Adventures

It's weird to only have one project on the needles at the moment because there's really only so much you can say about a stocking stitch blanket.  Things are going quite well.

Pictured here is 13 inches of blanket- and as of this post, all ends (minus the yellow) are woven in!  You would think that I would be downright miserable and BORED knitting something so simple, but I'm not.  Not even a little.  I can't wait to sneak in my little colorful rows and in general I'm feeling pretty good about this little blanket adventure.

So good about this that after today, I'm going to put it away.  WHAT???  Yes.  This was a fun January distraction and will be extremely easy to pick it up and get back into it at a later date.  But, there are other pressing needs that need to be knit and I'm just the girl for the job.  Starting tomorrow I'm casting on the Mystery Mittens for February as well as a baby blanket for a friend due in March.  I'll use this fun little blanket as a reward for finishing up on those items... hopefully IN February.  (I don't know who I'm kidding that I think I'm going to knit a blanket in 3 weeks.  HAHAHAHAHAHA Jen.  HAHA.)

Since that's all going on in the knitting world... I thought I'd share another crafty story with you.  Growing up- my mom was a crafty lady, and many, MANY hours of my childhood were spent at "Fabricland".  (Mom's "crafter obsession of choice" has always been sewing.)  In fact I had many friends that knew what a trip to Fabricland meant: 3 hours of your mother looking at fabrics, changing her mind, waiting in line to cut the fabric and flipping through COUNTLESS pattern books- all while you are not-so-secretly DYING of boredom.  HOURS of my childhood were wasted in Fabricland.  (THANKS MOM....)

Remember- this was in the dark ages before cell phones or gameboys or things children have now to entertain themselves.  Entertainment at Fabricland was looking at the Halloween costumes in the back of the pattern books and dreaming up your Halloween costume for that year.  This would last all of about 5 minutes.  My very, VERY, patient father has done many things I'm sure he would have preferred not to but he puts his foot down on basically one thing only- he won't go to Fabricland with my mom- because he is certain he will die of boredom.

As I said- I wasn't the only one who would spent hours in a Fabricland with their mother, essentially waiting for a quick death to make the endless fabric store suffering stop.  My husband also shares this memory with his mother in a Fabricland.  As I got older, I began to appreciate and (gasp) enjoy my trips to Fabricland... and when I first moved to Calgary I even had my own member card!  (Which has since lapsed b/c I got obsessed with knitting instead and thankfully you don't need a member card to get deals on yarn! ... although I would totally buy one if I had to.)  My husband cannot drive by a Fabricland without shuttering- and he will go to a yarn store with me, if I promise to keep it short.

I give you this incredibly long back story so that you understand why this next part is such a big deal.

I took my kid to his first trip to Fabricland.... and he enjoyed it!

Grandma showing him a lovely print...

Parker loved Fabricland on his first trip.  To be fair; a) he's 14 months old and any time he gets to wander in a store and touch things freely and have old ladies gush over how cute he is, he's in his element and b) he can't talk so he can't tell me that he's suffering in his own personal hell.  I won't kid myself.  I think Parker's statute on limitations on this place is going to be brief.  Fabricland for a 14 month old is CHRISTMAS- so many textures to touch (if you have clean hands... which he did) and colors to look at, and the bolts of fabric are too heavy to pull out so you can let him wander down the isles and take a good look at things.

I imagine the novelty of Fabricland, or for that matter yarn stores, are going to wear off pretty quickly when he has to stand there bored out of his mind while I contemplate the difference between "sky" blue and "baby" blue.  (SORRY KID- IT'S A RIGHT OF PASSAGE!)  Husband and sister who still carry their Fabricland scars and never did quite see the fun in going are horrified.  Sister has accused me of child abuse and husband has forbidden me to take him again, saying (and I quote), "worst moments of my childhood- don't subject our son to that!"*

So yes- my week has been interesting and fun- and Parker is slowly learning about his mommy and her crafting lineage.  (haha)  Next post should be a little more knitting related- but thought you'd enjoy his first trip to the dreaded Fabricland.

*Knowing husband's mother as well as I do (the famous MiL)- let me tell you... he's being dramatic.  She would never purposefully torment her children... unless she could get 60% off on Fabric.  ;-)