Creatures of the Knit

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I’ve got somewhere to be today, so to be completely honest there wasn’t going to be a blog post at all today until what follows landed in my inbox last night.

You all know that I’ve got a thing for getting folks to hold my sock in progress.  I think the humble genre of photography known to me as "the sock picture" is a noble pursuit, and I’ve scored some celebrities over the years, and a bunch of you nailed some yourself.  (Tip of the hat here to Tracy, who got then not-yet-President Obama.) It was all cool until last night, when it got super-cool.

Behold, the coolness that is Amanda and her friend Lindsay, who turned a couple of knitters with concert tickets,  backstage passes and a sock picture plan into THIS.

Yup. It’s KISS.  Really KISS.  Not a cover band, not a dress up party, but really, actually KISS, posing with a couple of knitters, groovin’ on the sock action- complete with Gene Simmons pointing at the sock itself, just like sock pictures are the most normal thing in the world and there’s nothing dorky about it, which of course there is, and that’s the beauty of it.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again.  Knitters. We’re everywhere. Rock on! 

218 thoughts on “Creatures of the Knit”

  5. Stephanie, I have pictures of me and some Blue Rodeo members with my sock. I tried to send them to you but not sure how!! My sock in progress really enjoyed the show!

  6. Stephanie, I have pictures of me and some Blue Rodeo members with my sock. I tried to send them to you but not sure how!! My sock in progress really enjoyed the show! I think all the guys must think I’m the Crazy Sock Lady now.

  8. Where did they see the concert? Was it the MN State Fair? ‘Cause that would be too perfect for words!

  16. AKKKKKKKK! Right on girls!
    (I had a rock and roll all night thing going for a bit but it got way too gooffy in a hurry lol)

  18. My favorite is when you had the old guy hold your sock at a party (or was it a concert?) and you started to explain the sock and he said “I know what the sock is.”

  19. Way, WAY too COOOOOL!!!! Way to go Amanda! We all knew that “Socks that Rock” was more than just a catch phrase!

  21. We weren’t sure we were going to get the picture. Neither one of us is an actual hard core fan. Lindsay knows one of the band members personally and I was lucky enough to be a stand in when her number one(her husband)couldn’t go. 🙂 I’ve been SQUEEEE-ing all week. I thought it was SO cool, I’m glad I’m not the only one!

  23. Awwwwright! How cool is that?!!! Have a male nurse colleague who is an avid fan of KISS, and I’m looking forward to show him this picture on our nightshift tonight!

  29. While I totally love this…how can you be *sure* it’s actually Kiss? That makeup, after all…..oh, wait, I remember, didn’t they say it wasn’t makeup?
    There you go!

  31. Wow.
    I don’t have a picture, but I have a thank-you note. I sent President Obama a hat last Christmas, hand-knit by me from American-raised alpaca hand-spun by the owner of the alpaca ranch. I enclosed a letter, explaining that I thought his head looked cold when he was walking to the inauguration, with his very short hair and no hat. The thank-you I got was a form letter, but it was on White House stationery, and it looked like it was hand signed.

  33. It makes me think of the “everyone has a mom” thing and that we all sort of want to embrace that when we get the chance. Knitting feels very mom-ish and nurtur-y (ya, I just make up words when it needs to happen). Way to lend some cool to socks, KISS; and way to lend some nurture to KISS, knitters.

  35. I bow down to Amanda’s quick thinking – it was all her idea
    it was a fantastic night. KISS knows how to put on a concert
    off to send this post to KISS! {happy dance}

  36. That photo is, indeed, Truly AwesomeSauce.
    KISS trivia: The 8:00 pm grandstand show at the MN State Fair last Saturday was KISS, following the 5:00 – 7:00 pm grandstand live broadcast/show of Garrison Keillor and A Prairie Home Companion. Talk about contrasts…

  43. My teenagers can’t believe I went to a Kiss concert when I was in High School. Its not that I was a big fan but the ticket was available and so much cheaper then (under $20.00). They were at the Minnesota State Fair last weekend and I felt kind of nostalgic. Actually two original members are no longer in the band – Ace Frehley and Peter Criss (drummer, cat, and vocalist for “Beth”, sigh!).

  47. Awesome! My DH isn’t really into handcrafted anything. But he’s a huge KISS fan. If it’s good enough for Gene Simmons, maybe knitgoods will improve in my DH’s eyes!
    Rock on! (And thanks to Amanda for the picture!)

