I almost just got a tattoo. But then I got an oil change instead.
This grown-up stuff? Meh. Weighing priorities and all that can be DULL. (But I suppose I made up for it by yarn shopping this morning. My friend Lynn sent me six hanks as a house-warming present, lovely, gorgeous stuff, and I wanted a couplethree more so I can play around with a sweater. I think I’m going to base it on the Retro-Prep, my favorite standby, but run some cables through the stripes. Throw convention to the winds. I’ve never used Manos, and when I knitted a swatch (on glorious fat 5(US) needles, hooray!), it was stunning, almost heady.) I’m glad I remembered that last parenthesis.
Speaking of tattoos, I still want the yarn one, the sheepy one, but I want a smaller simpler one first. I found a nice-looking store just around the corner from my house, and the guy inside was super sweet just a few minutes ago. I asked him what the hours were, and he said, “Eleven till eight. Every day. Except sometimes we come in later. And then sometimes we have band practice, so we close, but we’ll totally stay open late for you if you want.” I’m SO getting my tat done there. I also want to incorporate somehow the number 262, to commemorate the 26 point damn 2 miles I ran last week, you know? Yup. Any ideas?
But I needed an oil change more than a tattoo. Dern it. Maybe after Christmas.
Doesn’t being a grown-up with grown-up priorities just suck sometimes? I need an oil change too, but I’m lazy. And I need a headlight changed, too. And my inside driver-side doorhandle doesn’t work, so I’ve been rolling down the window and opening it from the outside for months now. I’m one classy girl.
26 point damn 2. You make me laugh. And damn, that’s a LOT of miles. I never said congrats (at least if I did, I forgot…), so congratulations!
That is going to be a freaking awesome tattoo.
I’m overlooking the fact that you knit Manos on 5s.
I bet the tattoo guy could put a stylized version of the numbers right into the design, so that it didn’t have a number just sitting there, making people think you have 261 other tattoos…the mouth looks like a good place for them to perch! The top part of the teeth already looks like a 2, so I bet he could tuck them in there maybe?
How about a Tiki god changing your oil. Grownup and yet so chic and rebellious all at once. Happy Holidays, Rachael. Peace and love to you and yours in the New Year!
Probably better not to mess with the Tiki – Maori don’t like it when people mess with their sacred symbols. Just have one done, numbers separate. Tiki don’t have teeth, BTW, that’s the tongue sticking out.
Speaking of which, I’m off to NZ this very evening.
Best wishes to you and Lala
OK, lone voice in a Hip wilderness here, but nooooo don’t get a tatooooooo. Really. I did some nursing work at a VA, and man, once you have seen a tatoo on an eighty to ninety year old body, you never think of getting one again. really. And, they hurt. And, oh, well, you’ll get one if you want one. But thanks for letting me comment. What color Manos? That, and Kureyon, are the yarns that made me want to learn to spin.
I recently confessed the fact that I want a tattoo to someone who was rendered speechless. I thought that was a good sign! Go for it, girl, although I do kind of hope it’s not someplace where everybody gets to see it.
And you might want to check more than just the nice-ness of the guys in the shop. I’m thinking BBB comments and particularly cleanliness issues. There are some really nice, really unsanitary, folks out there!
Manos is wonderful, but I gotta warn you — it pills worse than Patons Classic Merino. I dunno what the answer is (knit an extra right sleeve?) but at least don’t be surprised by it.
26.2 sounds like a GREAT tattoo, as well as a great idea for knitting into a scarf or something….
Merry Christmas!!!
Same goes about cleanliness – sanitary check!
But I think you could put 26 stars around your tiki – and a last little star for the .2
just my two cents.
That’s exactly why you should get a tatoo, to commemorate something significant and life changing.
My own tatoos represent the time I was stupid in New Orleans, another time I was stupid when in love, another time I was stupid and caught up in a new friendship and a time I was stupid at a job. The point being….
You’re doing the right thing thinking about it for a while, working hard on your own design, and letting it sit. My tatoos were commerating important things but they only becamse stupid when I rushed into it. I don’t regret them, but would like to look back and say I did what you’re doing.
So have fun. Don’t take it too seriously; Don’t worry about it. Let it grow organically in your mind til you know it’s right.
I second the Manos-pilling comment. I think it is best for scarves and afghans and such, things that dont get a lot of wear and tear. I have a sweater in raspberry Manos that is so disintegrated it makes me look like a Dickensian street urchin.
Tattoos: as someone who cant even decide on an ice cream flavor at Ben and Jerry’s I applaud anyone who can make that kind of a committment. One little know benefit of tattoos: if you get chicken pox, no poxes will appear on the tattooed skin. (My ex-boyfriend found this out the hard way…)
I second the checking out the tattoo shop. Before I got my first one, I talked to everyone I knew who had at least 2 tattoos for recommendations. I kept getting the same 2 names and since one was literally in my backyard, I went to the shop to check him out. He was great and had some very sensible suggestions about getting your first tattoo.
First, make sure the design is something you can live with for the rest of your life. Second, place your first one somewhere only you (or a loved one) can see. My first one went on my right hip. My second one is at the base of my spine and is only visible if my sweater rides up when I bend over. My third one is the largest and it sits on my left hip. I am planning my fourth and it will somehow connect the first and second.
And yes, they can hurt for about the first 30 to 60 seconds. It depends on your pain tolerance. My tolerance to pain is pretty high so my tattoos didn’t hurt. The colors stay bright if the body area where the design is located is not exposed to sunlight. Just remember that tattoos are addictive just like yarn!
And I love Manos. I have always used it for felting but I just made a poncho out of it and it is great.
Odd for me to see that tiki again, I grew up with a brass Tiki plate on the living room wall and a pendant in my jewellery box. Fond memories… I could see the little guy sat comfortably near a 26.2m.
I know I’ve said this before, but for you, and anyone else in the Bay Area, I highly recommend Pirate Tattoo on 23rd near Valencia in SF. Sasha’s nice, up on sanitation standards, and can even help design and draw your piece. Plus it’s women owned and operated, which is always a bonus.
Dickensian street urchin. Heh. That one cracks me up…But also makes me a little sad as I am currently making a sweater with Manos. Bummer.
Anywho, I’m thinking that Tiki guy reminds me of the Brady Bunch episode in Hawaii. Or is it just me?
About tattoos. I feel about the subject sort of like you do about grownup priorities. Meh. My philosophy…wait until you ARE old and wrinkled to get one. The old joint’ll definitely need sprucing up then, and you’re less likely to regret it when you’re older because, well, you’re already old. Plus, you’ll be the coolest grandma at the nursing home.
Or, just go ahead and get it. You only live once.