I took up knitting so I could shop more.

Every girl loves to shop, and that includes me. I am a self-proclaimed eBay addict. Mysterious packages come to my office at least 2-3 times a week - the receptionist brings them to my desk, "You got another one..." she'll announce wearily. Everything from jeans to purses (big time weakness) to jewelry to iPods and cameras - I've done it eBay. I even bought a car on eBay (last time I'll try and find a bargain for a car!).

The 1988 Saab 900 Turbo was shiny and red with tan interior. I was in love. I had to have it. It was only $1250 with no bids (should have been a clue, but I'm not that sharp). I had just been in an accident, totalling my gramma's hand-me-down 1985 WHITE Ford LTD (sharp! not!) and I gotta say, although I missed my gramma terribly, I was overjoyed to get the phone call from the insurance company that they were going to total the car.

So, I bought the Saab. It was from Idaho, and the seller was willing to DRIVE it down here to San Francisco, to the mechanic's shop. I figured if he was willing to take it on a road trip like that, it must have been in ok shape. Well, $3000 later at the mechanic's, I picked up my dreamy dream car and was on my way. Not such a bargain anymore! I had the car for about 3 years, and it probably ended up costing me $10,000 over the three years - from purchase to the time it just simply died in an intersection near my office and I had it towed away to the junkyard. The next day, I bought my friend Stacy's Lexus, which I love and have no trouble with. Live and learn!

So, now I stick to small things on eBay - no more cars for me. You wonder what this story has to do with knitting?

I picked up knitting last weekend while relaxing in the mountains east of Sonora, CA because my friend Stacy had picked it up a few months ago and it looked like fun. I needed another hobby to shop for! After all, there's a Michael's Crafts almost walking distance from my office! Right next door to my favorite burrito shop.

So, I started knitting. Luckily, I'm recently single so I have more time to knit! (what a way to put a positive spin on a really crappy situation, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.) Another fortunate situation (please note the sarcasm) was that I had to sit for 8 hours (split between two nights, but again, single, so I had time for this) in traffic school. 8 long, boring hours. Thank GOD I knew how to knit. I had a nice teacher, and he let me knit. I got teased, but I just kept knitting. And look what I made!

I call it my Traffic School Pubic Hair scarf. Why the name, you ask? Well, I was on my way to my first night of traffic school, I stopped off at Michael's (I had left my needles and yarn in the mountains with my mother because she got into it) and bought what I thought was very pretty, oatmealy yarn with cool random threads running through it. As I was knitting and knitting, I realized that the cool random threads looked just like...you guessed it...pubes. Now, I can't look at it without thinking of that. Guess I'll give the scarf away and my friend will enjoy it until she realizes that it reminds her of pubes. This is all I made of the scarf, by the way. I was learning how to do a stockinette stitch, and realized that I didn't like it because of its tendency to curl at the edges.

Now, exactly a week later, I popped onto eBay shopping for an official knitting bag. Could I use any one of the 30 or so purses I have on the top shelf of my closet? Probably. Did I want to? No. I wanted a new, pretty bag I could use for knitting. Look what I got! Pretty cute, huh? Hmmm...wonder what else I absolutely MUST have for my new hobby?

Oh, PS - I haven't knitted a stitch today. I could be more into the shopping for the hobby than into the hobby itself. Imagine that. I may try a seed stitch today - just as soon as I bid on this fabulous Coach purse I have my eye on...