Thankful Thursdays: I'm Thankful for My Sense of Humor

This. Is Such. A. Hoot.

Little back story. Too many relationships have been ended over knitted articles that were received with less than the enthusiasm the knitter felt ought to have been lavished on the article by the recipient.

Example. "Oh, Sweetie, I saw how you were a little chilly a few months ago on that hay ride, so I knitted you this sweater. I hope you like it???" >thrusts sweater hopefully, batting eyelashes< "Erm... Sure, purple argyle is just... >deep exhalation< well, I-I-I I think I've got a t-shirt it'll go with, lemme try it on..."

Nevermind that the hayride was prob'ly in October, and the sweater may have taken until April to complete.

The knitter obviously didn't bother to check for color likes/dislikes when she started knitting a sweater for her boyfriend, so it's unlikely that she did anything about fit, either. The poor sweater gets tossed in the back of the closet, never to see the light of day again, the knitter begins a downward spiral of resentment which cues the deathknell for the relationship, which (plainly) was on rocky footing to begin with, as evidenced by their poor communication skills.

It's a common story. Lots of knitting books and blogs address the phenomenon; The AntiCraft has a great pattern called the Curse Your Boyfriend Sweater, which helps you expedite the end of a relationship deliberately via sweater-gift; in Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch Nation (2004, Workman Publishing), she features a sweater/knitted goods-as-gift contract. It's on page 120 under the heading Pre-Knitual Agreement. (Go ahead and chuckle. I can't help how clever it is. ALL her books are like that.)

Here's a story via song that's just about 180 degrees from the curse. What happens when you've been found knitting for someone else???

Warning: old-school Country Western-style music ahead. If you object, replace the performers in your imagination with the Blues Brothers. That might be even funnier.





Part of what I love about it is that these women could easily be drag queens. Except they're so understated (not enough rhinestone, not enough boa feather) it's clear they're really women underneath all that makeup and hair.

"Maybe I just need a new project" is the best breakup line. EVER!!!