  50. Score! Saw Lindsay’s post about this and had to see the one you did. Lindsay is a friend and one of the founding members of the UAE Amiras – the one and only knitting group of knitters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE. You can’t believe how much I squeed when I saw this post. Yes, yes,I know that girl! I chatted and knitted and drank coffee with that girl! Way to go, you lucky duck!

  55. Now, I dare my husband to belittle my sock knitting as an old ladies’ pastime (not that there is anything whong with old ladies or their kinds of fun – it’s him who considers such a comparison belitteling;P)
    I’ll probably rub him all over with this photo and then some.
    And re-runs tomorrow:)

  56. Awesome! you know KISS is going to be re-living moments one day, and they’ll be sitting around and going – Do you remember those two ladies who had us take a picture with their sock knitting? Yeah – good times!!

  71. How kewl!! Seen KISS in El Paso in 1976. OOOOOoooo, if you ever get your sock pic chance with Ozzie…watch him Steph!!! He might try to bite the toe off!

  76. I think the only thing cooler would be if Gene Simmons were licking the sock … but that would make it felt. Not to mention unsanitary … Never mind, it was a lot cooler in my head.

  78. Sa-weeet! Simmons is a knitter? That seems right. Heck, after all, he is in MY age group and I stand to become a great-grandmother in the near future. (I got a young start and he got a late start on making a family.) Oldies that knit are true rock stars, whoever we are. Never saw Kiss in concert, but I did get to see Tina Turner herself. OMG. Still so cool she frosts the windows.

  79. Whoa, this is Epic. Although I’m secretly finding it cool and funny that KISS ranks above the President. Heh.
    I’m thinking you and Franklin should make a knitter’s coffee table book of sock pictures. I’d buy it!

  80. Who’d have thought it! (Not me that’s for sure).
    I like the idea of a coffee table book of ‘where the sock has been’ – don’t know that I would buy it though.

  84. i’d never wash those socks-there are not words to describe the depth of coolness-i’m just gobsmacked-KISS-that’s K-I-S-S in the fleshy flesh and all that make up. ah lucky girls

  86. That is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!! It would be really awesome if he mentions it sometime on the tv show. You just never know

  90. Wow — I think a new, commeniratuve Yarn Harlot sock pattern is in order here. Whaddayasay?
    I’m picturing lips on the heels instead of tulips.
    It could work.

  91. Wow — I think a new, commemorative Yarn Harlot sock pattern is in order here. Whaddayasay?
    I’m picturing lips on the heels instead of tulips.
    It could work.

  95. I have sent the link to this post to many folks who smile and give me the puzzled/condescending look whenever they see me at work with my sock-in-progress. We’ll have no more of that!

  99. OMG! This is cool of colossal proportions! I grew up on KISS – you have just become the coolest person I know…to get KISS to pose with a sock. Ah! I LOVE it!

  101. FLASHBACK…..(oh wait they’re holding a sock)….ok I’m back. Everything from the 80’s is coming around again but, this is the coolest thing everrrrr!

  103. I absolutely LOVE Kiss; ever since the late 70’s/ early 80’s when my grandmother let me borrow HER Circus music magazine. This is so cool! I want this as my desktop wall paper!

  104. My compliments I tried to do the same when I saw KISS last December I was knitting through out the concert in fact I posted pics of me knitting on my FB page I bow to the accomplishment of them.

  105. You will have to count me as a NON-KISS fan, however, I love the pix. Gene Simmons has this look on his face like..Huh? What? LOL

  108. I think maybe I will give sock knitting another chance. Even if I only work on it when I’m waiting for something (which happens a lot). I agree with Ronda’s statement above: They should play “Detroit, Sock City”!

  109. OMG! My brother would have died and gone to heaven! Oops, he’s already there, but none the less he would be beyond impressed that his favorite group ever did this! Nothing so cool since they played our homecoming football game in 1978! Beth I hear you calling, but I can’t come home right now….I wanna rock n’ roll all night…(pardon the little flashback…)

  110. Gene Simmons graduated from Newtown High School, Elmhurst, Queens NYC, from which I retired last year after 9 1/2 years as an English teacher.

  111. Oh my gosh how awesome is that, and not even a cover band but the real dealio! I used to get so embarrassed when they’d play “Beth” on the radio. LOL

  115. OK, now that is just too cool for school. I’ve been interviewing knitters, and I’ve developed a new wish. I wish I could interview all the random famous people who have been asked to pose for pictures with a sock. How cool would *that* be?

  117. WOW – too cool for words. Knew I still loved KISS for a reason. Scored free tix and saw them here (Massachusetts) last month, who would have thought!
    LOL – good one to who ever said “Detroit Sock City” thanks for the chuckle.

