Connections

See this little ball of yarn? I bought it at Michael's a couple of weeks ago. I love pink - I know, very Barbie - but never wear it. And when I saw this yarn, I pretended it was the stretch factor that made me buy it. But I think it really was the color.

I cast on a sock the other day and have been happily knitting. As I knit, there are so many thoughts running through my mind all inspired by the yarn. The pink/white /gray blend has me humming "A White Sports Coat" as I knit. This was a song that was played a lot at dances when I was in junior high. Probably because it had the proper timing for the fox-trot (I think). So, there I am singing along with Marty Robbins in my head and running the video from those long-ago dances.

But the memories don't stop there. In fact, they go back even farther. When I was in Grade 5, the boy who sat next to me, Barry, was a sartorial inspiration. I thought it amazing that he actually had a job - remember, we were 9 or 10 at the time. He was a pinsetter at the local bowling alley which seemed a pretty exotic life to me. But, even, more wonderful were the clothes that he bought. With his own money!

My favorite outfit was a pair of charcoal pants with a white shirt and a pale pink V-neck pullover. To this day, that is the only picture of Barry that I can conjure up in my mind. I'm pretty sure it was the pink sweater that made the outfit so memorable. Maybe it was because I'd never seen pink on a boy before?