Oh yeah? Well my wife can knit better than that!

No, that isn't something Bill said, but it sounded like he almost said it.

You would have to know how quiet Bill is to see the humor in this. Bill has done some amazing things in his life time, but when you try to compliment him, he thanks you and is ready to change the subject. He isn't the type to brag about the boys or me either, and Lord knows I give him plenty of things to brag about. I think the last list I gave him had more than a dozen of my sterling qualities and accomplishments!

Within days of meeting me all those years ago, Bill knew I was a crafter. I never made us late for anything, but he understand it if I said I needed to finish one more row, or if I nodded instead of answered him while counting stitches. Looking back on this old photo, I wonder if the shortness of my skirt had anything to do with his patience while I worked on needlepoint.

All through our marriage he has accepted and respected my various craft tools as I have done with his. There has been a big difference though. His tools made money for us. Mine just cost us more as I went from one project to another, but I digress...

I have sewn clothing for us, I've repaired a boat cover (and please don't ask me to sew that again!), I've painted, I've quilted, and I've done a lot of knitting. Rarely has he said anything about my finished projects. It isn't his style. A smile or a low key "that's nice" is what I usually get. To be fair, I don't think I ever jumped up and down and yelled "What a great brake job!" or "Look at those rotors!"  Once I made pillows for our sofa after finding the matching fabric in a clearance bin. Just three seams and a zipper but those pillows drew rave reviews. I think I hit him with one. All that praise and it was just because I found matching fabric! 

This past weekend he and a golf buddy boarded a plane to return to Michigan. Across the aisle was a woman knitting. The person next to her commented on her knitting. Then the second seat mate joined them and fussed over her work. Soon the flight attendant was hovering over her proclaiming her scarf was just beautiful. 

Bill paused in his story to look directly at me and went on to say "she wasn't doing anything fancy. She was just knitting one row and purling the next. She was using self striping yarn and that made it look fancy but I knew she wasn't doing anything special."

Oh my!  My dear husband has become a knitting snob! 

The hidden message in this is that the quiet man does pay attention to what I am do, and more importantly, absence does make the heart grow fonder.