Husband's remark makes her drop a stitch

This was printed in the Chicago Tribune recently. What do you guys think about this?

Dear Amy: We went away last weekend to our friends' cabin on the river. We love to sit with our friends on their enormous deck. People lounge, eat, chitchat, etc. I brought along some simple knitting projects so that I was able to participate in all the conversations, occasionally putting the knitting in my lap to have eye contact and be more involved. I wasn't working on anything complicated, and it didn't take any concentration to work on it. After we got home, my husband told me he thought it was rude of me to knit (while everybody else is doing nothing really but talking and eating and/or drinking). I always made myself available to help with setting the table or cooking, so it's not as though I just knitted and let everybody else do the daily duties around me.I am floored by this. This wasn't our first visit up there, and the last time we were there we spent so much of our time sitting around and visiting that I was sorry that I hadn't thought to bring my knitting.Be honest: What do you think? Personally, I can't stand to have idle hands, and it's not as though I was engrossed in some novel all the while (which would be rude), or constantly checking my phone and sending and receiving text messages.-- Knit Wit in California

Dear Knit wit: I don't think it's rude to knit in the presence of others. In fact, the world would be a more congenial place if more people laid aside their hand-held devices and picked up some needles and yarn. Knitting and chitchat seem to go well together, certainly if the knitter is working on something uncomplicated and makes an effort to engage and make eye contact with others. You don't mention what about your knitting strikes your husband as rude -- but that would be a good follow-up question to ask him.