So Much to Learn

Well shoot, shoot, crud or what have you. Girlfriend scored a single Pokemon card from the local Burger King (in a kid's meal) and now she wants to know how to play the game. Game? Game? I have no idea about that one. I can show you Candy Land or maybe Dominoes or perhaps Monopoly, which I can't stand, for your information, but Pokemon? I thought the kids simply traded them willy nilly and there were no rules except for maybe you had a duplicate or maybe one that was significantly more sparkly than the other one or maybe you just didn't like the leggings on Ms. Pikachualicious or something like that, so you organized a trade then went to school.

We just called up a neighbor kid and asked him to come over and explain the game to us. He trotted in bearing a huge binder full over plastic covered Pokemon cards, and after about 10 minutes we realized he didn't know what the heck was going on, either. We are all in the Pokemon Dark.

Actually, I'm sort of kidding. But it seems to me this Pokemon card game has a lot in common with a bevy of other needle arts. I was just sitting in my every-eight-week's Temari class and I tell you what. Those stitchers, the ones in the group who do a lot needlepoint certainly know a thing or two about stuff I have no idea about. Like, did you know that they have tools to lay down threads? Huh? They have tools to lay down threads! Needle threaders, I understand. But Thread Lay-ers (or whatever they call them)? Who'd have thunk? They also have these little plastic boxes with little sponges in them. I have no idea what they use those for.

They also have special packets, little sandwich bags for their DMC threads. I mean, they could have probably purchased snack packets with no problem, but these, they have spaces on the fronts for info like color lot, color number and type of thread. Oy. And get this: the would-be snack packets get threaded through these big metal loops so they stay together in a neat little pile. The gals who come to class have little baggies with all their threads perfectly twirled into little swirls. I can only hope I can ever come close to that kind of "mise en place." But, to tell you the truth, if I manage to arrive with the appropriate colors in the first place, I am totally on the mark and there's nothing stopping me.

I have a copy of the book, Custom Knits! Here is a pic of the front and the back. I am speechless. I just hope that there are a few knitters out there who will appreciate a little knitted bikini cover - slash - teeny tiny dress. . . .(available end of August!)

Comments

[Jeanette]

Oh Wendy, I will wear that back look as a DRESS. That's what I love about your designing-- I'm young and you seem to design things that make girls look hot, not frumpy.

Though let's be real, a tiny mesh dress isn't exactly right for all occasions. (But you bet I'll find an occasion).

[Jennifer]

Hoorah for the book! Congratulations. I'm with you on Monopoly (most board games, actually). And as the Mom of a 9-year-old boy, those cards. Oh, Lord, those cards. I don't even know if my son ever learned how to play, exactly. But I just kept telling him I had NO interest in them and did not want to hear about them, and I would never dole out my cash to buy them. Eventually, the interest faded.

[Lisa]

I'm going to wear it as a dress too! I'll take one of the guy behind it too! I don't think I anticipated Christmas as a child with this much excitement!!

[Melissa]

I love that little dress! Surely I'll be able to find some excuse to wear it out.
Also, I hate Monopoly. I own it simply because it came in a tin and I have a deep rooted affinity for all things in tins, and I have on occasion had a hard time steering guests away from that and towards, say, Clue or Scrabble, but I remain firm in my distaste for the game.

[pixie]

what a great idea for a bakini cover! I am very excited about your book and will get a copy as soon as it's out :)

[beverlyanne]

COngratulations on the book. I would jump on that bikinicover/dress in 2 seconds if I were 20 years younger or maybe just 30 pounds lighter.

[Darlene]

yay wendy!!! i can't wait to get my hands on a copy of your book! any chance i can get an autographed one?

well as for pokemon, my son (who's now 13) knows how to play. he tried to explain it to me but it was beyond my poke-hension level.

thing is i just called him to see if he can give me a quick how-to. without finding out why i wanted to know, he accused me going burger king without him and carried on. he's withholding info on the game. so..guess what i'm having for dinner.

[sue Treiber]

my son has tried to explain it to me, but I always glaze over and start to drool 15 seconds into the Pokemon discussion. I remain blissfully clueless.
Can't wait to see what's between the covers :)

[Katinka]

I bet Girlfriend would like Webkinz. I held off on getting my daughter one for a long time, thinking that it would require too much "parental involvement" from me (bad mom!), but the online world is quite easy to figure out, and a lot of fun.

