Transit stricken
It’s been an interesting couple of days here in New York. The strike is having all kinds of negative impacts, but at least some people have been getting some precious knitting time in the bargain. Sadly, I am not one of them. I won’t go into my tale of woe; suffice it to say that I spent two and a half hours in the cold yesterday morning waiting for a company bus. It was far too cold to knit, and all the while I had longing thoughts of handknit armwarmers and giant felt boots I could put on over my work shoes. What I really wanted, when I finally got to the office, was one of Norma’s rum toddies. Sadly, there wasn’t any rum on hand. But here at Blue Garter, we like to think there’s a solution for every problem. So here’s what I did when I got home:
Hot bath with fizzy sugar cubes (it was a five-cube occasion), sock knitting, and Colin Firth. Heaven, my friends. Mr. Garter was kind enough to set up the tub for me. For some mysterious reason, the little lever that stops up the bath can only be manipulated by him. It’s not about brute strength; he just has the magic touch. Not quite magic enough to overcome the extremely ghetto plumbing in our overpriced apartment, though…we had to get creative with saran wrap and an iron pot lid before we could fill the tub and have it stay that way. But everything ended happily and very prunily. I didn’t climb out until Lizzy and Jane left Netherfield.
Today everything went more smoothly with the bus, and I have to say I love our driver. He’s just hilarious. His English isn’t the finest in the land, but he gets his point across and he’s just so affable. Every time he stops to pick someone up, he’s considerate enough to warn them that the opening door may clonk them in the head. He does this by leaning out of his seat to shout at them through the glass: “WATCH OUT YO’ FACE!” If they can’t understand, he mimes punching himself in the head until they step back, either in comprehension or alarm. No one’s been hit by the door yet. Riding his bus through mid-town traffic is vaguely reminiscent of the mechanical bull you may have been tempted to mount at your local honky tonk bar, but he’ll take you absolutely anywhere and keep you laughing all the way. He practically drops all forty of us off on our respective doorsteps on the way home. And I especially like this part: glued to his dashboard is a medal his mother must have given him. It’s an angel holding a banner that reads “SON, PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY.” So cute.
So we’re T-4. How’s the holiday knitting coming along? Well…um…I did this:
I’ve finished the body of the twisted float cardigan, complete with the picot edge I freestyled. The magenta and brown stripes you can see are where the arms will go. Don’t ask me why I wasted three valuable hours doing this. It’s a child-sized sweater for a child who doesn’t exist. I just couldn’t stop knitting the darn thing! Lorna puts an addictive chemical in her Shepherd Worsted that makes you crave it fortnightly, smart ass! (Gold star if you know what I’m loosely quoting there.) Here’s a close-up of the twisted float action:
Somebody smack me and make me knit that cursed sweater sleeve!
Posted: December 21st, 2005 at 8:12 pm
SMACK!
there you go 😉
Posted: December 21st, 2005 at 11:52 pm
Alright, Miss Sarah, you better knit that sweater sleeve!
Posted: December 21st, 2005 at 11:54 pm
Oops! That was me, Miss Anonymous. And still knit that sweater sleeve already!
Posted: December 22nd, 2005 at 6:58 am
I like that sweater! Lorna’s Worsted is the best, yo! I like your handspun too! I might be getting partial funding towards a spinning wheel for Christmas! Eek. Of course I want a fancy pants one, but only the best, right??
Posted: December 22nd, 2005 at 7:35 am
Ain’t nothing wrong with Mr. Firth. No siree!
Posted: December 22nd, 2005 at 9:47 am
I can’t help but laugh at your description of the bus ride into work – it sounded like an adventure.
how’s the sleeve coming along? 🙂
Posted: December 22nd, 2005 at 11:51 am
Mmmmmmmm…Firth. Firth in the bath. Mmmmmmm.
I’m sorry, did you write anything after that?
Posted: December 22nd, 2005 at 12:38 pm
all offices should really have rum on hand. then again, if we had some here, i’d likely be sued for libel. oh well.
your evening seemed darn near perfect.
Posted: December 22nd, 2005 at 7:42 pm
SWAT! t-3 for me, sigh. i don’t think i’m gonna make it.
anyway, i work in mail-order, and we’ve had lots of calls from irate ny and nj customers because their 2-3 day express shipping is taking 4 days because of the strike. umm. if they were air-traffic controllers, they’d be fired. i’m just saying.
Posted: December 24th, 2005 at 5:42 pm
merry christmas!
Posted: December 25th, 2005 at 6:38 am
HELP! Can anyone provide a little clarification on the Twisted Floating Garter stitch for this sweater? Not sure about the “over”/”under” wrapping??? THANKS!!
Posted: December 28th, 2005 at 9:11 am
I’m sure you needed Colin (and the bath) to defrost after your transit ordeal. How’d you knit so far on that twisty-float with frozen/pruney fingers?
Posted: December 29th, 2005 at 7:41 am
You’re quote is from Mike Meyers in So I Married an Ax Murderer! Do I win a prize? 😉
Posted: January 2nd, 2006 at 4:25 am
Happy New Year, Sarah! 🙂
Posted: January 3rd, 2006 at 8:00 pm
Colin + your hilarious bus driver = the only way to survive the transit strike! Hoping you made it through unfrozen and had a happy holiday and new years!