Kiss My Knits!

Today I realized that I know how to play all the chords for the chorus to Hero of Canton (The Man They Call Jayne) on my grandmother’s guitar. I got quite excited, even as I realized just how geeky that was. Now I want to learn all the rest of the chords for the song. I can pick and strum “Wildwood Flower” (mostly haltingly) but that’s only got three or four chords, so it’s not exactly rocket science.

I love the song “Wildwood Flower,” which you can hear here, and used to drive my college roommates crazy playing Carter Family albums. Yes, children, there were once these things called “record albums.” They were made out of vinyl and were several times the size of a CD. We played them by torchlight as we worked on our cave paintings between wooly mammoth hunts.

In fairness, my roommates could have said something. I mean, c’mon! What late 80’s college girl didn’t love scratchy acoustic country music from the 20’s and 30’s?

Oh, hush.

However, one of my other two roommates made me crazy by playing the soundtrack to CATS over and over and over again. It put Andrew Lloyd Webber on the short list of people who had better not ever step out in front of my car.

The third roommate had no freakish musical tendencies and turned out relatively normal. She’s a vet, so I’m going to count a specialty in small mammals as “normal.”

So, do you have music you enjoy that is fingernails on a blackboard to those around you? Or vice versa – something someone near you loves, but which you want to hurl out the window?


In crafty news, The Sewing Bird has now gone to 40% off everything in the store. I have successfully resisted their siren song all week. Probably being broke helped. But really! There’s still enough of individual colors of Debbie Bliss Cathay or Noro Cash Iroha or Louet Gems Topaz to make a sweater! Cathay for $4.50 a ball? Hold me back! However, it’s worth remembering that if you’re getting it cheap but you don’t need it, it’s not actually a bargain. I have no specific projects in mind that would require new yarn. And so, I stand firm.

As you can see, I’ve started the leg of the socks. Let’s just disregard that little gappy hole there at the turn of the heel. It’s… uh… ventilation! Yeah! At any rate, a simple k2p2 rib on the leg should make for a cozy fit. I’m thinking about just working one at a time from this point on, because a) it’s getting awkward to flop both socks around, and b) Mom’s only got one sock-worthy foot at the moment anyway. Of course, by the time I’m done, she’ll no doubt be back to two good feet again. Decisions, decisions.


The daughter has been very talkative and extra expressive the last few days, and told us today she wants to go to the zoo to see the kangaroos and tigers and heffalumps and woozles. We told her she’d have to settle for elephants and weasels. Regardless, we’re going to try to hit the zoo this weekend, so let’s all keep our fingers crossed for lower temperatures!

And with that, I’m off to eat dinner and settle on the couch for a night of knitting and DVDs!