  118. This is so totally cool. I’m never going anywhere without an S.I.P. (sock in progress) ever again, just in case I run into someone famous. To date, the only celebrity to hold a sock of mine, is you!

  125. It’s especially nice that Amanda and Lindsay are so darn wholesome looking amid the group.
    Of course, almost anyone would look wholesome by contrast.

  127. Thanks for blogging today. I got home tired and since I had to use the computer I was hoping you had blogged. There you were. You alway perk me up. Thanks for being such a great friend. (I have met you and have held “the sock”. Wheweeee.

  129. Amanda and Lindsay,
    The both of you out-cool my friend Meaghan, who has proudly displayed a photo of herself with Paul Stanley in her living room for the past 15 years. Well done.

  133. I was a huge KISS fan in the late 70s and early 80s, I am sure I learned to slow dance to “Beth”… and now that I’m a sock knitter, and they held a sock… just confirms their coolness and makes me want to buy “Beth” for my ipod. Thanks for the post Amanda, Lindsey and Stephanie!

  135. I never used to like KISS, but now. . .
    Stephanie, now your work is cut out for you. You have to top this. You have nowhere to go but up. . .think Springsteen, Jagger, Daltry, Ferry, Bob Dylan, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) — or, for equal gender representation, Aretha, Tina, D. Harry, M. Etheridge, Siouxsie Sioux, or S. Nicks.

  138. What a blast! Although they’re not my type of music, they’ll always have a special place in my heart–they came to my high school in Cadillac, Michigan for a special concert. (My English teacher was a friend of a friend of theirs, and was able to arrange the whole thing.) What a fun experience for you! Congrats!

  140. Doesn’t matter whether you think KISS is da bom or just a bomb. Scoring backstage passes is cool, getting a picture taken is very cool, and having your knitting featured in said picture is way cool.
    You gals rock!

  141. You need a “Not Safe for Work” note on this blog. I just screamed out loud when I saw the picture (even before I read anything). That is BEYOND COOL!

  147. Duuuuuude! Wow.
    Well world, that’s it. I think we’ve officially peaked. That’s about as cool as things can possibly get. 😉
    Congrats to Amanda and Lindsay!!!

  149. Hi! Finally back to reading your blog after a long bit. I have a Question, I have a Babe FiberStarter PVC double treadle spinning wheel and it works fine but I’m thinking of talking the husband into letting me buy a wooden one. Which of the “lower priced” wooden wheels would you recommend? 🙂

  150. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!
    I’m loving it!
    (I’m loving it so much that I started to type in “BWAHAHAHAHA” as my name. Well, maybe some days it is.)

  153. Too funny! And outrageously cool too. Now I’m going to have to see if I can get some Nashville cats to hold a sock…

  154. soooo cool!!!!!!!! Your blog is a joy to read every day and an inspiration to me with my own knitting projects!

  157. Showed the pic to my husband who gets red in the face when I knit in public….. He (a card carrying KISS fan club member) was vastly impressed!!!! We knitters always knew we were cool…. Now we have proof! Ha!!!

  159. Oh my gosh! That is GREAT!!!!
    You know what would be awesome? Getting the Yarn Harlot to hold a picture of my sock in progress.
    Talk about a superstar photo op!
    Have a great day!!

  160. That is beyond awesome. I saw KISS in 1976 (I was 4, I have a heavy metal Mom) but I hadn’t yet learned to knit. This makes me all nostalgic. Lindsay & Amanda, FTW!

  165. Stephanie I am having a bad day, I’m so depressed over insignificant things, and then I read your blog post and it just made me laugh out loud, and then of course I had to go over and see President Obama holding a sock, which was funny too. Thanks for cheering me up.

  166. And, THIS is the reason to ALWAYS have a sock in progress with you. You just never know–unless you happen to be at a concert with a backstage pass, then awesome sock-tography becomes more likely, but still.

