Knitting as performance

I know how to play the piano, so I can usually tell when someone in a movie or TV show is really tickling the ivories or faking it. Granted, most times the given actor probably isn't playing (or at least the playing isn't heard on the soundtrack), but even when pretending to play, it's possible to tell who knows how and who doesn't. The larger the movements, the less likely it is that the performer possesses the skill.

I'm guessing that the same applies to knitting in films, TV, and commercials. Although knitting isn't commonplace in these places, I notice it more than I expect to see it. OK, so knitting tends to appear most often in period films or be done by old ladies. (It also seems to be a shortcut for communicating female domesticity. For instance, there's a current Burger King commercial with a wife knitting.)

Anyway, a familiar tactic is to see the knitter make a big, slow motion to wrap the yarn and complete one stitch--two at most--before stopping to participate in a discussion or to register shock or disapproval. This way the actress doesn't really need to know how to knit but how to pretend knit sufficiently.

I mention this because I noticed Vera Farmiga knitting in one scene in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and thought from how she was working on the project that she must be a knitter. It turns out that she is. She doesn't exaggerate what she's doing and, in fact, looks away from the WIP while knitting.

So, take note actors. If you're called upon to fake knit for your part, don't overdo it.