Knitter's Dilemma
| Today at work I asked another specialist to assess one of my patients. As we were discussing his findings, his sweater caught my eye. It was machine knit, but had some unusual detailing. Then I realized that the "detailing" was stranding. His sweater was probably on inside out. Because he was sitting and I was standing, I was able to walk behind him and check to see if there were any tags visible. I didn't see one, but I thought I saw a bit of thread where the tag might be (what you would expect to see if you removed a scratchy tag from your sweater). Now it's possible that this was a somewhat edgy sweater, but his style is anything but edgy. The "motifs" were quite small, and the yarn was a fine gauge. I doubt a non-knitter would have noticed. So my dilemma was this - should I have said to him "You might want to check your sweater, because it may be inside out", or just let him continue on in blissful ignorance? Labels: Decisions decisions |
posted by LadyLungDoc at 3:06 PM
Comments on "Knitter's Dilemma"
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Holly said ... (Mon Apr 07, 02:40:00 AM EDT) :
post a commentI say blissful ignorance. 98% of the rest of the population won't notice. That and maybe his mom didn't care much when he wore his clothes inside out to school (hee hee, I do that all the time with Chunky).
Hmm. I think I would have left it alone. I used to wear sweatshirts inside out, in the Flashdance era. Maybe he likes it that way?
Nora
I'd vote for leave it alone, too, if even you (a knitter) were doubtful at first. It's kind of like, what do you do if you notice a blog friend has misspelled a word in her blog post title....
(ducks and runs)
I would also leave it alone. In fact I've seen quite a few sweaters lately that are inside-out stranding and *meant* to be that way. I wouldn't be so sure that it was an accident.
I'd leave it alone, because as someone else said, maybe it was supposed to be that way ...
On the other hand, I guess *you* are the knitting "specialist" so maybe you should have asked him if he would like a consult from you!
I would have mentioned it...because I would want to save him from any embarassment in case someone else noticed...and I guess I am just a jerk like that!
I also say blissful ignorance. However, if you figure out to how politely suggest that the women in my department get together for a makeover night....or maybe just a couple episodes of what not to wear, let me know.
I would have admired the sweater and asked if it was hand made and while admiring the details say something like this looks like it is reversible, is there a pattern on the other side as well?
If I were the one with the inside out sweater I'd hope someone told me. Oh wait I have been that person, and I have been told, LOL
Maybe he dressed in a hurry like when your college roommate would come home with her sweater on backwards.
I'da said something only because I've gone all day wearing a machine made sweater inside out and was so grateful when my knitting friend told me at SnB that night. Never let someone walk around in public like that.
If it takes an extremely keen eye and a trip around to peek at his back, then other people won't know that's not the way his sweater is supposed to look. Particularly if they don't know edgy is not his style.
I think it depends on how much more he is going to be assessing for you ;)
I say let it be - it'll prove amusing to all those other knitterly folks, and anyone else won't notice!
My philosophy is, if it is something easily fixed [slip showing, spinach on the teeth, random thread on the surface of a garment] or "exposing" [skirt tucked in pantyhose, split seam], I say something. If it's something not easily fixed [run in the hose, hem come down], I ignore it.
I'm all for the direct approach. "Wow! That's a really interesting sweater. Do you mind if I look at it a little closer?".
Then look at the inside (perhaps at the back near his hip or something) and see if indeed it is inside out. If you deem it inside out, exclaim that it looks like it could be reversible and compliment him on it again.
I doubt that any of that interchange of words would be threatening to him or deemed too forward AND you'd get the information you want.
Since he was a specialist, I would say nothing. After all, if someone notices, then it becomes part of his persona. You know, as in,"He's so focused on his patients that he doesn't notice incidentals like sweaters right side out...or not."
I'd agree with the commenters who found clever ways to mention it. I always hate it when, at the end of the day, I notice something amiss like that and wonder how long it's been there (like an unzipped zipper) and how many people had noticed. Much better to be told, IMO
It is a dilemma, and one which I would want to know his basic personality. If he has a sense of humour, I might be straight up and compliment him on his sweater in the latest trend.
If he doesn't but would hate to be embarrassed, I might well ask about how he chose which side of his reversible sweater to wear....