in part one of this series, , i covered television programs and films suitable to knit to. in this episode i'm going to write about some of my favorite knitting soundtracks.
either you're not into music or you probably haven't been knitting for very long if you fail to grasp the importance of having the right tunes to knit to.
it can make the difference between getting into a zen-like state and merrily cruising along with your project or getting so distracted by what you're listening to that you spend most of your time unknitting or you simply neglect your project altogether. when it comes to music i can waste a good 30 minutes just trying to decide what to listen to. that's precious time that could be spent knitting.
to combat this i've started compiling monthly playlists containing new songs that i'm listening to and old favorites that suit my overall mood. i haven't compiled a list for november yet, but here's my playlist for october;
the key to a good knitting soundtrack is to keep it light and to jump around between artists and genres. if i listen to a favorite album in its entirety like David Bowie's Aladdin Sane, Sandinista by The Clash, Beth Orton's Daybreaker or Bjork's Vespertine i tend to abandon my knitting in favor of staring off into space and reminiscing about where i was then and what happened when.
the only complete albums that i can listen to while knitting are more recent ones like Sufjan Stevens' Illinoise or Thom Yorke's The Eraser because they haven't been around long enough to accumulate any mesmerizing memories. the key is to pre-select your music and to have enough tunes to cover the time that you plan to sit and knit. that way you don't waste precious time deliberating on what to listen to next.
David Byrne does a fantastic on his website. every month he chooses a different theme. one month it was all Missy Elliot all the time, another month it was latin standards.
this month's playlist is called "Textures, Soundscapes, Melodies Even". he describes it like this;
For much of my musical life I have alternated between songs and other types of music. Here is a selection of the latter, some of it pretty well known, other tracks unreleased and unavailable.Some of it tuneful and some textural.
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