Is your assertion evidence of a mind set in concrete? I hope not. Actually, you may be right.
But then, there's this:
From His Own Lips:
From Susan: Once and for all, I am going to lay to rest the idea that Russell knits :-)
I was at the 8pm Gladiator screening in LA at Oscar time in March 2001 that Russell introduced, then had a Q&A afterward. The friend I was with was (at the time) a relatively new fan of Russell's, so I helped her come up with a question to ask (we wrote them on cards that a Dreamworks staff member collected and gave to Russell). I said that I'd seen a photo of Russell knitting and since my friend did crosstitch and knitted, for fun she could describe the picture and ask him if he did indeed knit. He happened to choose her card from the bag with this question and he remembered the photo shoot and explained that he tends to pick up anything around to use as a prop in his photos, and that was the case here. When he finished his explanation of what went on in the shoot, he leaned toward us a bit, (we were in the front row, only a few feet away from him), eyes twinkling as he said with a mischievous smile: "No, I am not a knitter. I know that surprises you..." This last with tongue in cheek for sure ;-)
So there you have it, a quote right from Russell himself.
From: