Carbon Copies

A good name is rather to be chosen than riches. -- King Solomon

I had a couple of interesting encounters yesterday. On the way to the supermarket, we stopped in at a Staples because I wanted to have a look for a few supplies. While wandering through the aisles, I came upon this:

If you were born anytime after 1985 (and yeah, I realize there a lot of you whipper snappers out there), you probably have no idea what this is. This, young ones, is where the "cc" comes from in your emails... if you are still emailing, that is (can you cc someone on Instagram? I don't know). For those of the same vintage as me, you are probably as shocked as I am that you can even buy carbon paper anymore. I remember relishing in pulling out a fresh sheet of it, carefully placing it in between two sheets of paper so I could duplicate my document, and then making sure I used every square millimetre of it before I would get a new one. I was so delighted that I picked up the packet, and scanned the aisle to find someone to whom I could exclaim my delight. An older lady was over looking at the day timers, and I trotted over and exclaimed, "Look what I found!"

I guess it's a bit shocking to be accosted by a random stranger pushing carbon paper into your face, but I think, after the initial shock, she took it quite well. "Oh, well look at that," she finally said, after blinking a few times.

"I know!" I continued. "I just have to buy it!

"Well yes," she said with a (forced) smile. "You should keep it as a souvenir of the good ol' days," she said, before slowly rolling her shopping cart away from me.

I guess not everyone is as pleased with this stuff as I am. And I am planning to use it. It's useful for transferring patterns onto canvas and onto fabric. Though, I only have 12 sheets of it... I feel the need to use it sparingly. Of course, I could always make my way back to Staples to get some more... just think of the next poor soul who will get to witness my excitement.

My other interesting encounter was at the supermarket later on, when I scanned my rewards card at the till and the lady behind it exclaimed, "Hey, you spell your name the same way I do!" I looked at her name tag, and wouldn't ya know it: another Adriene. "I've never met another one! It only took my ENTIRE life to find another person who spelled their name the same as me."

And that is how I met my OWN carbon copy.

You must understand: I am FOREVER spelling my name out to people. "No, just one 'n'," I say. "A-D-R-I-E... no E, no A... A-D-R-I-E-N-E..."

Sometimes, I say the last few letters quickly, just to keep people from trying to add -AN at the end of my name. It comes out, "A-D-R-I-eee-ehn-eeeee."

And then, nobody can pronounce my name. "Adri-AANN." "Adri-EHHHNN." I'm often called "Andrea." One enterprising person called me "Arlene," which I have yet to figure out.

At Starbucks, I tell them my name is Lisa. It's easier and faster, which is important when caffeine is involved.

So to meet someone with the same name, and who understood what it's like to be spelling your name day after day, was enough to really lift up my day. Sometimes, the world is really lonely. It felt kinda nice to find another Adriene. "Bye, Name Buddy!" I said as I left.

Yes, I take whatever joy I can get.

Meanwhile, my Over-and-Over Top continues. I was really hoping to have the second side finished and blocked by today so that I could start seaming up the sides, but I am still knitting and re-knitting sections of it. I did manage to wash and block the first side yesterday. I took this photo looking upward from the bottom edge, so it looks a little wider at the bottom than it actually is. It is a bit longer than I planned, but it will still be totally wearable:

You'll notice that I still have the needle at the top end. The yoke isn't deep enough to reach over my shoulders, so I'm keeping the stitches live so I can add a few extra inches at the top, probably with the same colour that I used for the bottom ribbing. I don't want to start it yet until I get it sewn up the sides so that I can try it on and see how much I need to knit. I am quite pleased, though, that the second side is matching up nicely with my first side... not quite a carbon copy, but a very good mirror image:

I think I'll give colourwork a rest for the next project. I'm liking the idea of knitting something with one boring colour... Perhaps something in carbon grey...

And I'll name the project Arlene... you know... after me...

Have a great week!