Good Day, Gentle Readers from the thawing Great White North!
The world around me is finally thawing with signs of spring! It has seemed to be a long couple of weeks here in West Michigan. Winter has been fighting a valiant battle and his icy breath continues to cover the land, although the sun has melted most of the snow – but yesterday when I was letting, the dogs out I heard the familiar call of a Robin and when I looked around, I spied him hopping jauntily in my back yard! There is nothing like seeing the first Robin of the season. In addition, today we have warmed up to a whopping 56°F and you could find me outside enjoying the day – even sans sunshine, it is a glorious day outside! It seems unreal that on Monday morning when I was leaving work it was a frigid 7°F and when you factored in the wind chill it was well below zero!
While I was outside, I spied another sign of spring with a Wooly Caterpillar who was enjoying the warmth of the day as well! Can butterflies and flowers be far behind?
Last night I was fortunate to see Frost/Nixon and thoroughly enjoyed it for a number of reasons, one of which was the memories of remembering watching the Nixon Senate hearings when I was in High School. Every day when I would get home, it was all the rage over the airwaves and truly was what set me on the path for my interest in all things political. Frost/Nixon was a great movie with even better company!
While my social life is on the upswing in the most wonderful of ways, my knitting has been less than productive… my Clapotis is still languishing on the needles. FLS is growing in stature, but each row is L-O-N-G and this is not an easy to “take along” project. I have cast on a sock, but I am past the point of mindless stockinette and in the midst of cables – rending this project useless as an “easy knit.” I am restless and searching but I managed to find some shiny objects at The Twist Collective that ended up in my queue. It seems that my Cast-on-itis is flaring up again.
Finally, I stumbled upon the most hilarious of events… Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me proved an unwitting accomplice to Mo Rocca and his knitting faux pas a couple of weeks ago. Mo’s comments brought a barrage of comments worthy of mention on the following weeks show and Mr. Rocca constructed a well worded, if albeit misguided, apology in which he blamed Alpacas for his dislike of hand knit items. This prompted me to write in to offer my meager assistance to Mr. Rocca, which led to some hilarity for my week – and being short on blog fodder and in my promise to another, more special person, I am offering this up to my readership as a blog bone for the dry season.
My letter to the Wait, Wait Staff:
Dear Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me Staff,
I am a knitter, spinner, and weaver and I felt it imperative that I help you with Mr. Rocca’s Alpaca blunder on this week’s show… Alpaca is one of the softest and non-scratchy of fibers and a sweater knit from that would be truly a thing that the other members of your panel would be most envious of.
Mr. Rocca should count himself fortunate to have had such a warm and affectionate bed companion whilst he was overseas!
I thought I should give you a heads up before Ravelry or the Society for the Prevention of Cheap Comic Humor of Alpaca’s started their email barrage!
I would be happy to send you some socks knit with Alpaca for Mr. Rocca – however he would find himself in such a blissful state that he might prove useless to you as a Panel Member in the future.
Regards,
AsKatKnits
To which they replied:
Hello Kathy–
We apologize for Mo’s ignorance of livestock, weaving, and the whole knitting world. I can assure you that Mo means well and is doing his best to win the knitting community over.
Thanks for listening to the show and writing in! We love learning more about alpacas and knitting.
Best–
WaitWait
With that, Gentle Reader, I bid you adieu and go to spread Knitterly Love with the world around me and in the words of the Divine Brenda Dayne, ‘if you are cold, put on a sweater!’ Yes, life is practically perfect in every way.
I haven’t listened to that Wait Wait yet…I’m a bit behind on my podcasts. I’ll listen for the Mo Rocca comment–loved your letter!
I am glad that someone somewhere is enjoying a sign or two of spring. Here in Maine, I wonder if spring will ever come.
Thank you for sharing your letter regarding Mo Rocca! It was wonderful.
Yes! Spring FINALLY seems to be in the air and I can’t wait. As for your letter…I love it and the response.
I miss fuzzy caterpillars, we don’t have them here! I love Mo Rocca and cannot wait to catch up on my Wait, Wait episodes to hear his blunder!
Not only did Mo make a full retraction and apology, he has spent the last week avidly learning how to knit and sew. Check out the Bust Magazine blog to read Debbie Stoller’s tale of teaching Mo to knit. On this Sunday’s edition of CBS Sunday Morning, Mo will display his handiwork and tell about his immersion into the world of knitting and sewing.