Bonus knitting

In a roundabout way, Sacha Baron Cohen is responsible for my modest progress on scarf #3. The Borat star was supposed to be in town Thursday to tape an appearance on the visting production of The Daily Show. The regional advertising firm promoting his film set up a Borat pep rally at Ohio State prior to the taping. As a member of the media, I was invited to shoot the craziness.

I chose not to solicit any student help because the event was taking place during crunch time before our weekly newscast. I'm sure I wouldn't have had any trouble finding a willing volunteer, but I would have been a bad executive producer to pull someone off a more important task. I knew Kristin might like to tag along. She wasn't quite as high on Borat as I was after two viewings, but she enjoyed it a lot. She accepted my invitation to join me as my assistant--I'd have her carry some batteries or a tripod--and we planned to meet at 3:30 at the movie theater about a mile from the event location.

Meanwhile, I received a call informing me that the 4:00 check-in was pushed back due to an unspecified reason. It was a cold afternoon, and there was no sense in standing outside for any time longer than was necessary. Kristin and I popped into the coffee shop to warm up and talk while we waited. The publicist called shortly after 4:00 to say that Cohen's plane had just left New York City. Keep in mind that the event had been scheduled for 4:30-5:30, and The Daily Show people wanted him at 5:30. It doesn't take an air traffic controller to foresee that this Borat pep rally was probably going to occur without the guest of honor.

What else could we do? Knit in public, of course! Since we were going to stay in the area after the event for a Flushed Away screening, I'd brought my knitting in case we had a lot of extra time. Of course Kristin had some of her own as well, so we shifted to an available table and started knitting.

Despite my attempts to make friends with the purple yarn, it was behaving like an adversary. I would knit a couple stitches, or maybe as much as a row, before needing Kristin's assistance. I slowed my pace more, working as deliberately and attentively as possible. I made some headway but not nearly at the rate at which I knitted my first two scarves.

While we sat there working on our projects, an older woman approached us to say how happy she was to see us knitting. She asked if we were doing something for charity. Kristin told her that we were knitting Christmas gifts. I'm sure this woman would have fallen over in delight if Kristin had said that as a matter of fact we were knitting winter essentials for orphans.

This was the first time anyone said anything to me (or both of us) while I was knitting in public. I've been surprisingly at ease doing this, and it's fun to knit, talk, and listen. As much as I've enjoyed the times Kristin and I have knitted in public, I wouldn't be caught dead doing it on my own. I've gained some confidence but not that much. Kristin has mentioned something to the effect that women will like that I'm a knitter. (I have a sense that this stranger got a kick out of seeing me fumbling with the needles.) That's not why I'm doing it, but I won't complain if it makes me look better. I can use all the help I can get, although hopefully knitting has more cachet with women a few decades too young for AARP.

I received one more phone call from the publicist, who told me that there was almost no chance of Cohen/Borat making an appearance. The next day I heard that approximately one thousand people turned out for the event--very nice!--but didn't get to see the comedian. His flight didn't land until almost 6:00. (He made it to The Daily Show for a so-so performance in character.)

As it turned out, Borat wasn't the only no-show for the evening. Kristin's husband was supposed to join us for Flushed Away but couldn't make it. We still had plenty of time on our hands, and Barnes & Noble was just a short walk from the coffee shop. Kristin pointed out the books reviewed on her site--not all of them, mind you, although several new releases made the grade--and showed me the knitting books and magazines. On casual observation, it appears that there are more books about knitting for dogs than those aimed at male knitters. (My mom would love it, but so help me, I don't know that I can knit for my parents' pet.) And who knew there were so many knitting magazines?

After getting a quick dinner, seeing the movie, and lugging back to the station the thousands of dollars of video equipment that had been in my trunk, I tried to work some more on my third scarf. Any bets on what happened? That's right, not long after I picked up the needles I messed up and couldn't figure out what needed to be fixed.

Next..scarf #3 is put on hiatus.