And why not?

What's sexier than a woman with sticks?

Crazy Day at the LYS

I worked by myself Tuesday at Unwind. The morning started off fairly steady, but for some reason every woman through the door was a crocheter, and a back-woods hick to boot!

Two of them came in together and judging from their twang and their vocabulary they were right off the set of Deliverance. They were crabby. Their only comment on the new and beautiful store was "oh it's all changed 'round". They complained at the lack of crochet books, so I dug out every single booklet I could find on afghans for them-- 15 in all. Not a bad selection, really, since ALL CROCHET AFGHANS ARE ALIKE. Geez.

They took those to the table and proceeded to comment on each afghan. Apparently they had made all of them at some point or another in their crabby little lives and each one had a story. Here's my favorite:

"Ah made this'n fer Louella's baby and she took'n gave it away!"
"Nah!'
"S'True!"
"Hmph."
"An' you done made this'n fer Purdy, dinya?"
"Yup. But she din' 'preciate it none. Wisht I'd ne'er g'in it to 'er"
"Wull, go take it back! Don't matter if'n it is yer sister 'n-law, slap the bitch down!"


I wish I was making this up. I truly do. They then went on to talk about how much better the prices were at Wal-mart & JoAnn's, and finally left their mess of books on the table and mosied out without so much as a kiss my a**.

Hope they find what they're looking for... it's tough when your family tree doesn't fork.

What are you knitting?

I have been scolded for my lack of entries, but I have to plead innocent! Our computer was fried in a recent lightning storm and I was wallowing around in the mire of non-technology. I've found my way to a new computer and happily so. What did we do before internet? I never thought I'd be asking myself that!

I love the question "What are you knitting?" It comes up frequently in my job at the yarn shop.

Well, I'm working on just a few projects... a cardigan for my niece in cornflower blue RYC Cashsoft Baby DK, a pullover for my nephew in denim-colored Rowan Summer Tweed, a felted bag for my Mom's birthday, a cardigan for myself out of an exotic yarn I purchased from Seattle's Tricoter last spring, Sally Melville's Wavy Stripes pullover in Louet Sales' Opal, and a never-ending pullover out of Cascade's Fixation. Hmm. Actually I'm kind of relieved that that's all there is! The mountain of yarn in my sewing room belies the fact that I'm feeling pretty caught up at the moment. I could feasibly not buy yarn for five years and still have enough projects to keep me busy for the duration... but why in the name of all that's holy would I do THAT? Silly.

I tell customers all the time, "There's no small print on the receipt that says you have to finish one project before you buy yarn for another!" Part of what gets knitters through the tedious portions of some projects is the idea of something new. Creativity can feel a bit starved when you're on the five thousandth stitch of a twenty-five thousand stitch sweater! You've got to toss it a bone in there, let it know that this isn't all there is! Working several projects simultaneously is also a way to enjoy varying levels of difficulty... you cannot have a conversation while knitting most lace patterns, so rather than be a hermit until it's done, you have a 'no brainer' project going on at the same time.

I love our yarn shop. The ladies who meet there to knit are a mix of everything that makes women so special. As we enjoy each other's company and help each other out our hearts are truly knit together also. I'll miss these friends... but I take them with me, knit right into the projects I've made sitting at the table with them. If I hold my sweater close enough I think I can hear Sara laughing! And isn't that a bit of Ginny in the seed stitch edging?

I guess what I'm really knitting is a lifetime of memories... now that's an heirloom!

Visit our shop! www.unwindwithyarn.com