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Tuesday, October 05, 2010

The Power of Friendship (or how to become an enabler)

Tuesday was kicking my ass.  To the curb.  I was running out of ways to look on the bright side and cope.  Crawling back in bed would have been my last ditch effort to save my sanity.  As it was, I was about to concede today and make a sacrificial offering of Wednesday in exchange for an okay Thursday and a kick ass Friday.  Then, my friend Helen Madden, AKA @Cynical_Woman, came to my rescue.

Helen is, among many other things, a cartoonist and author (mostly erotica).  She did this... (go see now, I'll wait.  It is SO worth it!!)  I laughed so hard I nearly...well, I laughed a lot. I'm still chuckling. 

I'm laughing for a couple of reasons.  First, obviously, because the strip she drew is funny.  More so when you know that knitters really do say stuff like that to each other (at least the funny ones I know do).  Sure, they're not all as funny or as open as Helen but they're definitely not the conservative, up-tight old ladies many seen to think of when they hear the word 'knitter'.  I'm also laughing because I didn't realize that Helen had become addicted to knitting. 

When you have a hobby, or a sport you participate in, or whatever it is that you enjoy doing you want to do it as often as possible.  That only makes sense.  I've known people who get addicted to all sorts of things; playing golf, cooking, watching sports, model train building, you name it. Knitting is rather unique in that you can do it just about anywhere for any length of time.  You don't need lots of equipment or a special place to knit.  A finished item is likely to have thousands of stitches. But there is no rule saying you have to do a certain number of stitches at a time.  Every stitch made is a stitch closer to completion. So, while annoying, if you pull out your knitting and only get one lonely stitch made there is no harm or foul.  

Sock knitting has become extremely popular for a multitude of reasons; one of the biggest being that it is so portable. I don't care how big your foot is, keeping a sock-in-progress with you at all times is nothing like dragging around a sweater project.  I knit everywhere: at sporting events, while watching TV, waiting for a Dr's appointment, in line at the grocery store, at traffic lights (no, not while driving...not really...).

As someone who creates hand painted sock yarn I'm thrilled to know that the ranks of knitters has increased by one.  I am a knitting enabler and proud of it!  We are taking over the world one knitter at a time.  I have just one question to ask of the lovely Cynical Woman now: 

So, Helen, tell me....what's your favorite color?

Mwahahahaha

5 comments:

  1. Favorite color? Would depend on what I'm making. I haven't tried socks yet, so Mich will have to teach me how. What about something in reds? Also, fond of black mixed with purples or reds or blues. Anything that would look wicked };D And you make such lovely wicked yarn colors...

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  2. Well folks, it appears that my next color creation might just be named "Cynical Woman". Or perhaps "Evil", or "Evil Helen", or "Wicked" or....

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  3. Heh, you provided the gorgeous yarn and I got her oldest interested in learning, and have thus created one more knitter - Yay!

    I too knit everywhere (just ask my friends, I walk through theme parks knitting) Socks (mittens, dishclothes) are by far the easiest to carry around because even as you near completion, it's still small enough to shove into a purse (pockets are harder, but it can be done). Scarves are nice, but at some point they get so long it's hard to carry them around and walk and knit at the same time!

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  4. Yay! Another one! Our legions are growing...

    When it comes to scarves, I wear them while I'm knitting them once they get long enough. This strategy is particularly effective at outdoor sporting events this time of year.

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  5. Wearing the scarf works great if and when the weather is cool enough. Note that if. The time span of cold enough weather for a scarf is rather short, and when it's a Doctor Who scarf of umpteen feet long, it's never on a short 5'1 person like me! ^_^

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