to share, or not to share. that's my question.

i share all kinds of things with you, dear readers.  i love sharing links, photos, embarrassing stories of my life, so i don't think i have a problem with sharing.  but i had an encounter this week where i didn't want to share.  it wasn't very nice of me, but, well, we're entitled to be selfish sometimes, right?

anyway, i went to my monday night knit group at the library this week.  remember, i'm the "baby" of the group by a good 30 years or so.  the ladies there are nice but on occasion rub me wrong (maybe it's a generational thing.  or maybe i just let things get under my skin too easily).  

anyway, there's this lady in my group who is very nice and very chatty.  she's an intelligent lady.  she sometimes gives me the impression that she wants everyone to know she's smart/experienced/etc. etc. etc., which bugs me on occasion, but whatever.

the last time i was to group i shared my zippered baby sweater with the group.  the ladies regaled me with tales that "back in the day" babies wore these sweaters becos it was easy to remove them while baby was sleeping on their tummies (how times have changed!)  (although, one lady this week said that the zippers were put on the back as to not catch the baby under the chin.  good point).  anyway, chatty cathy, as i call the lady, said that her little ones wore these zipped back sweaters back in the day and were wonderful becos she could take the sweater off without disturbing the sleeping baby.  next breath, chatty cathy wants a copy of the sweater (along with the owl hat, which i printed off online).  

i explain that i didn't have either pattern with me (i hadn't planned to make another hat or sweater) but would remember to bring them next time.

in her next breath, chatty cathy says, "i suppose it would be better to have the zipper in the front now, since babies don't sleep on their bellies anymore".  

that comment pissed me off.  like, "i like your sweater, but it's not appropriate now since babies don't sleep on their bellies".  what a load.  the kiddos still sleep on our shoulders, and it is awesome to be able to put the sweater on/off them while in that position.  plus, the zippered chin is avoided.  

at any rate, i didn't want to share the pattern with her at that point, but figured she'd forget about it in the time being.

as sort as she came to knitting monday night, she asked me, "did you bring the patterns?"  

after 3 weeks of nurse duty with the kids and hubby, and my gram having eye surgery earlier in the day, i forgot the patterns (subconciously on purpose?) and i said so. chatty cathy then says about how the zipper should really be in the front, yadda yadda, which pissed me off again.  

i told her that both patterns were online, and after some digging on my slow phone (4G, yeah right!) found both links and wrote them down.  the owl hat is not mine so i have no problem sharing it.  the sweater pattern online is actually more clear than the one i inherited.  

it remains to be seen whether or not she'll actually make either article.  i suppose if she does, i'll never hear the end of it.

here's another reason why i didn't want to share the zippered back sweater:  mrs. r gave it to me.  she never said i could share it, but also, that i couldn't.  the pattern reminds me of a secret family recipe, entrusted only to me, for my own personal use and no one else's.  that's why i dug around until i found the linky online for (IMO) a better, more clear pattern to share with you guys.  mrs. r's pattern was typewritten, smudgy, and the instructions were a bit ambiguous to me.  and if i was confused, i'm sure you guys would have been too.

i feel bad, feeling selfish.  but on the other hand, i don't.  mrs. r's pattern is her pattern, not mine.  i guard it like a secret.  that's not a bad thing, i hope.