Dear Bully,

I had a really great experience, recently.  Like all great experiences, it was accomplished with a fair bit of nerves, a lot of mental swearing, and the need for a cold beer and an enchilada afterwards, but that’s the price you pay, you know?

I just taught my first class.  I know!  It was the Grrlfriend Market Bag (Ravelry link).  I’m not going to lie to you, the first hour of the first class was one of the most (as my mother always puts it) character building experiences of my life.  There were a lot of DPNs hitting the floor, is all I’m saying, and a lot of curses muttered under people’s breath. My students were incredibly patient with me, and I did my best to live up to their patience.  I am, shall we say, frequently opinionated about some things.  I had to learn to take a step back and remember to say "well, this is how I did it, but if that’s the way that works for you, then that’s the way you should do it."  I had to rip back some truly impressive tangles.

But you know what?  By the second class, everything was coming together.

It might have helped that the air conditioning was working again, but all of a sudden?  People were actually having fun.  We remembered that we actually like knitting, that we do it because we enjoy it.  That they were taking the class because they wanted to learn something new, and that I actually was there because I wanted to teach it.   Um.  And Marianne was definitely having more fun than most.

These pictures were of the bags that were actually finished that evening, and I hope to get some more to add as some of my other (fantastic) students complete theirs.

(I love how Carol looks like she has the ultimate knitting halo here.)

(Kim looks really proud here, doesn’t she?)

Thanks to all of my wonderful students, who were more patient with me and themselves than I had any right to expect. 

Love,

Emily

Dear Bully,

Psst.  I’ve got a secret to tell you.

I hesitate to do this, I really do.   The last time word about this got out, a shipment of Malabrigo Sock (Ravelry link) was gone before I could even blink.  You guys are voracious.  But for some reason, Hannah has this crazy notion that people need to know when fabulous, delicious new yarns have landed in the shop.

You heard it here, folks.  Straight into our hands, there’s a fresh shipment of beautiful Malabrigo Yarns, hot off the UPS truck.  Step right up, we’ve got Sock, we’ve got Silky Merino, we have a dozen new shades of Original Worsted. 

–Emily

Dear Bully,

It’s hard to believe, but this month, you turn 3 years old!  From your beginnings in the little shop on Gaines Street, to your proud toddler-hood on Lafayette, it’s been a great time.  We have many reasons to celebrate this Spring at Wooly Bully and we didn’t have to look far for an excuse – we have a new little Bully (Mercy, of course), we’re celebrating 3 wonderful years among the knitters in Tallahassee, life is good, AND we’ve just received an abundance of gorgeous yarn. Please join us the evening of Friday, April 10th at Wooly Bully starting at 6pm for festivities.

Dear Bully,

I’ve been thinking alot lately about what sort of project I want to tackle next.  I finished my first grown-up sweater (I know!), and I’m feeling adrift.  Without a huge, mammoth, challenging project to carry around and agonize over, I just don’t feel complete.

I’ve been combing Ravelry, looking at cardigan after cardigan, weighing and measuring raglans versus set-in sleeves, thinking about the slow, steady reassurances of a bottom-up versus the heady thrill of a top-down construction.  I find myself lingering over buttons, and repeatedly measuring my bust and trying to find a way to measure my own shoulders (it’s harder than you’d think). 

Ironically, it took a pick-up truck to show me the light.  Parked at Lindy’s a few days ago, there was this 1980s Dodge pickup, back when they knew that fuel economy be damned, what people really wanted in a vehicle was lots and lots of plate steel.  Huge hood ornament, gleaming chrome bumpers, and an air freshener shaped like a pine tree hanging from the mirror.   The best part of this truck, as it sat there, glistening in the rain, was its color.  It was this intense shade of purple, the kind that grape-scented markers draw, the sort of purple that proclaims that Real Men Wear Purple, and coincidentally, So Does Royalty. 

Alas, I didn’t have my camera with me, so I don’t have any photographic evidence to show you guys.  But the really great part of this is: I already know the yarn that matches.  It’s at the shop, tucked down in a corner.  It’s sitting there, and in the bin it looks like a good Welches Concord Grapey sort of purple.  When you hold it up to the halogen lamp sitting there, it just intensifies, getting darker and deeper.  But lo, when you pull it out of the corner, and face the rest of the shop, uncertainty strikes.  Purple becomes a royal blue, the sort of color that all my fresh school folders would be every September, the color that I painted on my nails in the late 90s (rememeber when?) to give my mother a hard time.  You put it back in the light, it’s purple again.  Take it out, back to blue.    Was there ever a more perfect color for a FLS?

Yep, the February Lady Sweater (Ravelry link).  Oft-knitted (5045 people have knit it as of this post, according to Ravelry), diminuitively sized, and perfect for a Florida knitter.  Air-conditioned offices and movie theaters demand cardigans even at the height of July and August, and throughout October and into our faint-hearted "winters," sometimes that’s all you need.  You can wear it with a sarcastic t-shirt, or color-coordinate it with a dress and shoes and rock an evening wedding.  There’s even one hanging in the shop, which means that someone around here has done it before and could probably help me with that tricky "lace" stuff. 

I’m excited.  This is totally going to happen.  It’ll, y’know, happen on a glacial scale, because it takes me a long time to get around to doing anything, but stay posted.  Just, um….don’t hold your breath or anything.

–Emily

The February Lady Sweater is the design of Pamela Wynn, and can be seen (along with her other patterns) on her blog.

Dear Bully,

     I should explain something.  I am not the woman you might think I am.  I bet you were expecting someone….taller, someone…cheerier, someone…… Erica, right?  Well, unfortunately, I have a shocking secret to unburden upon you.  I am only impersonating Erica today.  I’m actually Emily.

    You might know me as that librarian girl?  Cascade enthusiast?  Reluctant, recalcitrant crocheter?  Chelsea is usually telling me that I’ve gone too far?  I’m there all the time.  Nevermind, it’s okay if you don’t really know me yet.  I’m going to be working to change that in the future. 

     I have some more bad news.  I know, bad to worse, right?  Shhh, it’s okay to be scared.  I’m scared too (it’s been a very long time since I wrote in public).  I promise I’ll be gentle for our first time.  See, Erica is a busy woman.  It’s sort of your fault, for being so gosh-darned successful.  So, keeping in mind that you are the very best Bully you could possibly be, we’ve stepped in to tell you you’re not alone.  Oh, did I mention I’ve brought friends?  There are going to be a few of us dropping by to keep you company.  I won’t tell you who yet, let’s keep some of the mystery in our relationship (also, I don’t have all of them lined up just yet).  But I can promise you that, while they’re not Erica, they are all unparalleled awesome. 

     We’re going to get you some really shiny accessories too.  Pictures, contests, polls, giveaways, until you will just not be able to handle anymore.  Prepare to be ravished with shinies, is what I’m trying to say, Bully dear.

With love and tenderness (and a little bit of trepidation),

Emily