Today’s instructions:
Day One: The House Cup.
A bit like Harry Potter, but not quite, this year’s Knitting & Crochet Blog Week is split into 4 houses. Don your favourite knitted or crocheted hat and let it guide you to which house you will be in.
This is what I had to choose from:
My house:
The House of Manatee. Yes, I’m associating myself with a manatee, on purpose. I know what you’re thinking, really Betsy? A manatee? You could choose from a bee, manatee, monkey, or a peacock, and you chose manatee? Yes, I did. And as I’m writing this, although confident in my decision, I’m still trying to work out as to why.
Last month, I got on an airplane with my then not yet two-year-old son to go visit his Ba Ba and Pap Pap (who were avoiding winter up north) in Siesta Key (Sarasota), Florida. Next to alligators, what’s the animal that you think of next when you think of Florida? The manatee. (If that wasn’t your answer, you’ve obviously never been to the Florida coast). The manatee is actually the Florida state marine mammal. We went to visit the Mote Marine Laboratory and saw lots of huge manatees. Turns out manatees are not exciting for toddlers. I’m not even sure he looked at any of them. He may have seen the food they were eating, or the decorations in their pools, but manatees are pretty boring. They roll their huge bodies around very slowly and eat. And eat. But I do remember some of them eating lettuce with their little “hands,” which was pretty cute.
But generally speaking, manatees are weird looking. Go ahead, open another tab on your browser and do an image search for manatee – or manatee eating. Weird, right? Looking at manatees makes me think, “Sick. What else gross and huge lives in the ocean.”
I’m not sure where I’m headed with this, other than, really, manatees are weird, and yet, I’m choosing to associate myself with them, for the purpose of knitting of course, and here’s why. This is the description of the house: “Manatees are gentle, calm and cuddly. Relaxed and unflashy they represent the comfort and soft side of knitting and crochet.” Knitting is calming. It’s the part of my day to relax me. I knit and watch TV in the evenings and during nap time when I need to wind down. The repetitiveness of knitting is calming. The things I knit aren’t necessarily “unflashy,” but they definitely represent comfort and soft. As a rule, yarn must always be the softest. I love knitting with alpaca.
Nothing sounds better to me than a night spent cozied up on the couch knitting and drinking hot tea. This is exactly what I was doing last night, in front of the TV, after a long weekend/week.
I needed to knit something, so I got out some brown alpaca yarn and started a baby hat. Not sure what this will turn into, but I can say for sure it will be soft and cute.
Just call me a manatee.
4KCBWDAY1
When I was choosing my houses, I almost went with Manatee. Knitting is a huge comfort for me, especially right now. So while I do believe I am a Bee, I am also part Manatee. A Manabee?
Manabee, I like it! It was hard to choose just one.
I second your perfect evening. Some uninterrupted knitting time and a hot cup of tea is just wonderful!