How much wood could a woodchuck chuck...?

If today were its birthday?

I dunno, you'll have to ask my mother. Partly coz she's so smart (she's The Mom, she knows everything!) and partly coz she's the birthday diva today:

Happy Birthday, Mom! Love you!

I've really noticed, since I cut my hair short again, how much I look like her. Which is mostly fine. Except when I go home for a visit and people think I'm her and ask me how the grandkids are. Grrrrr! Well, Ma, I guess that's a compliment to you! But maybe I need to think about some anti-wrinkle cream or something.

On the knitting front, I decided to take a bit of a break from Mr.Q's socks (how do I forget so quickly that his feet are so big?!) and welcome the new cell phone to the family with its own knitted cozy. Yesterday, I started out with some Paton's SWS in (I think) the "natural geranium" colourway, some dpns, and a vague idea of what I wanted - a pouch with a flap, felted. What I first got was this:

Then I "dreadlocked" it in just a few minutes by mushing it up by hand in a bowl of hot water:


And it's just perfect! I even have a wee button that's exactly right, to sew on when it's dry. Someone (naming no names, mother, since it's your birthday!) asked me what the point was. Well, aside from giving the phone a bit of protection when it's banging around in my bag or pack - useful enough, given that I've indentured my soul to my telecommunications provider for some time to come! - there were two unexpected, small-yet-personally-satisfying benefits:

1) Knitting without a pattern. Certainly I've been fudging and adapting patterns for awhile now; done some fun experimentation with hats and socks - but even those were variations on a common recipe, something I'd done before. Granted, this wee cozy was super-simple...but it's really the first thing I've done totally out of my head, without any kind of a pattern or guideline. Just me, my sticks-n-string, and a bit of faith in my knowledge and experience. It's a baby-step up in my roundabout wanderings from knitter to Capital-K-Knitter. Perhaps not quite enough to break out the champagne and party hats (though I did add a little extra Bailey's to my coffee this morning!) But I do believe that a wee self-congratulatory pat on my own shoulder isn't out of order.

2) It's pink. Which is almost as shocking as the fact that it's not-blue. Some of you may have noticed, in passing, that blue is my favourite colour. Enough so that my stash can be divided into two sub-sets: "Blue Yarn", and the much-smaller collection of "Not-Blue Yarn." But I've been increasingly drawn to other colours over the last few months. Not to the exclusion of blue, but in addition to. I've been indulging that, somewhat, and have some lovely fibre (and even a couple items of clothing) to show for it.

But I noticed something, the last couple times I was at the yarn store -as good a place as any for exploring colour! I would be drawn to something, touch it, love it, then dismiss it as "too bright" or "too bold" or "too girly" - not as a matter of preference; rather some strange pre-conception of what I should like. "If not blues - and you should really tone those down, too, no peacocks! - then at least limit it to jewel-tones or darker, less intense colours, please" seemed to be the message of the Little Voice In My Head. "None of these whimsical or attention-seeking colours. They're trouble. Keep it mature and sedate."

Excuse me, but WTF?!?!?! I have no idea where that notion came from, but I've decided to put a stop to it, right quick. There are enough demands for maturity and responsibility and being sensible in daily life, without extending that to my yarn, for FSM's sake! If I can't be silly and whimsical in my creative pursuits, I'm going to get way too old before my time.

So in a conscious effort to move out of that habitual mode of thought (and really, self-censorship - what the hell is up with that?!) I now have a not-blue dreadlocked cell-phone cozy. Yes, I know it's pink. I like it. Suck it up!