Roller Coaster « FemiKnitMafia

Roller Coaster

June 9, 2006

HIGH
On Wednesday night, PumaMom and Sidekick came to my house to ‘decorate’ the quilt. As a classic-style non-femme lesbian, I was terrified of what could happen when two Synchro coaches attacked my quilt with sequins and rhinestones. After a lovely dinner and a bottle of champagne (how sweet is that!??), we spread the quilt across my living room floor and they pulled out boxes and canisters of sparkly things. eeeeek! But as they started placing the rhinestones and discussing color, shape, size, I calmed. And most shockingly, when the final bits and bobbles were laid in their permanent locations, I actually liked it (!~!~!). Then we glued and glued and glued.

LOW
And all day Thursday I sewed bits and bobbles. After two train rides, one MIT SnB and a couple hours of hand-stitching last night, PumaMom came to pick up the -finished- quilt. I considered taking pix, but there was no natural light for the arty (and descriptive) photos I envisioned. But here’s the real surprise …

After she left, I cried.

I.cried.

Those people who know me will be picking themselves up off the floor for a couple minutes which will buy some time to tell you others that I.don’t.cry. I just don’t do it. At about age 6, I ‘trained’ myself not to cry because it was a sign of ‘weakness.’ At age 20, when I decided some therapy could be helpful, I tried to train myself to cry again. For a couple years, I could shed a tear or two, but I’m back to the dry-eyed-dyke of yore.

So I was quite surprised by this crazy emotional response. PumaMom was taking “my” quilt away from me. Forever. Who knew that I was that attached? Not me.

HIGHEST
But this morning was the perfect antidote. I slept a little later than usual (ass-crack-of-dawn as opposed to hellish-zombie-ass-crack-of-dawn) so I took a later train. My drowsy clicks on Little Man’s socks attracted the attention of a little girl who sat next to me. Her father and two younger sisters had to sit a couple rows back, so perhaps she was thrilled with the freedom. First she stared. Then she reached out and gently touched the Addi cable. Hmm … a future knitter. So I pulled the earbuds out, turned off Ms. Nano, and chatted with my new 8 year old friend. And within minutes, she had the size 0 needles, MagicLooped Addis, and 1/2 finished sock in her hands. 20 minutes later, she was skillfully throwing sock yarn and knitting teeny stitches. She told me that she likes Hello Kitty and asked if I could knit Hello Kitty socks. Sure, I guess. I told her about ‘kid’s needles’ and thicker yarn and starting with a scarf. She charmed all 8 people sitting near us, to the point where each successful stitch was met with claps and cheers from the herd of commuters. At the end of the trip I gave her my business card. I hope she emails me. If she does, I’ll send her a package of needles and yarn. Anyone know where I could find needles with Hello Kitty on the tops?

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11 Comments Add your own

1. christine | June 9, 2006 at 6:59 pm

that train story is supercute!! i think you may be able to find hellokitty pen/pencil toppers (heck, you can find hellokitty ANYTHING) and then superglue them to the end of fun (pink or glittery, even) straight needles. try these: hello kitty pencil stop (at the bottom)
2. Beth S. | June 9, 2006 at 7:09 pm

You could MAKE ‘em with Sculpey, perhaps?
3. roro | June 9, 2006 at 7:36 pm

I’d cry too, letting that quilt go. Clearly it’s time to make something nice for yourself; a kicky bag or some hash brownies like we talked about.

Fantastic train story. I hope she e-mails you too! In the meantime, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for Hello Kitty needles . . .
4. The Purloined Letter | June 9, 2006 at 8:08 pm

If you convert enough youngsters to knitting, Headquarters will send you the complimentary luggage, you know. Keep up the good work!
5. Engineer Anonymous | June 9, 2006 at 9:10 pm

Awwwwww! That is so cool. I do understand the tears upon giving up the quilt. It seems pretty normal (to me, anyway) to bond with something that intensely creative.

Sorry we couldn’t get together on Tuesday, but you were a little busy! Next time.
6. Local Egg | June 9, 2006 at 9:33 pm

I can totally understand tears over parting from something you created… But then I don’t like to eat fancy cake that took me days and days to make. I’m just too close to them!

Love that train story- Socks on public transport almost never fail to cause some kind of reaction!
7. MeBeth | June 10, 2006 at 2:45 am

I wonder if you could get some Hello Kitty pencil toppers and stick them on the ends of the needles?

Oops - just read Christine’s comment, looks like she beat me to it.
8. lindsey | June 10, 2006 at 7:54 am

i found this: a pattern for a hello kitty doll

http://web.archive.org/web/20030414021242/www.generatordesign.com/kitty.html

and a rather interesting hello kitty knit along:

http://hellokittyalong.blogspot.com/

who knew, a hello kitty granny square

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=89644.msg851851
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=89644.msg868623

it’s not hello kitty, but they are cats

http://www.acloset.com/zen/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=38_45

picture of a hello kitty craft book

http://flickr.com/photos/supereggplant/28007613/in/set-632969/

random bits of hello kitty including yarn

http://isobe.typepad.com/kitty/2005/02/index.html\

hello kitty chopsticks

http://www.childrenstory.com/stuff/Hello-Kitty.aspx

knitting charts (i think)

http://www.jessica-tromp.nl/hello_kitty_nijntje.htm

hope this helps. and yes, i do have a bit of free time right now.
9. maryse | June 10, 2006 at 12:41 pm

ok, i cried a little, got misty, at the little girl on the train.
10. Rhonda | June 10, 2006 at 11:12 pm

And we accused Cynthia of trying to take over the world one sock at a time! Good idea, hooking them in young … and with SOCKS at that. Wait, I think you might be a sock-knittin’ mole.

Tears are good… shows how much you care about your craft and the amount of love that you put into it. There’ll be tears from the receiver also … tears of joy!
11. Kathy | June 18, 2006 at 2:30 pm

Your quilt is gorgeous, Mafia (I saw the un-sequined versions in an earlier post)! You are one multitalented crafter.

How sweet that you cried after Puma Mom left and took your creation away (ok, maybe you don’t think it’s sweet). It is hard to say goodbye to something you’ve worked so hard on.

Glad you enjoyed your time in NYC. See you soon.

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