Will they let you show us more sneak peeks of the book? Or better yet, add them to Ravelry? Seriously, I bet it would be a great boost to sales -- it looks like a gorgeous book!

[Emily]

Looking forward to your book (still!) - I'm thinking the sponge thing is for wetting the ends of thread/floss to make it easier to thread through the needle? That's all I can think of, although I tend to use saliva for that purpose...

[Clumsy Knitter]

Oh the cruelty of having to wait so long for your book!!! I'll be snapping it up and knitting up a storm as soon as I get my hands on it!

[kittykitty]

http://www.sierrascollectibles.com/pokemon_rules.htm

There is a link if you really want to learn how to play pokemon cards. Maybe you could convince Girlfriend that she would just like to play pokemon on her DS? It would be much cheaper in the long run.

The game isn't hard, but the person who has the rarest cards will always win. And most gamers play with the rule that the person who wins gets to choose a card from the losers set to keep. So if you really get into it you will soon realize that you have a huge investment in cards since you are always after the rare or the foil card.

In the old day with Mage: The Gathering the joke was that the cards were laced with drugs because there was no other reason for people to carry around 10-15K in a deck of cards. Pokeman cards though not as bad still are insane. For example one card you can only get if you fly on the Pokeman airplane in JP. Or there is an early first gen set of bugs that were given as a gift by the prime minister.

Congrats on getting a copy of the book. I can not wait to see it in person. :)

[Amber]

I pre-ordered my book months ago - it's so exciting to see someone holding the finished product! Now I just want that *someone* to be me!

[Lynae]

My son had those, never learned the game, and now is into Magic cards. I think they play it at the after school program where their "teachers" were high school guys.

Congrats on the book!

[lynda]

Yea for the book! It's finally, ALMOST here!

Back in the day when I was making smocked dresses nonstop for the girls (I clearly had not learned to knit yet) - I had all my DMC floss like that. I'm just wound that way :o)

That fine collection of DMC has now been scavenged into nonexistance by the same girls, (now that they're too old for smocked dresses and theirs are all tucked safely away in the cedar chest) and made into many a friendship bracelet.

[Karen]

I tell you what... there's one knitter's sweetie who will DEFINITELY appreciate a (brief) (ahem) dress.

Thanks for making knitting sultry again.

[Laura]

The book looks beautiful, and I can't wait to own my own copy. The cover patterns are gorgeous!
As for Pokemon, I'm blissfully unaware. I have a friend who said something at a party like, "If my kids were into something normal like pot, I'd understand, but nothing prepared me for Pokemon." I'm pretty sure he was exagerating, but the kids nuttiness with these cards obviously gets on his nerves. Hopefully, Girlfriend won't take it so seriously.

[Miz Booshay]

I wonder what the ladies at the local knitting store will think of your book.

Won't they be surprised to find a celeb in their midst!!!

It looks wonderful!
I am so happy for you!

[rudee]

The back cover looks very ooh-la-la. My daughter would love that.

[mary]

How do you get 50 Pikachu on a bus?
You poke 'em on! (get it?)
How to actually play? No idea, but my 11 year old boy *might*. Can't wait for your book!

[Sue]

Can't wait for the book! It looks fabulous, and just my type of knits. I'll definitely be buying one.
Pokemon? What's that? My kid was into Ninja Turtles back in the early 80's. I still have them boxed up in the garage waiting for him to get married, so he can take ownership of all this stuff.
Congrats! on the book. I'm sure it will be a winner.

[Rene']

Congratulations on the book!
I can't wait to get my hands on it! :)

[debe]

Ooohhh the antici...pation over your book! It looks fabulous, I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!

[Dannette]

I am just amazed that Pokemon has lasted this long. About 8 or 9 years ago my kids sort of asked about it. I told them that fads come and go and we choose which ones we want to participate in. Mommy wanted to sit this one out, and we consider the next fad as it came along.

They never asked again!

The book looks amazing!!

[(formerly) no-blog-rachel]

Oh yay! Congratulations! Can't wait to check it out.