Mossy Cottage Knits

Time to Get a Royal Food Taster

Sigh. My new favorite phrase, “Don’t be a moron, Clyde,” died a very swift death. The first time I tried it on The Mysterious K, I got The Look. Maybe this had something to do with the fact that she wasn’t being a moron. In fact, she was making dinner, our dinner, my dinner. But I refuse to give up, so straight on to Plan B: Keep it on the lowdown for, oh, six, seven, eight months and then suddenly spring it on her again. Betcha she laughs uproariously. Betcha she clutches her sides, breathless with amusement. Betcha she has to wipe tears of laughter from her eyes (which, cumulatively, will require four arms but, hey, aliens with limb-generating ray guns may have conquered Earth by then. You never know.).

Thank you to everyone for their contributions to “curious family sayings.” Of course, I was biased toward the Red Dwarf ones, but they all made me snort! Note to Melanie: We use “rat-bastard” quite frequently, too, but we add a little Mafioso touch to it which makes it comes out something like “rat-bast'd.” And how could I forget “crapweasel” from “Friends?” When you hear “crapweasel,” you can be sure that somebody has seriously pissed one of us off. Problem is, the minute you say it, you laugh and your anger disappears, no matter how desperately and self-righteously you were clinging to it.

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So much important and exciting information to share, I barely know where to start.

A Message from Cuzzin Tom to the Dear Readers
"I want to thank all of Ryan's Dear Readers who responded to my call for interview subjects when I had the intention to write an article about the phenomenon of knitting's upsurge and the role of virtual communities such as this. I'm still fascinated by it, but as you can imagine, the sudden looming of Moving to Mongolia has derailed all my other plans. So, someone else will have to write this worthy story. In the meantime, I hope those who responded will take the hour or two we would have used to chat to knit something warm for The Dulaan Project. Love to you all!"
-Cuzzin Tom

First Box Successfully Received at F.I.R.E.!
Join me in letting out a huge, collective “WOO-HOO!” at the news that F.I.R.E. has received its first box of Dulaan items! It was sent by Kathleen in Santa Ynez, California, and contained nine items. So that leaves us, let’s see—carry the one, carry it again, ten minus nine, nine minus zero, four minus zero—491 items to go! Or 991, if you live in Ambitious Knitter’s Land, population Nathania and Stephanie.

Kathleen, you get a gold star for, in F.I.R.E.’s words, “labeling everything perfectly.” And a platinum star for being the first to send something. And a diamond star for sending nine items!!!

New Instructions from F.I.R.E.
Still on the subject of labeling, here’s a new, minor request from the F.I.R.E. folks: When you write out your inventory of knitted items contained in the box, if possible, they’d also like you to include the approximate size of the items (child, 3 years; child, 10 years; woman, medium; man, large; that sort of thing).

Encouragement to Crocheters!
I keep forgetting to mention that any and all crocheted items are welcome, too! There's zero room for that strange, Hatfield-and-McCoy feud between knitters and crocheters in this project. We need all the hats, socks, scarves and sweaters we can get so, crocheters, bring it on!

Spreading the Word!
Susanna, who was kind enough to take some flyers to Stitches West for us, reports that about 50 of the 100 she took were distributed! She and Feral Knitter Andrea will next be distributing flyers at the Gig Harbor Winter Retreat. I will also be mailing flyers to some local yarn shops this week. If you live near Acorn Street, Fiber Gallery or Village Yarns, they already have some if you want to pick one up.

Questions from Dear Readers and Participants:

When is Cuzzin Tom moving to Mongolia?
Last I heard, mid-March.

Are there any colors or imagery that are culturally inappropriate for Mongolian children that wouldn't be obvious to a Westerner?
Cuzzin Tom responded to this in detail in a comment but I will reiterate: F.I.R.E. said anything goes.

Will there be a gallery?
The challenge here is that neither F.I.R.E. nor I will actually see the knitted items. If you, Dear Readers and Brigade Members, send me photos, I will see what I can do. I do have in my possession a few items that I have received from co-workers and Feral Knitters and I will definitely be posting pictures of them.

New Members of the Brigade:
The condo neighbors of my Aunt Josephine (Maw to our own dear Cuzzin Tom); Emily; Tchem; Kathleen; Melissa’s daughter, Sabrina; Jillz; KimC; Chris; Barbara; AndreaP; Marianne. New Grand Total: 105+!

Fleece Blanket #2, and a Westminster Spoiler
Here is my fleece blanket which I completed last night while watching the most amazing Pointer win Westminster. I wonder what the Mongolian children will make of the polar bear with a scuba mask and flippers on...

Posted by Ryan at February 16, 2005 10:41 AM