Saturday, May 27, 2006

My Renaissance Man

The Gaming One said something last night that caught me completely off guard. As he was coming from the kitchen, Wild Turkey on the rocks in one hand a Don Diego cigar in the other, he looks at me, knitting on the couch, and says "Maybe I should learn to knit. After all, how else can I be a renaissance man?" I couldn't hide the sheepish grin that spread across my face. I suggested he start with a washcloth...I will alert the media when he actually picks up the needles.
Thanks to Franklin I have a new appreciation for knitters of the male persuasion. If you have never read his blog, please do yourself a favor and check him out. He is hilarious! All this talk of knittin' men has got me to wondering...how many of you ladies out there have inspired the menfolk in your lives to knit? I know Emms hubby has knit, I have seen the pictures! Is this common? Do any of y'all feel like your man is hoarding in on YOUR hobby? I think it would frustrate me to no end to teach my darlin' husband to knit only for him to end up a much better knitter than I am...I guess that is just the self-centered gal in me...I should be happy that he wants to pick up such a relaxing hobby. Hey, maybe he will even pick up a fiber fetish and then we can scope out the LYS together... Yeah, and hell will probably freeze over as well...

As for my own knitting, I have cast on for the NY Yankees blanket for my sister. I planned to knit a double sided blanket with the NY logo in the middle, but after about 25 rows I was not pleased with the way it was coming together, so I have decided to do a flat blanket. I will post a pic when I am a little further into it, since I only have knit 3 inches or so. I am hoping I can finish it without feeling like I am working in a sweatshop, furiously knitting as if my life depended on it. Her baby shower is the end of next month, so it should not be a problem. I casted on for Saving Grace, a headband pattern by Dawn (see her May 25th post) last night. I already have worked 10" of the pattern, so I should have it finished a little later today. When I saw the pattern I knew it was for me. I frequently have what I refer to as "mop head"...you know the condition that afflicts those of us that rarely go to the salon... See what I mean (lovely ain't it?)
This is the way I often combat "mop head" and for some reason my darling husband HATES this look. Whenever he comes home and I am fighting the "mop head" he asks "did your gang have a meeting today?" So, I am trying to find more girlie ways to combat "mop head" so we can all be happy...and I will no longer be accused of being a gang member. Saving Grace, I think, will be my saving grace!
My fingers are itching to cast on again for the Silk Corset Top that I started last weekend, only to realize that I was knitting the wrong size...Thankfully I made a mistake that required frogging the entire thing. I cast on for the wrong size partly because I just guessed what size I would be. I lost my measuring tape and could not find it anywhere... well, two days ago I found it, in The Boy Wonder's bag of army men. When I asked him what MY tape measure was doing in his bag (note: I suspected him all along and asked him quite a few times what he did with it) my sweet little 4 yo son looked up at me and said "I had to make sure the all the men were equally spaced." What do you say to a 4 yo that uses phrases like 'equally spaced'? I just shook my head, stifled a laugh and reminded him to ask before he takes things that belong to others. This kid really scares me. I think one day he and his sister are going to realize they are smarter than I am and plan an uprising...gotta love those precocious kids!

Thanks for the comments yesterday! you gals are great!

4 comments:

DAWN said...

Mommie Secret: because of all the "magical" stuff we do when they are four (like knowing they have our stuff and seeing out of the back of our heads) we will never appear dumber than our children. Until they have children of their own and discover the mommie secret for themselves, we will be all knowing and all powerful (mwahh haaa haaa). The day my husband picks up a pair of knitting needles I'm running for the hills--it means he's coming after me, not relaxing. Thanks for the nod about the headband (bow).

Anonymous said...

Hey Amanda,

You are just too cute. But, why we both had a bandana on today, hahhahahahahahah. My hair is a hot mess, and that's sho ain't no lie.

Necia

Persnickety Knitter said...

Great mophead photo! And I love that your son spaces his army men out equally -- sounds like he may be a touch "persnickety"? ;-)

Lara said...

I know my husband would never knit....though my son wanted to learn. So we tried, but because of his short attention span, my knitting needles became swords. My dad had to learn to cast on from reading a book because my mom just couldn't figure it out. So when she sits down to knit, he does the casting for her. It is quite cute. If my hubby started knitting though, I think he would use cheap yarn all the time, he just shakes his head at the amount of money yarn can cost.