  167. Yes, we all love Obama, but face it – Presidents come and go, but KISS is FOREVER!!! Looooooooove this picture!

  168. not really related to this post, but I just wanted to say thank you for your blog.
    As a mother of a 2yrold and 4yrold, part-time to full-time worker and knitter obsessed 39yrold, I haven’t really entered the blog world – ‘no time’! But I’ve found yours & am reading back through the years – gotten to 2008 in 2 days (yes, my house, my work, my children are suffering just the tiniest bit).
    But this year at stitches-midwest where I signed up for a full load of classes every day & shopped inbetween them all, I saw the groups of knitting ladies having so much fun & wished (for the first time from a previous traveling consultant who is used to eating fancy dinners & seeing movies alone), I wished that I weren’t alone & had someone to share my obsession/passion/neurosis with.
    Even though we’re not really sharing things with each other, just reading your blog & knowing there’s someone else out there almost exactly like me (obsessed in all the right ways), makes me feel happy. I’ve gotten lots of laughs from your blogs & turned around in my chair to share with my husband, but then decided having to explain the joke would ruin it & then just kept on reading just knowing it was out there was enough. He did apprecaite the old blog about breasts & nipples (as a full-term breast feeder myself – my son was 3 when he weaned & my daughter is still nursing – I tandum nursed for a while), though that may have been more him thrilled that I was discussing nipples with him than anything else.
    Anyway, thank you for your blog, I hope you continue on infinitum . . . it means alot to me (can you just tell I ready your 6-yr anniversary blog a few minutes ago?)

  169. OMFG!!!! I’ve been a KISS fan since the late 70’s – ooops that could lead to age disclosure.
    I’m insanely jealous of Amanda and Lindsay!!!!
    KNIT ON!

  171. So unbelievably cool. Only two things could rival it: 1) Steven Tyler of Aerosmith tying the sock to his mic stand or 2) Tony Bennet, in full tuxedo, doing one of his twirls on stage with the Sock In Progress in one hand and The Ball of Yarn in the other.
    Otherwise, I got nothing. Gene Simmons pointing at the sock is just the coolest evah.

  172. KISS is one thousand times cooler than the incompetent excuse for a president we are currently enduring in the USA. Good job girls!

  175. That is so funny! I wasn’t a huge KISS fan way back, really, though I liked and like all rock music – but I did get to see them this spring thanks to my brother-in-law, who got us tickets… Sadly, though there was a lot of downtime, I didn’t take my knitting, as I thought my husband and BIL may possibly have totally disowned me if I got knitting out… shucks eh.
    But the concert was the BEST I have ever seen in all my 30 years of concerts ;))) (That was in May in Zurich Switzerland…)!!!!!!

  176. AWESOME!! I love this sock in progress photo op! How do you think the coversation went right after this picture? I bet Gene Simmons is going to start offering hand knit kiss socks!

  179. This is too cool for words. I would love to have my sock in progress photographed with Bono. That would be epic!

  181. Super cool!!!! I’ll be knitting more socks in honor. And showing my teenager that knitting is cool.

  184. Gene Simmons is a remarkable gentleman. I don’t know the other members of the band. But, clearly, they are all fine people.

  185. That is too amazing! What a bunch of good sports! We were at a Cubs baseball game, so I happened to mention to my husband how you got to throw out a pitch at a Blue Jays game. And how nervous you were and all that. And he said, “I am so jealous” See, the bird was right!!!!

  186. Whoa, what a cool pic! I’ve been a KISS fan for ages (never mind my age!) Their concerts are the best; to get backstage with sock & yarn in hand is more awesomeness than my mind can comprehend! So who’s going to design that KISS sock? Hmmm . . .

  191. My wife loves this blog and posts here often. She often has me read the posts as well. Tonight my whole llfe philosophy on the knitting world has changed from crazy needle laden cultists to the coolest people in the world!! You wanted the best you got the best….the hottest knitters in the world…..Amanda and Lindsay. Kiss rocks and so do all knitters.

  194. ooooooooooooooh! this is just the most awesomely funny thing i’ve seen in so long! after watching a bit of Gene Simmon’s Family Jewels, i started to view the guy in a whole new light. but THIS elevates the man to super-sock-dom status! 🙂

  196. Wow, what a small world, because KISS was JUST here in Milwaukee(about an hour south of me) and then they must have come by you! It’s such a small world sometimes! That is so cool that you got a sock picture with them. Not that I’m even that much of a KISS fan, but it is cool that they went along with the sock picture!

  199. totally off topic, will there be a harlot calendar for 2011? (i hope, i hope! otherwise, i’ll have to re-read the old ones, which have notes about past m.d. appointments, lost weight, etc.)

  205. I wonder whether KISS will start knitting now. HOW COOL!!!
    I a very concerned that you are getting sick. Please take care of yourself.

  213. Amanda is my daughter, so proud of her and I appreciate all the cool posts. I think the fact that KISS donates a dollar from every ticket to the WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT is an amazingly humanitarian service and I thank them for that.
    Now rock er I mean sock on. I’m not a knitter but I love my knitter.

  214. Sorry if someone has posted this – coming late to the party but “I want to sock and roll all night! Knitting every day…” and I don’t even knit socks!

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