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Sparkle (0)
The house I was brought home to as a newborn was the home I grew up in and lived in until I married. I never had to think about what "home" meant. Then we moved to DC and three states over the next 8 or so years-finally landing in Gainesville, Florida with 2 kids and a third due within a month or so. We divorced about 2 years later.
I moved into a rental home in Gainesville, one I had chosen with no help from anyone. Soon Denise and two of the big kids joined us. We lived in that house for six years. It was the right size house for our "Lesbian Brady Bunch" family. We liked the back yard. We liked the neighborhood. I am not sure either of us would have called it "home" except in the "It's good to be home." when we returned from a trip or "When will the little kids be home?" kind of way. It was the Flamingo House. We were in love and happy. We were busy raising a family and working.
I worked for a few years at the University of Florida and made some friends. Once I stopped working there-I would meet those friends for coffee dates. My now boss had known me from when I worked at iVillage (she had also worked with Denise) and lived in town. Our kids went to preschool together. My youngest and her youngest planned wedding each other for a while. We would have coffee from time to time. We "knew" a lot of people in town because of various kid activities-but our friends generally were online-especially friends of us as a couple.
We aren't super social people. Our Starbucks baristas still know more about what we look like on a regular basis than our friends.
Denise read a lot of blogs back then. (She still does.) She read Snarkland for one reason or another-something connected to UU I think.
One day I decided to learn to knit so I could make some socks for Denise. Space Invader Socks. It was 2007, Sock Day was coming. Surely, I had decided to make these socks and therefore I would. I knew nothing about knitting. I emailed Denise's mother who said "Socks? How about a scarf? Socks are hard"
Denise recommended I ask Lorena. I said Lorena who? She said "You know, Snarkland. She lives in Gainesville and knits." I rolled my eyes.
I went to Michaels. I got some (nasty) metal needles and sport weight stretchy blue yarn and the Stitch and Bitch book. I taught myself to cast on. (using a video on YouTube and careful reading of that page in the Stitch and Bitch Book.) I knit a few rows.
I went to my first knitting group in Gainesville meeting the next day. I did NOT want to go. Strangers. New knitter. I did not want to go. Lorena was there. Sharon was there. They sat in the shade at the book store that day-knitting, spinning, talking, welcoming us into their group. I went again each week-steadily getting better and better needles and needing less rescue from the others. We moved inside the used book store-then to the Books-a-Million.
Then an announcement-Lorena, Sharon and Ginger were opening a real live yarn store, Hanks Yarn and Fiber . I wouldn't need to go to the one that told me I was buying needles that were too good for my kids. I would have a place every day to go with my knitting crisis.
Not only were they opening a store-it was literally a 3 minute drive from my house. I could have walked or biked if I were a crunchier type. They had coffee and Wi-Fi-I am sure just for Denise and boy child, who loved going to the weekly stitch and bitch as much as I did even though neither knits. They tolerated my bouncing child.(though I think sometimes they really wanted to grab a skein of yarn and tie her down) They welcomed the older boy child, the half child, Michelle belle, the loud child-the whole family. We got invited to a New Year's Eve party. (We didn't go-we didn't know then...) We found a place in town, friends, and Gainesville imperceptibly became "home."
We moved to the Chicago area. I still am a novice knitter. Lorena came right before our first Thanksgiving and took the fear out of a few yarn shops for us. We like the people at Three Bags Full nearby-but haven't ever gone to their
