Sunday, March 08, 2009

Bruce Speaks

I mentioned to my husband, Bruce, the other day that I was on a mission to correct my slight neglect of my blog over the past few months, and post as much as possible in March. Much space is filled, I explained, with info about the sale items that I’m clearing out this month, but as much as everyone loves to hear about a good sale, that doesn’t make much for a very interesting blog.

It was at that point in the conversation that Bruce offered his services to provide some tips for the husbands or partners of knitters. Hmmmm. This should be interesting. Well alright then. Today, Bruce speaks:

“You know that movie, When Harry Met Sally? Everyone’s seen it, right? Remember the scene in the airport where Billy Crystal says that you should never drive someone to the airport at the start of a relationship because then later in the relationship the person’s bound to ask why you never take them to the airport anymore?

It’s the same for a knitter and a yarn shop. I learned the hard way. When we first got together, I would drive Deb an hour to check out a new yarn shop without blinking an eye. I’d hang around for an eternity while she looked at every skein of yarn in the place. I didn’t mind. It was kind of fun. She’d get all excited about the trip, like we were going to Disneyland or something. Mistake. Don’t do this. Deb doesn’t go so far as asking me why I never take her to yarn shops anymore, but she does mention some yarn-related destination or other once in a while, acting all casual and innocent, and then kind of looks at me out of the corner of her eye with a questioning and sort of pleading look. A slightly disappointed look replaces the pleading look when I change the subject really fast before she gets any wild ideas.

Another tip: When she talks about knitting, try to listen once in a while. Not all the time or anything. That would be crazy. Most of the time, just go ahead thinking about that Wii you want to buy or whether there are any cookies left anywhere in the house, but it’s worth it to tune in a little sometimes. It can come in handy. I don’t think I ever earned so many Good Husband Points as the day I told Deb that I like things simple and stockinet is my favorite stitch. You’d think I’d just written and recited a love sonnet for her. So listen now and then. Save up a good word or two. Use them when shares in Husband Common Stock are low and you’ll see an instant upswing.”

Those are Bruce’s two tips for today. Pass them on to your mates as you see fit. Perhaps I’ll invite Bruce back again to share his grand wisdom.

Oh and by the way . . . I should clarify that when Bruce told me his favorite stitch was stockinet, he actually said his favorite stitch was “stocking knit.” That, of course, made it all the more endearing.

Good man, my husband.

5 comments:

TessM said...

DH did something similar once! -- now I wish I'd written down exactly what it was. I was talking about knitting, of course, and he said something in reply that was not only on-topic, but technically accurate, which was kind of spooky. It was something about seed stitch, perhaps.
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Of course, this is also the man who tried on a pair of socks that I'd been having all kinds of struggles with, in a tricksy st pattern he had picked out, and then he had the chutzpah to ask why they weren't mirror images of each other. That one actually took a bite out of the bonus points!

monica said...

So I passed on Bruce's handy tips to my husband and he said "OMG who's going to read all of that?" ...so guess who flunked the Good Husband Points test today.

Anonymous said...

i am going to shield this post from my boyfriend, who has graciously agreed that several LYS's will be on our san francisco spring break agenda in a few weeks. muahahaha.

Anonymous said...

My husband and I have a deal.
He goes to clothes shops (he has more girly genes than I do), and spends hours at the grocery store sourcing the perfect sundried tomatoes or ice cream and I go to yarn stores.

Ruth said...

Bruce and the Hubbo are on the same page. They are so funny! Happiness is a guy; they don't think like us!