Mossy Cottage Knits

Partner Pestering 101

Had a lovely Christmas holiday with The Mysterious K, especially since, as we opened presents, we discovered that a “Gift of the Magi” moment had occurred. Come to find out we had each gone to A Place We Dreaded to purchase that Something Special for the other. A couple of weeks before Christmas you would have found me in the Sears hardware department, blurting out the three words I had been practicing for weeks: Electric. Nail. Gun. And you would have found TMK at my LYS blurting out the five words she had been practicing for weeks: Barbara. Walker. Treasury. Knitting. Stitches. Poor TMK remained atwitter for a while because when the book arrived it said “Treasury of Knitting Patterns,” not “Stitches”—which is what I had erroneously told her was the name of the book—and she was convinced she had suffered through two, count 'em, two, traumatic trips to the LYS just to end up with the wrong book. But, of course, she did not, and I was a Very Happy Camper. I’m already using a pattern in the book for the Catalina Sock.

TMK had a Butch Girl’s Dream Christmas, receiving, as she did, a nail gun (see “Gift of the Magi” above), a router, and a woodworking book. And now I know a little bit about what it’s like to be the partner of someone who has a new, exciting hobby. From me, she gets pestered with lines like these:

“Look at this yarn.”
“Look at this book.”
“Look at this pattern.”
“Look at the yarn on the needle.”
“Look at the first inch of the swatch.”
“Look at the first two inches of the swatch.”
“Look at the first three inches of the swatch.”
“Watch me frog the swatch.”
“Look at the first inch of The Real Thing.”
“Look at the first two inches of The Real Thing.”
“Look at the first three inches of The Real Thing.”
“Feel sorry for me. I have to frog The Real Thing.”
“Look at the first inch of The Real Thing being knit for the second time.”
"Feel sorry for me. I have to frog The Real Thing again."
"Look at the first inch of The Real Thing being knit for the third time."
And so on.

This weekend, in return, I got:

“Look at this book.”
“Look at this pattern.”
“Look at this other pattern.”
“Look at these router bits.”
“Look at these clamps.”
“Look at me put the router and router bits in my router bag.”
“Look at the scrap wood I nailed together with the nail gun.”
“Look at this pattern. It’s the one I’m going to do first.”
“Look at this pattern. It’s really the one I’m going to do first.”
“Look at this pattern. It’s reallyreally the one I’m going to do first.”
“Look at this wood I bought for the project.”
“Look at me draft the pattern on the computer."
“Look at this second version of the pattern on the computer.”
“Look at this third version of the pattern.”
“Look at the printout of the pattern.”
“Look at the cutout from the printout of the pattern.”
“Look at the holes I cut in the printout of the pattern.”
“Look at how I used the pattern to draw on the wood.”

And, on Sunday, after I had gone home, the final phone call: “I cut the wood out using the pattern!”

Ya’ just want to pinch her cheeks! Of course, it doesn't hurt that what she's making is a book holder for my cookbooks...

Knitting Knews
Finally, a successful two-color stranded knitting project! Sure, it’s only three inches long but, hey, at this point, I’ll take what I can get. This was a Christmas ornament I made for TMK based on this pattern. I used some green Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, some red of the same, some cobalt blue Froehlich Wolle Special Blauband, size 2 dpns, and a tiny brass bell button. This project took a coupla hours to do and was loads of fun!

Posted by Ryan at December 29, 2003 09:34 AM