So I needed a new i-phone, for a number of reasons. And, yesterday, when I went to update my computer, it wouldn’t update. This necessitated a trip to the Apple Store in Madison. There are a number of options for Apple Stores in Wisconsin, all of them equal distance from my house, oddly enough. But, the one in Madison has the advantage of being close to my Bernina dealership, and I needed to pick up my sewing machines. I get to the store, I sign in, and they tell me that it will be a two hour wait. Okay. I am really great with that, really I am. Because I have my knitting with me!
I am writing this blog entry in the Apple Store, much to the annoyance of many around me. Here is my little camp out at the “Genius Bar”. Hey, I’m a smart cookie, I can sit here. I have 2 hours to kill.
I know I am hogging up an incredible amount of space. Accompanying me today is my knitting bag and my bag from Shannon Fabrics which is soft and snuggly, and my purse. In my Shannon Fabrics bag I have my mac book. I just have this ability to sprawl like nobody else.
My favorite sewing machine, which I call my favorite child decided right before Christmas that it wasn’t going to sew buttonholes. I have a ton of matching family pajamas to sew. Come on. Really? Hence, the Bernina repair shop run. I managed to get the sewing machine(s) to the shop before Christmas, knowing that they wouldn’t be ready until after Christmas. Today I will pick them up after I am done at the Apple Store.
Now, I need to preface this whole story by saying that I have a number of sewing machines, as you may have guessed. I have 3 Berninas at the shop that I keep there for sewing classes and lessons. I do get people in to take classes that offer to bring their own machines, but I just don’t want to mess with their sewing machine troubles so I keep the machines on hand. I actually have 3 Berninas at home as well. I have my favorite child, and then another one that I purchased second hand from someone that was buying a new one. I can’t resist buying a used Bernina. They last forever! Then, I have a third one. It is an embroidery machine. It is slightly odd, and it was only manufactured by Bernina for a short time. I have zero interest in embroidery but it sews great.
After my favorite child turned it’s back on me I tried number 2 Bernina from home. It was just cleaned and tuned up about a year ago. Surely it wouldn’t let me down. So, I cleared a spot on my sewing table for the other machine. That is no small feat, I assure you. (I have a huge sewing room and a shop with a giant studio in the back for classes and yet I have about 1 cubic foot in which to sew.) I plugged in the new old machine, and flipped the switch. Nothing. Off, on. Nothing. Try a different cord. Nothing. A different outlet? Nothing. Ugghhh! The scream could be heard for blocks.
So up to the table comes the third one. Now at this point the thought crosses my mind that I could go to the shop and do buttonholes. But, it’s the principle of the thing. Plus, it’s dark and really cold outside. If you’re reading this and you live in California, you won’t understand. It’s just not an option. The third sewing machine has the wrong color thread in the bobbin. I am typically not that fussy, just ask Barb my right hand gal. She’s my top person and has worked for me for years. She is far more knowledgeable than I am at everything. She gets really mad when I don’t change my bobbin thread. But, this time, my bobbin thread is purple, and it’s a full bobbin. I can’t use this bobbin for buttonholes, I just can’t. This can’t be the only bobbin for this machine can it? (These are not the typical Bernina bobbins. They’re different because it’s this weird embroidery machine. The other bobbins are not interchangeable.) Oh that’s right. The case with the bobbins and the feet for this machine is…..at the shop.
Okay, now I am across from a woman being serviced by a kindly young man. He just asked this elderly woman what her apple password was. He said “you know, the one that you used when you purchased the app?” She said to him “Oh, that was umpteen years ago”. Then she proceeded to dig through a notebook. Oh, I thought I was bad. This poor man.
After she got up and left, another young man sat down for help with his computer. I was trying not to overhear things, but I am sitting right here, knitting. The Apple fix it man says to him “I think we’re going to just have to delete all of this and start over”. Isn’t it interesting how this is just the answer to so many things? I looked up and he had the look on his face of a knitter that’s just been told that he has to rip his knitting out all the way to the beginning. It’s all beginning to cross over.
Anyway, back to the premise of the story, which is knitting in the apple store. I have my knitting out, and it’s just amazing what a conversation starter this is. I find out that about 5 out of the 200 people in the Apple store are knitters, and they come over and comment about how wonderful it is to see someone knitting in public. Then, Devlin, who is the young man that is helping me with my computer says to me that “It’s a good thing you brought your knitting, because this update is going to take about 45 minutes.” He smiles at me, with a perfectly white straight toothed all American grin. He’s adorable. He’s about 6′ 2″ tall. He’s wearing a UW Madison Badger hat and his Apple storefront apparel. I’m smiling back and him, and actually feeling like I’m about 20 years old. Then he jerks me back to reality and says “you remind me of my grandma”…wah wah waaaaahhhhh.
The moral of this story is, don’t be afraid to knit in public. It breaks a lot of barriers and it’s a great conversation starter. And, it put me right back in my place.
