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March 7, 2005

An Unmarried Woman

Knitting in the round is awesome. You're garter-stitching the whole time, so I can watch TV without goofing up. I'm not making mad progress on my Noro Basket weave/checkerboard scarf because I'm only doing it on the bus, where I can fully concentrate on the pattern. Becky at skinnyrabbit.com is able to knit and read a book at the same time, which freaks my shit out. How do you knit and read? Good grief, overachievers! I can barely knit and watch TV. But all garter stitch in the round ... now we're talking.

I got through two TiVo'd documentaries, some old CSI and the best 1978 movie ever, "An Unmarried Woman" starring Jill Clayburgh as a woman whose husband leaves her after 16 years of marriage. She dates and goes to "analysis" and basically lives it up in the freewheeling 70s when, apparently, nobody had herpes or AIDS or body image issues.

As I sat on the sofa in my most comfortable clothes (read: ugly, ugly clothes) with a cat on my lap and another at my feet, I spent the entire day watching Bad TV while knitting away, and it suddenly dawned on me how peaceful and happy I was. Gasp! Did I say, "Happy"??

So, apparently, it is possible to have a happy moment when you are the dreaded Unmarried Woman. A truly peaceful, happy moment! I was glad I could recognize this aberrant emotion, happiness, because I have been numbingly unhappy for so long.

I wouldn't say I'm ready to pull a Jill Clayburgh or anything freewheelin' and footloose. But at least I had one really, really nice day all on my own. It's a start. String a few of those together and it wouldn't be half bad.

Posted by laurie at March 7, 2005 5:03 PM