(Almost) Anything for You, My Love

Dave’s birthday was Sunday, but he’s been working long hours so we celebrated last night. I did him a favor and did NOT cook. Instead I took him out for seafood - his choice.

His gift was a bit harder. He’s been yearning for a new PDA or laptop (he can’t decide which), and a new main sail for the Odyssey, and a new bike, and to take an advanced week-long sailing course off the Florida coast. (Dave never yearns for anything that costs less than $600. These items start in the $1,000 range.) Of all of the items on his wish list, the only one I could possibly knit is a sail.




Okay, so I don’t have the fortitude to knit Dave a sail, but that’s because I’d have to use acrylic yarn.

I would so knit a sail for the Odyssey if sails were made of natural fibers. But alas, natural fibers BREATHE, and the purpose of a sail is to catch the wind.

Just so you know, I offered to felt him a sail. I did. Luckily, he laughed at that. (Occasionally, sails get wet. Imagine the stink.)

To be honest, the thought of knitting and felting a sail for our 23 foot sailboat was a bit daunting. One drawback to a felted sail is that I would have to knit the sail REALLY BIG so I could shrink it down to size. Another drawback is finding a washing machine big enough for the job. Main sails are BIG, people.





Then there’s the attention span factor. I’m having trouble picturing myself staying with the project long enough to get it off the needles – UNLESS of course I kept it interesting. I could probably knit a sail if it had cables or bobbles. Imagine a sail designed by Maggie Jackson. It might look something like this pillow (scroll down).

I love knitting lace. I could maybe knit a sail made of lace. Imagine a harbor on Independence Day full of tall ships with lace sails.

However, lace by definition has holes, and we’re looking for a fabric that will catch the wind, not filter it.

So, you see, in the end it did not make sense to give Dave a hand-knit gift for his birthday this year. Maybe next year.

If by now you're thinking: "Poor Dave. Susan does not love him enough to give him his heart’s desire," you’re wrong. I’m just not going to write about that sort of thing here. My children read this blog. Let’s keep it clean, people!