weekly update and some thoughts

Here's the status of the holiday knitting. The hedgehog (top) is untouched. The mystery thing (clockwise) has a couple more inches on it, and I wound the second ball of yarn for that. The Sea Silk scarf pulled out in front of everything else last week. The sari silk scarf is untouched. The scarf I plan to knit for The Fool is unwound. And the single sock? The sock with a mate I cast on and lost? Still gone.
What will our knitter accomplish by next week? Stay tuned.
I'm entertaining myself today by listening to This American Life on the computer. I love this show. And I just discovered their archives.

So I've been thinking about whether or not it's good to have a husband who knits. That's something people have brought up in comments in one way or another. I thought I'd examine this more completely.

Financial
Pro: Because the Fool knits, he understands how much yarn costs, how much books costs, etc., etc. So when I spend money on yarn/ books/ etc., he doesn't really raise an eyebrow. There's none of the "You spent *how* much?"
I quilt too, and until it sank in that I own more fabric than I will sew in my lifetime and I should stop buying stuff until I caught up a little bit, I used to feel guilty about some of my purchases. The Fool never said anything, but I always worried that in the back of his mind, he was wondering if we'd ever be able to buy a house, or if our collective life's work would be sunk into Kona Bay cottons.
Con: You know how much you spend on yarn, books, etc? Yeah, well, now he spends that much too. And he spins.

Economy of scale
Pro: OK. So we both knit. But there's no chance we'll both be putting sweaters on holders at the same time, both be using #13s to knit felted cat beds, both need the 20-inch #6 circular.
Con: You'd be surprised how many knitting projects require the same notions at the same time.

Knitting is the new yoga
Pro: One of the things I like about knitting is that it's a craft one can take at one's own pace. I can knit something just as hard, or as easy, as I feel like tackling. I tend to be a little competitive about stuff, so knitting is a good way for me to calm down.
Con: I tend to be a little competitive about stuff, so we have conversations like this.

FOOL: What's this Knitting Guild of America certification stuff?
ME: It's some thing where you do all these exercises and design sweaters and stuff, and then you get certified.
FOOL: Then what?
ME: I guess you could use it if you wanted to get a gig as a knitting teacher.
FOOL: It sounds sort of interesting. I bet you could learn a lot of stuff just working through it.
ME: Yeah, maybe.
(Thinking: Oh, hell! If he does this, then I'll have to do it and I don't want to do it, but I can't let him be the only one in the house to do it!)
ME: I think it's a bad idea. Lots of people get diseases from it.

The Honey-do list:
Pro: I'll confess, I got the Fool to start knitting because I was bored to tears with a kitchen cotton rug I was knitting. So I showed him how to knit, and that was the beginning of the end. And sometimes, if I have something especially odious in the fiber arts that I wish to push off on someone else (Kitchenering socks, for example), he is the someone else I turn to. (He's also the someone else I turn to if there are bugs to kill, if there are things I need from high shelves, or if there's that weird wet food stuck in the sink trap -- shudder!)
Con: That kind of thing goes both ways. So now I have to teach him the crochet cast-on and if there's weird knitter math to be done, I am often the one to help him do it.

Social life:
Pro: Rhinebeck? Sure! How about Maryland next spring? Absolutely! Sweetie, there's a new yarn shop opening up next weekend. Let's go!
Con: None, unless I suggest that I might like to go a women-only fiber event without him.

In total? I think it's easier this way. There's plenty of other things I do that make him say, "Honey, you're very weird." It's much better that I don't add something else to the list.

Comments

Anonymous said…
"(He's also the someone else I turn to if there are bugs to kill, if there are things I need from high shelves, or if there's that weird wet food stuck in the sink trap -- shudder!)"

Those are the exact same things my hubby does for me!
LaurieM said…
Are the pros and cons of having a knitting spouse the same for the Fool? Or does he have a different perspective on it?

I used to play a lot of video games and while I cut into the amount of time the system was available for use by my husband and children, I think they enjoyed it too.
Anonymous said…
I haven't made you listen to a Sarah Vowell segment on Johnny and June Carter Cash?!? How did that happen? Thank god for the archives! I heard this bit as part of a valentine's day show and is one of my favorite TAL segments. The essay is the last 10 minutes of the show ('What is this thing?'). Use the following link without the space: (http://www.thislife.org/pages/ descriptions/03/247.html)
Anonymous said…
Hee.

So the other night, when Caz skillfully removed that bit of pencil lead from my toe? Once we had certified that it had all been removed and I had moved on to the "gratitude and congratulations on a good job", I pointed out to him that he /totally/ could knit if he wanted to.

Until now, he's continued to stick by the "Meathook Hands" defense.

I told him I'd still love him even if he never knits a stitch in his life, but that I will no longer listen to his "my hands are too big and clumsy" excuse about it. If he doesn't want to learn how to knit, he should just say so. And never mind how it will break my heart! grin.
Lanea said…
Focusing on the strongest pro in the lot . . . Yay Maryland next spring. You must come. It will be giganto huge fun.
meg said…
Maryland next spring, providing we can reschedule a Cosmic Otters gig.... don't worry; you'll be the first to find out if we're coming.
Hannah said…
Yep--having my spouse understand about the fiber thing is great--but having him raid my stash is not!

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