Tuesday January 16, 2007

Stitchin’ & Bitchin!

Yup – It’s Tuesday and that what we do here in my house on Tuesday’s. We, being my bestest girlfriends and I, cram in my sitting room with the radio on and drinks of choice in hand and pass the evening away working on our projects. It’s a rare opportunity in a busy week to commit a specified number of hours working on an item at least once every week through to completion. It’s a chance to leave the outside, well, outside. Or, when necessary, bring in and let ‘er rip!

There are 4 of us the moment – and we are all moms of various ages (both ourselves and the kids) and hugely diverse backgrounds and careers (yes – I’m not telling you what we do – live with it!). It makes for some lively and interesting conversations, and what I love the most is the right-out-of-left-field perspectives I get from talking with them about all kinds of things from raising our kids through the various stages, to what our travels have taught us about the world, to why our men do what they do (haven’t exactly figured that one out yet!)! Many a world problem has been solved on Tuesday nights let me tell you! With my own sometimes brutally forward positions on many topics, I am often compelled by these wise women to take another look at just why I think the way I do, and I find frequently there is room for a change of heart or a new way of thinking. And our significant others know full well that they need to be conspicuously absent on Tuesday evenings or they could become live targets! Stay low, move fast! And when in doubt, bring Starbucks. Still, if the odd politician would chance by we could help with many of their pending issues too!

At the prompting of DD1, who has recently been bitten (ok, infested!) by the knitting bug, we hosted a joint Smashing Sundays S’nB Special Edition this past weekend complete with “It’s-a-Special-Sunday” cocktails! The purpose was to make up our mesh scarves that some of us received for Christmas and others acquired at the Fall Ottawa Needlework Festival and have been languishing in the must-do pile ever since. Frantic last minute shopping ensued at our LYS for just the right yarn. DD1 provided the technical portion of the day, as she had made a drop dead gorgeous mesh scarf for her Aunt for Christmas.

It was a crazy weekend what with The Ottawa Knitting Guild Knit‘n Learn on Saturday and our own Smashing Sundays S’nB on Sunday. Fit housekeeping, loads ‘o laundry, yarn shopping of course (did you all see the $2.00/ball yarn sale Michaels had last week – OMG – I was doomed from the beginning!) and the retro-fitting of new pot-lights in the master bedroom by the boys, and you have people everywhere!!

It is scary how all civility disappears when knitters are confronted with piles of pretty colored yarns calling to be taken home! I had decided that at the same time as our scarf workshop, we should have a yarn exchange to help purge our stashes. Really I see this as a public service to my friends, who like me, have significant others who watch their finances dwindling at fantastic speeds directly into our LYS’s and who become increasingly vigilant when words like “Special Edition” and “Workshop” and “get-together” are combined with “Yarn”, “Wool” or “Unique”.

The noise level was amazing in side my house! But what a blast we had, sipping our Cranberry/Raspberry cocktails and swooping round the table full of stash yarn clutching our picks by the armful, greedily packing multiples of bags worth while keeping a sharp eye out for the next perfect skein to appear from under the pile!

And the scarves – have you seen the scarves! I mean, for not being knitted (which is not as much of a cardinal sin as you would think) they are gorgeous, and everyone is as different as the person who made them! This is what I love about this project. Start with one common element: scarf mesh, and a basic instruction: bring at least 4 balls of yarn in colors you like to together, and add in something festive to drink, and throw everyone together at the same table and check out the amazing results (pics to follow when I figure out how to attach them!)

You know you want one too - so go make one!