Fastest Knit

We had a wedding shower yesterday for one of the women in my department. It was a casual lunch thing in the break room. I had forgotten that we were doing this until a reminder was sent out last Friday. I could have contributed money to the big group gift that the others in my department were planning. Instead, I decided to knit something. I did a frantic web search for something simple. My first thought was a lace garter. I found what I thought was a simple free pattern. It used crochet cotton and ribbon. Upon closer inspection of the pattern, I realized that there was some hand-sewing required, and I wasn’t really up for that. I continued searching. Then I found the pattern for the Generations Purse. I went to Hobby Lobby after work on Friday to look for yarn and ribbon. I didn’t want to spend a lot on yarn, as I don’t really know the bride that well. I found the perfect inexpensive yarn: Baby Bee Sweet Delight Pomp, which is a Hobby Lobby brand, in a color called Naked. It’s an off-white light-worsted weight acrylic with a satiny thread wrapped around it. For an acrylic, I actually liked working with it. It’s very soft, and not at all squeaky like acrylic can be. For the drawstring, I wanted to use a contrasting color (her wedding colors are ivory and periwinkle), but I couldn’t find ribbon in the right shade of periwinkle, so I opted for a matching off-white satin cord. Here it is!



The amazing thing about it is that I started it Friday night and was finished by Sunday night. Two days! That is definitely the fastest I have every completed a project.

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I went to lunch with the girls today, and as we walked into Papa Keno’s, guess who was walking out? The X. I couldn’t believe it! I must have jinxed myself by reading that old letter I wrote to him. He looked me in the eye, but there didn’t seem to be any recognition. I just brushed past him and he left. That is the first time in almost 3 years that I have run into him. Ugh, how awkward. The sad thing is that the only thing I could think when I saw him was “Oh, I hope he doesn’t recognize me.” Not because I didn’t want to talk to him, but because I am easily 40 lbs. heavier now than I was when we were together. My weight was always so important to him, and it makes me feel weird that he would see me at my present overweight state. I just know he’d think, “Boy, did she let herself go.” I did let myself go after we broke up. And the reason I let myself go was him; a reaction to the horrible pressure he put on me to be thin. Of course he doesn’t know this. He probably wouldn’t care if he did know. There is still this part of me that wants to look thin and gorgeous if I ever see him again. Not because that’s what he would want, but because I would not want him thinking or saying any of the horrible things I’ve heard him say about people he knew who gained weight after he knew them. It’s completely stupid, I know. I’m happily married now. Even if I wasn’t happily married, I would never want him back. I can’t believe that I ever had feelings for him. I think it’s just that wish that all past boyfriends would kick themselves upon seeing me again—that they were missing out something by not being with me. It’s that whole “living well is the best revenge” thing.