Posted by Stitchy McYarnpants 8 COMMENTS

In her youth, Beverly was a lively brunette with a sparkle in her eye and a spring in her step. And then she made vacation plans that would change her life forever. It’s a little known fact that the owners of the Hotel California ran a ski lodge before expanding their franchise in the hospitality-of-the-damned business. And so Bev spent, and indeed, is still spending an eternity in the Ski Lodge California. Sure, she checked out, but she never could leave.

The old lodge did strange things to people and our Bev was not immune. As good as the hot cocoa was, it wasn’t enough to keep her personality from splintering into pieces, each one stranger than the next. Not even with the little marshmallows.

Breakfast Bev is the most bearable of the bunch, though the use of the term €œbrassy€ to describe her new personality, hair and skin is somewhat disturbing. If nothing else, her sweater is bright and cheerful and her eyebrows have remained unaffected by her jarring follicular transformation.

Lunchtime Bev ushers in the afternoon of the mustard smock. Inexplicable ¾ length sleeves allow her ever-present turtleneck to breath during it’s eternity of constant wear. Her golden tentacles are restrained in a bun to protect those around her from their grasp.

After-dinner Bev is a whole other story. It seems that a whole day of playing Yahtzee in limbo really packs on the years. The sparkle in her eye is lost to the dark holes of mascara and the turtleneck becomes the backdrop for a dramatic Reptilian Lace coverup. “Come, step in to my lair,” she hisses, “and fetch mama a glass of wine, will you?”

Just remember – if you ever get stuck at the Yarn Store California, you can stab it with your steely needles, but you just can’t kill that beast. But you can knit a cozy for it!

Posted by Stitchy McYarnpants 14 COMMENTS

These lousy kids and their new-fangled sexual education. Why, back in MY day we had to figure it out for ourselves. We didn’t have fancy charts and facts and armitronically correct dolls to help us on our way. We had moonshine, the back seat of pa’s Model T, and crocheted marital aids from the church bazaar and we did just fine!

*Dammit, I did it again. It’ not crocheted, it’s knitted. I think I’m so used to seeing stockinette that I immediately think crochet when I see bumps. Plus, “Voulez-Vous Knit Avec Moi” doesn’t have the same ring to it. Once again, work with me people. Live the dream with me.

Posted by Stitchy McYarnpants 10 COMMENTS

The Mock and Roll Tour 2006 is ON!

9/23 – Hadley, MA – BARNES & NOBLE, 2pm (335 Russell St)

10/6 – Brooklyn, NY – BARNES & NOBLE, 7:30pm (267 Seventh Ave)

10/13 – Cambridge, MA – PORTER SQUARE BOOKS, 7pm (25 White St)

10/14 – West Hartford, CT – SIT-N-KNIT, 1pm (33 LaSalle Rd)

10/18 – Paramus, NJ – BARNES & NOBLE, 7:30pm (765 Rt 17 S)

10/28 (may change) – Concord, NH – THE ELEGANT EWE, 1pm (71 S. Main St)

There are a few other dates in the works, but these are the ones I have so far. The date for the Elegant Ewe may be changing, so I’ll keep you up to date. I’m also looking for a place to lay my butt in a chair at Rhinebeck for a few hours over the weekend, so if anyone has any good leads, by all means, let me know!

I’m going to be putting up a tour page soon, but I wanted to get these up so people can start making plans. As nervous as I am, I think the appearances will be fun. I’ve got the MOKS Traveling Trunk Show featuring real live kitschy artifacts. I’m also bringing along a Polaroid camera and a scrapbook so I can make sort of a yearbook of the folks who pop in to see me. I just know at least one of you is going to end up in a granny square vest. heh. Plus I thought it would be cool to have people leave their marks and people at future events can see some familiar names – blog or otherwise.

Posted by Stitchy McYarnpants 11 COMMENTS

I think someone forgot to tell micro-mommy that the pattern for this skating skirt also comes in adult sizes. I bet she wouldn’t have listened, though. I sense a turbulent daytime-televisionesque relationship blossoming here. Prom night is going to be disastrous for little Susie Ryan, I just know it.

She’ll come down the stairs in the new frilly frock that her mom made and blush demurely when her boyfriend’s eyes turn into saucers as she descends. She’ll feel so special, so pretty, at long last. Then she’ll realize that her mom is right behind her in a pair of taffeta hot pants made from the leftover material. And so are the days of the lives of all our children, so young and restless. But that’s how it is when you just have one life to live, you’ve just got to follow that guiding light and do your best to be bold and beautiful as the world turns. Luckily, there’s a killer rehab program at General Hospital.

Posted by Stitchy McYarnpants 10 COMMENTS

Do you ever wonder what happened to this unfortunate father and son duo?

Did they come to their senses and free themselves from the maniacal needles of doom? Did they convince the lady of the house to start making manly sweaters with stripes and skulls and naked ladies on them? Or did their miserable lives trudge forward along the testosterone-draining road she knit before them?

You decide.

~sigh~ Looks like that guardrail at the lake was a little stronger than the old man thought. Now he’s working on the one at the jogging track behind the high school.

Poor guy, what a sap. Look at him workin’ it for Junior. “C’mon son, buck up! If we keep training, maybe we’ll be able to run away someday. But for now, let’s just be thankful for our matching turquoise cabled turtle-head sweaters. You look just like that terrific Precious Moments figurine I gave you last week! Isn’t that swell?”*

*bonus creepy points for those black leather OJ gloves. Don’t worry boys, if they don’t fit, they must acquit.