The Knitter and The Young Man

Based on a true story...

Once upon a time, there was a knitter who knew a young man. The young man saw the things that the knitter knit, and admired them, and mentioned that he would like a hat.

So the knitter considered her knitting-in-progress, and her queue of projects, and concluded that it would be nice to knit a hat for this young man. It wouldn’t be too difficult or time-consuming, and she did have the right yarn in her stash. So, she knit him a hat.

(It happened that the hat had a rather tricky beginning, which resulted in several false starts, but this was not really a crisis of major proportions, and the hat was successfully completed, in a timely manner.)

The hat was gifted, the young man expressed his gratitude (thereby earning several Knitter Points), and life went on.

A few months later, the young man mentioned that he would like a scarf.

Again, the knitter considered her knitting-in-progress, and her queue of projects. She reflected that other friends and family were also hoping for knitted objects, and acknowledged that she was rather slow at her craft. She decided that the young man would simply have to wait for his scarf.

Christmas rolled around, and the knitter attended an Event, where she saw the young man. He was wearing the very hat she had knitted for him! Seeing it snug on his head gave her immense pleasure, and she awarded the young man a few more Knitter Points.

They chatted, and he revealed that there was a Local Yarn Shop very near his home, and he had visited it one day. He had been surprised to see so many cars in the parking lot on a Saturday morning, and to see that there was a potluck taking place in the shop. The knitter was not surprised at all to hear about the potluck (knitters do like a good get-together); she was a bit surprised to hear that the young man had actually visited the store. (She added a few more Knitter Points to his tally, for sheer bravery.)

Christmas gifts were exchanged. The knitter opened a gift from the young man, and laughed – the young man had wrapped a box that had once held a drill. She had enough experience to know the box no longer contained that drill, and wondered what she would find inside.

She opened the box, and discovered:

Yarn!!!

Further discussion revealed that the young man had not only gone to the yarn store, but he had also spoken to the owner and discussed the knitter’s typical projects. At the recommendation of the owner, he actually bought six skeins of a well-known workhorse yarn, which the knitter would enjoy putting to Good Use.

The knitter gave the young man a gazillion more Knitter Points, and mentally moved his scarf upward in her knitting queue (not quite to the top; she remembered that knits for babies outrank most other kinds of knitting).

Let the reader take note, and heed the example of the young man: there are ways to win the heart of a knitter!