Knit Night: Take One

One of Isaac's classmate's mommy is a knitter. As if that wasn't enough to make me like her, I found out her name is Ariel and she pronounces it exactly like Sebastian the crab pronounces it in the Little Mermaid-- just like the letters R-E-L .... so it sound so sweet, and airy. Completely appropriate since she is also a flutist. Aaron still says "flautist", but that is just wrong. What's even better than all that is that she started a knitting group that meets at some one's house every 2 weeks. I can't wait until it is at her house since her husband is a wine distributor. Knitting and wine ... together? Can you sing, "These are a few of my favorite things...." a la Julie Andrews?

So, I went. It was the night after my botched root canal and the bruise was just forming on my face, so that should tell you how desperate I am to find friends and knit. It was at the most adorable little cottage style house way out in the boonies. It was pitch dark, and after 2 miles the road turned to dirt and continued deeper into the woods. I thought, "Have I just been lured into the woods by some Koresh-like cult posing as a knitting circle?" I expected to get out of my car and find a moose attached to the bumper. The house was brown wood, almost like a cabin in Germany's black forest, complete with a cobblestone walkway, pointy roof and window boxes full of flowers. Sarah, the host let me in. She was playing celtic tunes in the background, had scented candles lit and was drinking a local beer. Soon after about 5 others arrived, and I soon realized I was the oldest one by about 10 years. When the heck did that happen to me?

While I didn't get much knitting done, I had an amazing time. It was literally like being in a different world and underscored how much I love this place. What a change from California.

First, I was the only one with make-up ... so with just blush, some lip gloss and mascara, I felt like a Drag Queen. How refreshing to see such young women so unadorned. No acrylic nails or plastic surgery ... no talk of diets or celebrities. No major gossip well, except for calling the owner of the knit shop "Bun Laden" which absolutely cracked me up since I wrote about her in a previous blog. I laughed so hard I snorted. And when the food was served, there was no one said, "Oh, I shouldn't. Just a little salad. Just some water, please." Everyone jumped up and planted a healthy portion of lasagna on their plates and ate every last bite.

I also marveled at the level of education in the room. Almost all had a Master's, and there were 2 IV league schools represented. They used words like "diaspora" and talked about the plays they had seen. Not pretentious, just as a matter of fact. One girl particularly bright and nerdy got to talking to me because her father works for IBM as well. Turns out she speaks Italian, French, Spanish and German. She asked if we could practice German together.

I was so impressed and inspired that I will surely offer to host a knit night soon. In fact, I can hardly wait for the next one. I don't mind being the old, made up lady in the room as long as there are nice people, good food and knitting involved.