I was going to post this on the appropriate thread on the Knitter's Review forum but I like Clara and don't want to throw any more gasoline on the fire. Here's my take on the "Oh, I approached another knitter and she was RUDE to me!" thing.

I hate knitting in public because it draws conversation from strangers. I am not shy, I am not socially inept, I just don't freaking need to talk to strangers about my knitting. See Caring for Your Introvert. I knit in public to kill time, to feel like I'm accomplishing something in an airport lounge, whatever. It's not a cry for attention, so don't give me any. Do you walk up to strangers who are quietly engrossed in a book and interrupt them with "Oooh, are you reading a book?" (If you do, you are really obnoxious and I really don't want to talk to you.)

I knit to amuse me, not you. It isn't a signal that I want to chat.

I used to worry about interacting with strangers in public and "being rude" when they interrupted me while I was knitting, until I was subjected to the most inane "Oooh, what are you making?" drivel from strangers while sitting in hospitals and the nursing home with my dying husband, during the worst, most horrific time of my life. And yes, I actually had people do the "Oooh, what are you knitting?" shit to me while I was sitting on a hard, straight chair at my comatose husband's bedside - like my private, terribly difficult time was somehow public time because I had knitting in my hands? That's just demented - it's also rude, obnoxious and disgusting. But if you don't respond graciously to intrusive comments from strangers, that makes you the rude one? What unmitigated horseshit. Being forced to be "rude" to get people to respect my privacy certainly toughened me up. It got me over worrying about hurting someone's wittle feewings by not responding as if I welcomed the interruption.

And so, because I have had firsthand experience with this crap and feel very strongly about it, I moved my response to my blog, and kept it off Clara's board. Besides, I probably would catch hell from the herd if I said "horseshit."