Life's a Stitch

I was counselled by those who know, that I should spell that three letter word with an asterisk, as in s*x. I was cautioned that I was taking a risk publishing a post that has the words s*x, nun, position, bitch and lay in it. Believe me, it’s all innocent. So, here goes…

My son has picked out several items for me to knit him from the Stitch and Bitch book. The devil hat was his first choice. I changed the design to include black felt horns and tails stuffed with batting. He loved it. Unfortunately his Catholic school didn’t. I warned him in advance of the possibility. It surprised me a little. When I was in Catholic school we used to go trick or treating to the convent. One year, dressed as the devil, I hoped for some reaction from the nuns. They loved it, one commenting that I must have been burning in hell for a long time. The offending hat:

Looking back it was a progressive diocese in New York. We had Sister Barbara Sweet, an advocate at the national level for s*x education in schools. So we had s*x ed in ninth and 12th grade – as we used to say, “before you needed it and when it was too late.” It was taught by lay teachers, interesting choice of words for the position. It was an attempt anyway. I remember the teacher telling us that we shouldn’t have too many kids because our uterus would fall out after seven or so. Another teacher told us that our periods would stop at about age 45. She lied.