It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a woman about to undergo a cycle of fertility treatment, must be in want of distraction.
Over the weekend, I attended a 'learn to knit' workshop. I can now cast on, knit, purl, cast off and read a simple pattern. Armed with this new knowledge, I plan to make a scarf. Secretly, I imagine myself as Madame Defarge from Charles Dickens's French Revolutionary novel A Tale of Two Cities. Madame Defarge was one of those strong, revolutionary women who so fascinated and appalled nineteenth-century commentators such as Dickens. She incorporates into her knitting the names of those whom she considers to be enemies of the revolution, but as I click slowly away with my needles, I think of all those who have offered me their unsolicited assvice on the topic of my infertility - were I to include all of their names in my knitting, it would be a very long scarf!
Mr H is claiming a sudden allergy to anything made out of wool (my new-found hobby has uncovered some hitherto repressed memories of being forced as a child to wear a succession of misshapen, stratchy tank tops knitted for him by his grandmother). He is, however, currently re-reading the final Harry Potter novel, and so has taken to appropriating my knitting needles to use in the manner of a wand. 'Pregnum!' he exclaimed optimistically after dinner last night, pointing his makeshift wand in the direction of my abdomen. 'Prrrrregnum!'
Would that were all it took!
11 comments:
O M G
you almost made coffee shoot out my nose with that final line.
*snort*
And yes, if it were only that easy..*sigh*
Love that spell!! Hmmm, no knitting needles around here — think DH could use a tampon instead? :)
—Lisa at Infertile Ground
Hahahaha!!! You should go ahead and copyright that term... if it works, you could be a multi millionaire :)
Have fun with the knitting!
Enjoy the knitting - for me it is sewing, quilting actually - it takes me away from the reality and the waiting, lets the mind wander.
And here is to hoping that we can all be Prrrregnum!! ASAP.
Brilliant little post, from start to finish. Knitting is a great distraction and is so wonderful. If you feel inclined, I would highly recommend picking up any book by Elizabeth Zimmerman. She is fabulous and I think of her as the Jane Austen of knitting - she is so clever and fun to read. Her patterns are great, too, and are a great way to learn new techniques and little tricks.
Ha! If it works, please ask him to point the knitting needle at a map of the US, approximately at the middle.
Finally, some needles that we know do something useful. :)
Love the Madame Defarge imagery! Here's wishing you all the best and then some with the upcoming cycle. In the meantime, distract away!!
Shit. Now if this cycle doesn't work, I'm going to know it's because we didn't do the Harry Potter spell. Damn. Every cycle I learn something new I should have been doing.
Of course, the other problem is that I'm now halfway in love with your husband. Don't tell anyone.
What a wonderful hobby to take up! It's portable, time consuming and best of all, you actually have a finished product at the end. Let us know if your husband's spell works. He could make some serious money.
Oh how I wish it could be like that. I really could use a magic wand right now. I love knitting and I think it is a great way to distract but also you feel like you have something you've accomplished!
I took up surfing as a displacement activity between cycles. Sadly, it doesn't work well once the cycle starts.
I tried knitting as a kid. My grandmother was crafty and I was a flop at every craft I tried. I could never cast on more than one row so I ended up with these super long knitted strings. The world's longest cat toys. So, I'm in awe of anyone who can fashion so much as a scarf.
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