I don't know why it annoys you, but I sure know why it annoys me! WHY, oh why must we stick this "rush, rush" and "must have quick results" into knitting now? Sheesh. I thought I left that behind at the office.

I agree with Becky; it annoys me because it seems like it's to appeal to someone who wouldn't take the time to knit otherwise. I like a quick project now and then, but if you're looking for a hobby that doesn't take a lot of time, maybe knitting isn't it...
P.S.: January's looking great!

YOU could knit it in four hours (though the word "why" comes to me), but a beginner could not knit it in four hours--especially a child.

And it does feed into the fast is better current running through society.

AND it should be four hours or FEWER. ;-)

Because the caption tells me that it is a good project because it can be knit in four hours, not that it's a good project, and oh yeah, it's a quick knit. There's a difference, a subtle one, but it's there.

I don't have kids, but it seems to me that if you do have kids, it's very unlikely that you'd get a four-hour uninterruped window to do nothing but knit.

Having the end product is more attractive than actually learning a skill and doing the work, at least according to articles like this. Stores like Michaels' are filled with kits for all different crafts that leave you with just enough work to be able to say you made it. For example, there are candlemaking kits where you do nothing more than lay a precut wick in the middle of a precut piece of beeswax and roll it up. That is not making a candle; at best, you could call that assembling a candle. Don't even get me started on the various knitting and weaving devices that brag about not needing any skill to use them -- aargh!

Um, maybe (at least in part) cause its butt ugly?

It annoys me because I consider myself an advanced beginner and COULD NOT knit it in four hours. But then again, I'm slow. And I rarely get a four hour knitting window. But that's just me...

it annoys me too
but it seems like it only took you about 4 hours to knit up your beautiful january sweater-haha

another knitting mom

I'm totally with y'all... this annoys me about sewing patterns too (it's much more rampant in the sewing world) - the "One hour pants" and whatnot. Are people in other countries as obsessed with rushing as we are in America, I wonder?

I've read the theories as to why you might be annoyed w/the ad and ironically, I love when a project says that it can be knitted in just a few hours. As a busy mom with limited time, the "quick knits" are very appealing.

Alright, alright...I agree...we're a rush rush society...but how about meals in 30 minutes? That REALLY gets my "goat"...I don't have the time to make meals that take all day, but I've learned how to start stuff in the morning, make big amounts of chili on my days off...you can get around the rush to eat syndrome...other than eating out...which on my budget means crappo food. So, it's all in the zenning out...whether you are cooking or knitting...

I never like to see yarn lumped in with glue and paint "crafts!". That's just wrong.

crafts! humph

it bothers me on so many levels....where do i begin...because it sets the expectation for newbie knitters that they can make this in 4 hours and when they can't, they feel defeated...and because even as an intermediate knitter, i cannot finish the projects in the time-frame alloted by the editors of these books (e.g. last minute knitted gifts--almost all projects take twice the time)...hey, allison, i'm ready to "turn the heel"...can't wait til tuesday...hope the class is still on.

What annoys me is that if a beginning knitter has finally finished this "thing" after a week it will look like a terrible handmade poncho. Where is the art that is supposed to accompany the craft? Oh, and where is the craft, for that?

I think the appeal is that fast projects are always fun. The downside is that you lose the art and the craft. It's like fast food versus slow food or commodity versus individually constructed.

It's gotta be the "it should be '4 hours or fewer'" thing. I mean that's why it would annoy ME...

/grammar nazi

It has to take four hours or less/fewer because the poncho trend will probably be over in another four hours!

uh...ditto.

(even though i'm knitting a little coat right now in big bubba yarn. but the quick knit part is an extra or perk, not the reason.)

as for the less/fewer thing, I'm not so sure, because you don't usually think of time discretely. It's not the case that if you do 3 hours, the next thing is immediately 4 hours (unlike the items at your checkout). It's time that's being counted, in units of hours, but time is still a mass noun not a count noun. SO I think "less" is more :)

I get the same way with "One Hour" skirts in sewing. Especially since with laying out, pinning, cutting, sewing, serging/edge finishing, pressing seams open, zipper (maybe it's just me, but the zipper alone takes me an hour!), alterations and hem, there is no way on God's green earth you could make a decent looking product. It plays to the ADD crafters and then LIES to them. Evil.

Oh, wait, this is a knitting blog. But you sew, so you know what I mean.

Four hours? Really, I can't even cast on in under two!

I'm finished fixing for february. Thanks so much for the motivation, the guidance and the company. Now, if I could only knit flawlessly, I could skip the next February fixing session, but we all know that isn't likely.

OOOh I saw that too. I felt the same way. I'm ready for knitting to stop being a fad, and definitely ready for people to realize that babies don't need ponchos... that it might, in fact, make them fall over and will bind their arms! Arg!

I think all chunky knits all the time is pretty much equivalent to a steady diet of Twinkies. I guess ultimately, people can do what satisfies them the most with their hobbies...but...well, it's not for me anyway!

Right on, gals! I knew you could all say it much better than I could.

process vs. progress
skill vs. craft
fad vs. fashion
less vs. fewer
Not to mention the ugly thing.

Of course I wouldn't mind spending four hours with some Rowan Plaid or Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky. Mmmmmmm......

Maybe because it's just WRONG????

hmmm...Knitting is many things to many people. Some people love the instant gratification, others love the more complicated ("short rows, cables and steeking please!") patterns. Sure a beginner might look at this and might be misled in thinking they can get it done in 4 hours. But if this article/pattern gets people hooked on and interested in knitting - then that's great! Personally, I really don't see what the big deal is.

Coz it is ugly. 4 hours or less. Not fewer. Time is continuous, not discrete.

Ah, I have been converted from the mind that it is "fewer" to agreeing that it should indeed be "less."

The only project I can remember picking because it would be "fast" was a scarf a year ago--I had a new coat and needed a scarf to go with the color, but it was cold outside, so I wanted something quickly! Besides which, I tend to get bored with scarves, and figured if it was going to take me more than a few hours, I'd lose interest in the whole thing--cold neck or not. That was a very specific situation, though, but enough for me to concede that there ARE times when speed is of the essence, but usually I agree . . . why rush the process?

um...b/c it's a poncho?

hee hee...

It annoys me because you can buy it at the "Bead shop" and not a yarn shop, which would get people in and surrounded by tons of yarn, and want them to do big projects.