On Hartlots

"Mom, what's a hartlot?" my 9 year old daughter asked me the other day. "Huh! W-what did you ask? I stammer back. "You know, a hartlot, what's a hartlot? I heard someone talking about it the other day and I want to know what it is." "Uh, ummmm....." my mind races trying to think of what to say to my inquisitive young child. I don't want to give her more information than she needs, but on the other hand, she's not a baby any more and I would rather her hear these things from me than from someone else, and should I correct her pronunciation or not?? I decide to go for the simple truth. "A harlot is a woman who sells sex for money," I carefully answer, hoping that will be enough of an answer. "Oh, like a prostitute." she says carelessly as she bounces off.     Writing about hartlots, my mind immediately springs to the famous Yarn Harlot. I wonder if Kaelen would have gone for that explanation? And then I think of my mother, who is fast on her way to becoming a fibery lady of the night, herself. Last time she came to visit me was at the beginning of April. She was absolutely amazed at the different bloggers Flashing There Stash, she kept asking me to click on one more blog, just one more blog, oh how about just one more. Later, I walked into the dining room as she was quickly snapped my laptop shut, looking rather flushed and starry eyed. "What ya doin mom?" I asked. "Oh, nothing." she said breathlessly. Curious, I went over and opened the laptop and checked out the last page she had been looking at, Yarn P*rn!! She was gazing at luscious skeins of gorgeous handpainted yarn!! My mother, the woman who keeps admonishing me over the size of my stash, the woman who looked down her nose at me as she haughtily declared that she is a one project woman, and she will buy yarn for her next project only after she has finished knitting up her current one, this same woman was caught red handed staring lustily at yarn!! Then as she is leaving to go home she slips me $80 so that I can order a bit of yarn for her from KnitPicks. Even considering the lower value of the Canadian dollar, that's a lot of money to be spending on yarn at KnitPicks. And then yesterday she calls me up to tell me, that she's just placed an order with Knitwerx for a sweaters worth of yarn plus some cotton for a couple of bags she would like to make. I think most of my readers would agree with me, that she has started down a very slippery slope, in fact it won't be long before she joins me down here at the bottom :-D The loverly blue yarn at the top is some Jaeger Shetland Aran I bought. I think I am going to make this jacket with it.

Comments

[Jerry & Maxy]

Uber cool jacket, of course, you stylin' babe!Ah, stash enhancement - the glory of it!!! Especially when it's your MOM doing it :).

[erin]

Your mum sounds so cute! And I always answer my kids questions with the simple truth too, usually works. The jaeger shetland looks so soft, not sure why, but I always imagined it be rather rough.

[Kim]

LOL @ your mom :o)Isn't it funny how your kids can get you worked up trying to figure out how to answer a question? All they want is a simple answer and then they go on about their business, hardly phased! Ha!

[Pyewacket]

I find it hilarious that your daughter is so worldly that you've had to corrupt your mom instead. ;-) Pretty shetland!

[KnitPastis]

I am laughing at how cute that is your mom handing you money for a Knitpicks order....for herself. Love it! That blue yarn is a nice color of blue. I have been on such a blue kick lately. That jacket is nothing short of simply Amazing.

[Stacey]

Very nice jacket - I've been eying it for a while! (nice color choice too!)Nice recovery on the answer for your daughter.... :)

[Annie]

Very cool jacket! Love!

[Steph]

Very cool jacket, and you picked the perfect yarn for it. It knits up really evenly and has such great stitch definition (I made a cardi out of it, same color ;-)

[Rachel]

Those are two hilarious stories. I was recently musing in my own head how I might explain "yarn harlot" to a child, or how she in fact explained it to her own children when they were younger. Sounds like your little talk went okay. :)As for your mother, my mother did something very similar, though she quickly picked up speed and flew right past me down the slope. She's currently lying at the bottom in a valley of yarn.

[Rain]

My mum and I had a good laugh about Kaelen, my brother one asked my Mum what sex meant - she went into the whole explaination only to realise he was filling out a form and just needed to know what to put.Looks like your Mum is on a slippery slope indeed, although it means you can yarn shop together and not be made to feel guilty.

[Maura]

Your story totally made me laugh this morning. I even read the harlot bit to my hubby and he laughed too.

[Zonda]

Love that jacket, yes knit it (in case you needed help ;)Great job on explaining hartlot! hehe cute!I did inherit my mom's...um...fiber stashing ability (her's was fabric, mine is fabric and yarns! :)

[Jen]

oh, from the mouths of babes... Can't wait to have a kid of my own just so they can ask me these types of questions...hah, another succumber to the SABLE trap!

[Marie]

Heehee...I love both stories. :) Did your daughter hear "harlot" from talk of the Yarn Harlot? It's hardly a commonly used word nowadays... I took my formally-knitter mom to the yarn store the other day but she was sadly not swayed back into knitting.The jacket looks very stylish. I'm looking forward to seeing yours.

[allisonmariecat]

"Oh, like a prostitute!"--too funny.I remember back when I was a one-project person. Then I discovered knitty.com. And Knitpicks. And WEBS. Have fun helping your mom build a stash!

[turtlegirl76]

Heh. That is too funny. Your mom is downloading yarn pr0n! Woo Hoo! Put her over the edge. Send her the link to my flickr flash.http://www.flickr.com/photos/91062547@N00/sets/72057594095775282I add to it all the time...and after the S.E.X I had this weekend, it's sure to push her over the edge!