Friday, May 08, 2009

Verses Scrawled on the Back of an Old Ball Band, Found Abandoned on a Street Corner in Nantucket

There once was a knitter named Nell
Who knit lace like a bat out of Hell.
Said the lass, “My technique
Turns out three shawls a week:
Do it quickly, but not very well.”

There once was a knitter named May
Who went shopping for yarn twice a day.
'Til a sack of wool blend
Caused the shelving to bend
And she drowned in a sea of bouclée.

There once was a knitter named Andy
Who dipped all his needles in brandy.
He said, “After a snifter,
My knitting’s much swifter,
And all of my sweaters smell dandy.”

There once was a knitter named Mary,
Who liked to mix cables and sherry.
She explained, “When I’m pissed,
I can fearlessly twist.
When I work them cold sober, it’s scary.”

85 comments:

  1. LOL!!! I love it!

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  2. tricotchick12:23 PM

    Too funny! Thanks for the laugh!!

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  3. (waves)

    Nice to see you!

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  4. Snort! Do More! :-)

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  5. I love limericks. I often ask myself why Shakespeare wrote sonnets in lieu of the superior form of the limerick. :)

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  6. haha! You're my favoritest poet ever, Franklin. :P

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  7. BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Thank you, this is perfect for a slow Friday morning.

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  8. Sometimes we do things just because we can.
    Love the limericks, found in Nantucket, of all places!

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  9. NOOO! NOT BOUCLEE!!??

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  10. ROTFL!!!! Thanks Franklin. I needed that. :-)

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  11. You have the BEST sense of humour ever. Love the limericks, and love your writing, cartooning, and knitting!

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  12. Anonymous1:14 PM

    Love it!

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  13. I have a sudden urge to cross-stitch these up as holiday ornaments for my friends this year.

    Thankfully, I remember that I still haven't quite finished the ornaments for 2006, and the urge passes.

    But these TOTALLY need to be done up as *some* sort of ornament. They're wonderful!

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  14. Anonymous1:22 PM

    Fabulous. Just what was needed on this chilly Montana day. Suzanne

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  15. HA! Seriously, the best limerick I've read this lifetime!

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  16. Let's see: including slant rhymes, "Dolores" rhymes with "abhore us," "floor us," "forest," "chorus," and the unprintable ideas are just starting to come to mind....

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  17. Your pen is mighty.

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  18. Wonderful! Thanks for the giggles. :-)

    Encore, encore!

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  19. Just what I needed on this Friday! These are wonderful! Keep it up!

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  20. My daughter was writing limericks at dinner the other night, but none were as funny as these!

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  21. There once was a knitter named Sharon
    Used a hat to hold down the hair on
    The top of her head
    When she got out of bed
    She knit them of wool and of Orlon.

    *grin*

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  22. Anonymous2:51 PM

    kudos for being very clever. always love people from the midwest...

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  23. As a Mary, I must try that cables and sherry business... Great fun!

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  24. Anonymous3:07 PM

    Best. Poems. Ever. I might have to print this out and tack it by my desk...

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  25. Wuv it, wuv it, wuv it!!

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  26. teehee!
    Wonderful!
    (((hugs)))

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  27. That made my Friday!

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  28. Oh, these are absolutely great!

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  29. delightful!you have improved a rotten day. keep going to redeem it entirely. . .

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  30. What's not to love in a limerick? :) They are one of the few forms of "bouncy" verse that I can deal with. But not one of them was naughty! I wasn't entirely sure that was possible... ;)

    Waiting for the haiku, which is my preferred form since I am basically rhyme impaired.

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  31. Anonymous4:44 PM

    we love goofy poetry. did you see this thread on Ravelry?

    http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/for-the-love-of-ravelry/636447/51-75#51

    ha-ha my catcha code is pactouse; like what you have when you appear for a book signing, eh?
    marie in florida

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  32. Eric W4:58 PM

    Delightful!!!

    -Eric in Michigan.

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  33. I think I must be Mary.

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  34. Brilliant !

    More please. :-)




    AnnR

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  35. So you're in Nantucket, then?

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  36. anne marie in philly6:35 PM

    GREAT start for the weekend; ROTFLMAO!

    YAYZ for your BIL in passing the maine marriage law!

    happy mother's day to your mom and sister!

    PS - word is "futio" - futon on the patio, perhaps?

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  37. I sense a new book in the works.

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  38. Thanks for making me smile! :D -me@salihan

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  39. There once was a lad name of Franklin,
    who often took on quite a hanklin'
    for faire isle and lace.
    Turned it out at a pace
    just as if he were turnin' a cranklin'

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  40. Anonymous8:35 PM

    Love it!
    And just where is this Andy,a nd why isn't he sharing the booze??

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  41. Anonymous8:54 PM

    Thanks for a great laugh.

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  42. Hysterical, and just when I needed a good laugh, but it must have been some huge ball band ;) Hope you'll do more!

