To skunk or not to skunk

Is not really a question, not to is definitely my answer.

Now, being from Germany I did know about skunks, I even know what one looks like. What I didn't know was how it actually smells stinks. See, we don't have them in Europe, that is outside of zoos. That non-knowlegde has been cruelly remedied last night.

There I was, sitting in our living room on the couch, minding my own business (i.e. reading the new Harry Potter, my knitting is abandonded for now), when suddenly around 10.30 p.m. this incredible waft of stink pours through the open window and makes me almost gag. Instant headache, the inside of my nostrils feel like they have been singed and it won't stop, it gets worse and worse. Seconds later my husband comes home from playing soccer and says "that's skunk what you smell". I look at him blankly. Skunk? We live in the friggin' city, how can it be skunk? I thought you had to go camping (what I never do) to encounter one of them. "Yeah, A. (our old landlady) just saw it and dumped water on it. That must have made it do it."

I am a peace-loving person, but at this moment I could have happily wrung her neck. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that this would be the way for me to encounter skunk stink, not to talk about the fact that it stayed with us for hours in the bedroom, too, making falling asleep almost impossible.

This morning the stink has disintegrated. Yet I seem to encounter remnants of it everywhere I go. It's burned into my olfactory system. I know if I ever have to smell it again, I'll panic. Like that night a couple of weeks ago when I woke up to the feeling someone wanted to poison us with gas, with a nasty odor lingering in our bedroom. Today I know: that, too, was skunk.

Now on to more pleasant things: I got three new questions from Jo, here is what I have to say:

What is the next knitting book you plan on getting yourself?
That is difficult, since I have a whole list of books I want to get, which makes it hard to decide which one to buy. High on my list at the moment are books about lace knitting, like "A dictionary of lace", "Heirloom knitting", "Lace from the attic", "Traditional knitted lace shawls". That of course, can change in a matter of days without me having bought any of these because, let's admit it, I can't cough up the money.

Do you know how to play an instrument, if not, what would you like to learn?I actually know how to play several instruments. I learned to play the recorder when I was in third grade, then at 12 I started to play the electronic organ, and at thirteen I started with b-flat clarinet, going on to alto saxophone when I was fifteen. Now, I know how to play these instruments but haven't really done so in a very long time.

Of which knitting project are you the proudest?
Oooh, that's a really hard one. "Being proud" doesn't really describe it, it's when I give something I knit away and the receiving end really loves it - that makes me happy and gives me butterflies in my stomach. Actually, when someone poures over my knitting (yes, it has happened) I get easily embarrassed. So, is there something I am proud of? Alright, maybe the fact that I finished a Kaffe Fasset inspired cardigan - not the knitting, the finishing is what I am proud of.


Thanks, Jo, that was fun!

14 possible questions remaining...