirational. That is: OSAAT, which stands for, "One Stitch at a Time". Nathan's relates a story about the origins of the actual (Finnish) word, in which he's told that the word means empowerment, 'you can' or 'you are able to'.
It's bits of information like that, and his general approach to the craft at hand, that I find reassuring and memorable.
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