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  43. See, what do the Powers That Be know. What you write is brilliant and whitty and seriously funny. Keep it up, in this "current economic climate" we all need a good laugh now and then.

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  44. Anonymous10:33 PM

    Love (a bazillion(

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  45. Anonymous12:19 AM

    "when I work them cold sober it's scary" My favorite, favorite line!!!
    Paula in Iowa

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  46. Anonymous1:19 AM

    Goddess, that was too funny! Laughed vodka & cranberry out my nose! Sinuses are now clean and fruity, but yarn may need a cranberry juice dyebath to save it!
    Loved it- thanks for the chuckles!

    BattyJanice ------------^v^
    Twitter: @BattyJanice

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  47. I am like Andy ;-))

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  48. Oh, was this a peek to your next book, hmm? :-) Love this.

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  49. I like the Andy one best..though I bow my head to the rest.

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  50. Oh GREAT!!! More coffee up the nose! Darlin' you do have a way with words an stitches! Have a great weekend!

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  51. There once was a knitter named Rufus
    Considered to be quite a doofus
    But he turned to aloo
    A lace pattern or two
    And soon whipped out a large batch of loofahs

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  52. There once was a spinner named Habit
    Who wanted to spin up some rabbit.
    He found a feral angora,
    But he cried out "Begorra!
    "If only I could blasted grab it!"

    Love the limericks. Thanks for the morning giggle!

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  53. Anonymous12:06 PM

    A strander from Lewis (notorious)
    Designed sweaters whose colors are glorious
    It is said her technique
    Owes a lot to the steek
    Since few knitters can strand back victorious

    rogueknitter (Carol in OR)

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  54. Does this mean Harry is now naked??

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  55. There once was a knitter in Dover
    who always had work to do over.
    "The design is a glove
    that's knit for my love
    who is a tan boxer named Rover."

    OK, that's just too weird to contemplate, but it's the bit of doggerel I could come up with on short notice.

    I enjoy your blog and your book!

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  56. oh my God! you are the best!

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  57. must try Mary's lace technique...

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  58. Anonymous6:59 PM

    Great! You always make my day! You rock, Franklin!

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  59. Heather7:55 PM

    Bravo! Those are amazing. Life is so dull when one cannot find a good limerick.

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  60. Once again, I am so glad you do these this instead of work!

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  61. Hear! Hear!
    Let Nancy know there's a market for these, too. With illustrations.

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  62. Very funny! And limericks are surprisingly hard to write.

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  63. Written on a group trip in Ireland:

    There once was a girl who loved knitting,
    but she became very weary of sitting,
    she went off to Donegal,
    where she had a ball
    of yarn, which she then started mitting.

    Your limerick's brought me back and made me smile remembering all the fun I had in Ireland and especially Donegal, where I scored some Kilcara Donegal Tweed!

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  64. Anonymous12:28 PM

    Love the limericks, and they lend themselves so well to illustration!

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  65. Love them. But what is this? No comment on the great state of Maine and your b-i-l's part in making it so?

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  66. I'm totally identifying with Mary these days...

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  67. I love you. That is all.

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  68. cherie10:25 AM

    Oh how fun!

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  69. those are fabulous! :D

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  70. :D this is fantastic.

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  71. Anonymous8:04 PM

    Cadidier, FiberQat, rogueknitter, Roxie and Sharon Rose

    Thanks for extending the fun

    and

    A talented knitter named Franklin,
    To knit socks developed a hank’rin’
    When he got to the store,
    He found pastels galore,
    But no browns.
    Soon his spirits were ranklin’.

    margieinmaryland

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  72. Vikkie9:46 PM

    Oh thats just great! Thank you for the lovely laugh! (well ty for all the lovely laughs you give me and others)

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  73. Baraka9:58 PM

    Honey, if you were straight, and maybe 20 years older, I could fall in love!

    This is definitely the start of the next book - illustrated copiously by yourself and Dolores (no, don't give her a paintbrush, she's enough trouble already!

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  74. Anonymous9:08 AM

    Did you know that today (Tuesday May 12) is international Limerick day?

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  75. You are hilarious. I have been referring to this movie, by the way, as "Star Wars: The Birth of a Bro-Mance"

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  76. Anonymous12:54 PM

    These are terrific. Thanks.

    Anonymous at 9:08 said today is Limerick day. Is that really true? Today is our provincial election! It couldn't be a better day for it-a limerick election.

    Leah

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  77. Anonymous1:05 PM

    Sorry, must get a grip. You wrote this on Friday; it is now Tuesday, and the election is today. I am voting Fibretarian. ; )

    Leah

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  78. Anonymous4:14 PM

    A twist on rogueknitter's verse:

    A strander from Lewis (notorious)
    Designed sweaters whose colors are glorious
    But her manner, it's said
    Filled booksellers with dread
    And to find her works now is laborious

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  79. We all know that Delores really wrote these and left the ball band on the street corner for you to find. Hope she isn't mad that you didn't say that since they are so clever, she must be the poet.

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