Sock it to me!
Every Sunday at work I have two ladies who come in and knit. Jane and Sharon started to make this their Sunday routine long before I began working at the shop and, after a couple of months of breaking me in, they have now accepted me as one of their own.
They are each old enough to be my mother and in some ways it is an unconventional relationship that we have formed. But I truly look forward to them each week. They are both friendly, funny, and generous. I love to tease Jane about her fastidious and unbreakable habits (the woman irons her sheets!) and last summer Sharon presented each of us with a different heirloom tomato that she picked up at the farmer's market on her way to the shop every week. They know about my family, they ask about the kids, and Jane is very concerned that The Snuggie is going to be way to big for Eric (I have assured her that since Eric has plans to do absolutely nothing while wearing The Snuggie, size will not be an issue. She's not convinced).
For quite some time now I have been hearing about Jane's sock yarn collection. Like me, she is a sucker for sock yarn and buys a fair amount of it. Until recently I haven't seen her actually use the sock yarn, but she continues to buy it. She has told me about the vast amount of sock yarn that she has stashed away at home and I humored her, assuming she was exaggerating a bit.
Until she brought it in. She needed to choose some yarn to knit her sister-in-law a pair of socks and wanted our help. And I think she wanted to make me laugh, because she brought in a suitcase sized bag, filled to the brim with sock yarn. Jane has enough sock yarn to make 40 pairs of socks. We counted. Jane was discovering yarn that she didn't know she had. And then she started to give some to me. I protested because it was really beautiful Lorna's Laces (that I have always worshipped from afar since we don't sell it) and she spent her hard earned money on it. But she insisted and assured me that she'll never get around to knitting it all. Which was not a hard argument to make. So I am now the proud owner of four socks worth of Lorna's Laces, which I have promised Jane I will use enthusiastically.
I then added it to my own sock yarn stash. I'm up to 10 right now. I have some Pagewood Farms, Alpaca Sox, Frog Tree Alpaca, Shi Bui, Duet, Happy Feet...some of this yarn I have had for a long time. The Duet and Pagewood Farms have already become victims of failed sock patterns. The Alpaca Sox was to become my Druid Mittens, but it ended up being too soft--when my Nancy Bush Estonian Lace book comes, I may use it for a scarf. The Shi Bui was a steal from the Village Yarns New Years Day sale, and the Happy Feet was a birthday treat to myself.
I don't know how it happens, but sock yarn seems to grow. Kind of the antithesis of the socks-in-the-dryer theory. Once I started really looking at my own sock yarn stash, I started to have a little more understanding of how Jane got so carried away. But only a little--seriously, even after her gift to me, the woman has enough yarn for 36 pairs of socks. And in case you are wondering, yes, she is single.
Oh, and I forgot to add Mike's Dream In Color Smooshy socks--I guess that makes 11.
In other, less disturbing knitting news, Eric's Harry Potter sweater is being blocked. It may be ready for me to seam up today. I'm working my way through my mom's Druid Mittens, making a scarf for Tiffany (it's a long story), and I've finally allowed myself to start on Mike's sweater. You may recall that a few months ago I ripped out a hideous example of how one should not knit a sweater, washed the yarn, and rewound it. I found a gorgeous pattern in A Fine Fleece and then, because I found myself with an extra 5 minutes the other day, decided to start.
Mike is still on the prowl for a new job and we have yet to hear from that company he spoke with a couple of weeks ago. He is not worried about it, but that is because there is something wrong with him. A normal person would be a nervous wreck, like me for example.
Clearly Eric takes after his father. I give you Exhibit A.
The Little Bum
...and after convincing him to
get dressed. Despite
my constant
requests that he
find something more
creative to do, this is
what happened everytime
I turned my back.
There is no other way to say this. The kid is a sloth.
We mailed his birthday party invitations today. Do you think knitting lessons would make a fun party activity? I could put a skein of yarn into each goodie bag. Wouldn't that make me the worst mom ever? I think I'll mention it to him, just to see him squirm. It will be the only physical activity he'll have all day.
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3 comments:
I don't think the story's that long: The lady at the yarn store by my house doesn't know what she's doing, and sold me inappropriate yarn. :)
What beautiful sock yarn. You've got me wondering about my stash now!
I understand the job thing too. My DH was in talks with another company for 3mths and then nothing happened. I was a wreck.
Perhaps for his b-day party, everyone could BYOG (bring your own gameboy) and sit and play them.
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