(Falcon image property of SCPBRG, a marvelous organization that has brought peregrines back from the brink. Look how those babies are growing up!)
Stephanie wrote awhile back about the black hole effect in handknitting. I’ve put hours and rows into this shawl today, trying to wrap it up, and it still stretches out to, roughly…18″. Huh. (Probably because I’m not trying quite so eagerly to prove to myself it’s farther along than it is.)
The yarn is 40% silk, and silk yarns knitted up, especially when they aren’t spun tightly, have a tendency to stretch out over time. (A side note: I once knitted a 50/50 kid mohair/silk vest, with much cabling work in the front and then knitted plain in the back because I was afraid of running out of yarn. The vest buttoned down the front, which turned out to be a very good thing: the heavier weight dragged the fronts about six inches downward, coming down, if I wore it unbuttoned, to look like I’d knitted points on purpose, while the back stayed primly in place just covering my waistband. Moral of the story: be careful of mixing dense and lightweight stitch patterns when working with silk.)
So. This shawl will either still be rather on the short side, which is fine with me, or it will stretch out surprisingly far when I block it and grow even more over time and I’ll have something long and swoopy from my gorgeous, shimmery yarn. Either way…
…(launching into storytime here, folks)…
My husband and I met for the first time when my parents decided I was an old enough newborn to be taken outside and to church. (Or maybe when Mom had had enough of cabin fever, right, Mom?) It is safe to say I really don’t remember the event. Thus, given our 15″ height difference in adulthood, the jokes that are, by now, a tad shopworn: we grew up together, he just did more, I knew when to quit, yadda yadda.
So we were just old friends who started finally actually dating in college.   I had a classmate, about 6’2″ or so, who saw us on campus one day. The next class she and I had together, she took me aside and reamed me in great indignation. “All the short girls take all the tall boys!”
What could I gracefully say? I beat you to it? Neener neener? I told her simply, “I took him in the size he came in.”
I thought of that as I measured this shawl and wondered what its real dimensions will turn out to be–just like I wondered once what married life was going to really be like. After 29 years come next week and four fledged kids, I think I’ve got a good idea on the latter.
I don’t quite think he wants me to knit this for him as an anniversary present, though. It would be too much of a stretch. I’ll have to think of something else, huh?
14 Comments so far
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Alison,
I thought your friend afton might be interested in this:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=what-is-cell-phone-elbow
and you’re right, shawls don’t make the most appropriate anniversary presents for a husband. Does he golf–how about a towel or wood covers?
Comment by LynnM 06.17.09 @ 2:56 amCongrats on your upcoming Anniversary!! 🙂
Comment by Danielle from SW MO 06.17.09 @ 3:56 amCongratulations on your TWENTY-NINE YEARS anniversary!! Very cool. 🙂
“I took him in the size he came in.” Brilliant.
You’re such a good match wit-wise, anyway, I say.
I still chuckle over your hubby’s remark re your east coast yarn bookie. rofl 😉
What a polite comeback to a rather inane comment! Congrats on 29 years together.
Comment by Channon 06.17.09 @ 5:53 amCongratulations to you both on your upcoming anniversary!
Not only would it be a stretch to give him a shawl, but this one would need to stretch quite a bit to fit him properly, huh? 😉
Thank you for another wonderfully told and woven slice of your life!
Comment by Suzanne 06.17.09 @ 6:10 amAn anniversary coming up? Since we have a child with the same birthdate, I’m almost afraid to ask when yours is — ours is Saturday (June 20)
Have a wonderful day whenever it is
Comment by Bev 06.17.09 @ 8:04 amCongrats on the upcoming anniversary. YES all short girls take the tall guys. Being a tall girl, I’ve said that more than once. Ah well, it was a match made in heaven, obviously. I agree, a shawl might not fit the bill 😉
Comment by Alicia 06.17.09 @ 10:05 amDeciding on whether to date based on height unneccessarily limits the dating pool. My husband happens to be taller than me. my girlfriend’s hubby isn’t. It’s just the way it goes….
Comment by Carol 06.17.09 @ 11:59 amYou’re probably right about not knitting the shawl for him, but I’m guessing you can think of something else 🙂
Comment by Jocelyn 06.17.09 @ 2:08 pmBest response possible. You married the person; not his physical dimensions.
Fun:
SUNDAY SCHOOL
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~ Jesus was born because Mary had an immaculate contraption.
~ St. John the blacksmith dumped water on his head.
~ Jesus enunciated the Golden Rule, which says to do one to others before they do one to you. He also explained, a man doth not live by dread alone.
~ It was a miracle when Jesus rose from the dead and managed to get the tombstone off the entrance.
~ The people who followed the lord were called the 12 decibels.
~ The epistles were the wives of the apostles.
~ One of the opossum was St. Matthew who was also a taximan.
~ St. Paul cavorted to Christianity. He preached holy acrimony, which is another name for marriage.
~ Christians have only one mate. That is called monotony.
Comment by Don Meyer 06.17.09 @ 2:27 pmGeez, it is almost June (um…26 wasn’t it?), isn’t it? Where *does* the time go? I was reminded of anniversaries because my company’s 10th anniversary is Aug. 9th, and that I’ll be happy Aug. 9th to be celebrating my *not* reaching another anniversary. 28 was enough for me. Congrats on your reaching 29.
Comment by Karen 06.17.09 @ 5:36 pmOur official legal anniversary is coming up August 15th.
(we actually have two anniversaries each year.. Bonus!)
We’ll probably do something low-key like go out to dinner, or grill a bit in the back yard. It will be our 8th. My folks will be having their 48th anniversary next month. (or is it their 49th? I am not good with numbers)
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