Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Tap...tap...tap...is this thing on???

Greetings, and welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere!  We’ll chat about life, music, and dogs but, most importantly The Art of Tying Holes Together (aka knitting).  Before we get started, here’s a little background info:

Who am I?  Well now….don’t we ALL ask ourselves that question every now and again?  I’m Laurie, happily married to Pete, with two grown stepdaughters and a beloved border collie named Wilbur.  You’ll probably hear a lot about Wilbur and an occasional mention of Pete and one of his musical endeavors. 

Why knitting?  Because I love to knit!  Why do I love to knit?  Because it keeps me off heroin!!!  No…really…seriously…I love the feel of yarn moving through my fingers and the soft click of the needles.  It is meditative, it is soothing and relaxing, the most yogic thing I can do without dragging out the mat and the props.  And…I love to talk about knitting, what I’ve made, how I’ve made it, the yarn and the ideas behind the project.  And while there are many, MANY things I can discuss with my husband for hours, knitting just isn’t one of them.  If I talk to y’all, he doesn’t have to hear my latest…yarn…

Who is the Everyday Garden-Variety Renaissance Woman?  My not-so-secret alias.  When I was 45 years old, I decided to take voice lessons…mainly to prove to my husband that I could NOT sing.  Turns out I was wrong…I can sing and spend many of my non-knitting hours singing in several community choirs.  But I digress…my first vocal coach christened me Your Everyday Garden-Variety Renaissance Woman for my willingness to take risks, step out of my comfort zone and try something new, and my never-ceasing curiosity.  After a year of lessons, she told me I may have learned to sing from her, but she had learned much more about many other things from me.  My student file was labeled “EGVRW”.  When I do something a little “out there”…like decide out of the blue one morning that I’m going to teach myself entrelac knitting or read everything I can about the Bayeux Tapestry…or start a blog…I’m in my EGVRW persona.

Um…what’s this “tying holes together” thing about?  It’s in honor of my parents, both departed, both loved and remembered as creative, talented and wickedly funny people.  One Sunday afternoon, Mom and I were in the house, happily knitting away when a friend came in the front door and said, “I just had to see what you two were doing in here!  I just asked Mac where you were and he said you were in the house tying holes together!”  I’ve never been able to look at knitting…or crocheting…or lacemaking…in quite the same way again. 

Any other questions, feel free to ask.  Oh, and drop me a comment.  You now know who I am…but who are you???