About

“Say your right words,” the goblins said …

Knitter, office ninja, queer, pirate wannabe, crafty gal. These are all things that describe me to some extent, though not necessarily in that order. Let me ‘splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

I have been knitting since the fall of 2002, during my sophomore year at college. I taught myself how using various internet tutorials. A few months in, I purchased Stitch N Bitch by Debbie Stoller, which helped me to learn more techniques. (You should have seen the mess I was making. I didn’t realize, at first, that you were supposed to turn at the end of each row, so I kind of made it up every other row. Handy technique, though.) Since then I’ve knit all sorts of random things, from scarves and hats to a mini-sweater and a womb monster. I love knitting, and I don’t intend to stop any time soon. (I also crochet, by the way, and I’m getting increasingly adept with the hooks.)

As for the office manager bit, I work for a small town newspaper. I do the important parts. (I totally made that up. I do the boring parts.) I can even provide a small amount of tech support. I should start charging a fee for that.

On March 1, 2003, also during my sophomore year, I came out to my mom. (Yes, I remember the exact date.) I borrowed a friend’s phone and her dorm room and poured out my heart. It came out sounding all kinds of awkward and I felt kind of like a jerk and one point when she wanted to pray with me and I said, “Actually, I’m more of a Big Bang person.” (Even now I can’t believe those words came out of my mouth.) Since then I feel I’ve evolved. At this point, the word “lesbian” isn’t entirely accurate. The closest I can come to is the generic “queer,” which suits me fine. I like words that begin with Q.

I love pirates. Pirates of the Caribbean started it. I have my own felted pirate tricorn and a hand-made wig of dreadlocks. (Which, despite being acrylic and fun fur, have gotten mistaken for real hair. I would like to replace it with wool dreadlocks at some point. Maybe made with wool roving.) I can’t really explain why I love pirates so much, but I have a feeling Johnny Depp has more than a little to do with it. Something that also goes with pirate-wear (a little, in the costume sense) that I’ve discovered recently is Steampunk. I find it fascinating, and want to learn more about it.

In addition to knitting and crochet, I enjoy doing a variety of different crafts. I have attempted spinning twice, and achieved some sort of thick-and-think effect. I have made beaded necklaces and stitch markers. I have dabbled in polymer clay sculpting; I even paint occasionally. I think my next soirée in the realm of crafting will probably be sewing. I do a little at the moment, but nothing spectacular.