What's the Name of the Blog?

<p>I talked about this blog for a long time before I started publishing it. I would be sitting at my neighborhood bar, yarn entwined in my fingers, an adult beverage in front of me, and I would say, "I should start a blog and call it 'I Crochet in Bars!" Because it's kind of a novelty that I crochet in bars. It's kind of unexpected to see someone crafting at a bar. Never was this more true than one Friday night in January.

My friends Jimmy Kays and Lee Trudell are roommates who work at Sidetrack, a behemoth bar and Boystown institution. Sidetrack takes up the majority of the block on which it resides and has for years been the largest purveyor if vodka in the state of Illinois. Lee had gotten a puppy that Tuesday and I was able to meet the adorable pup because Jimmy had invited me over for a movie night. I offered to crochet a sweater for the new addition and said I could deliver it to Sidetrack that Friday. Jimmy would be managing and Lee would be working coat check that night.

Friday night came and I wasn't quite finished with the doggie sweater, so I grabbed a cocktail and found myself a tall table in the front of the room where I could work. In the biggest bar in Boystown. On a Friday night. A parade of curious strangers kept approaching my table to see what I was up to. When they learned that I was crocheting a dog sweater for the guy in coat check, the smartphones came out and pictures and stories of their own doggies, past and present, were proudly shared. And then these people would go and get their friends and bring them to my table. And the friends shared their pictures and stories. It was surreal and rather wonderful!! And, as you'll see in the pictures, Lana looked adorable in her sweater!

And that's why I do what I do where I do it! It's a conversation-starter. I meet fascinating people who tell me their stories. And art gets made.

Today is Thursday, which means Knit Night at Squiggly's. I won't be there tonight -- I'll be frolicking through the cornfields for "Oklahoma!" at Lyric. But you should go. Tell them Dawn-Marie sent you!! And as always, my darlings, Peace, Love and Yarn!!