Vera

I believe in past blogs I’ve mentioned my knitting machine Vera, but I’ve not discussed her story:

The first time I ever saw a home knitting machine was about 7 years ago when a roommate’s mother gave her one such machine, sans instruction books. We had a heck of a time figuring it out and it’s a wonder we didn’t break the thing. Ultimately, we did find some instructions and managed to make a couple of small items. Once I moved out, I forgot all about it until years later, when I saw one in a craft store. Given the price, I couldn’t buy one at the time, and would probably never have been able to rationalize getting one were it not for my Hubby, who all but insisted a couple of years ago. Since then, I’ve used Vera to make lots of things, mostly blankets and a few sweaters, though I also made a Christmas stocking with a bear and snowflake pattern. Vera’s great for making large and simple things quickly, though nothing beats hand-knitting for smaller or more complex items (Barbie clothes, socks, etc.). She makes it easy to deal with multiple colors, and cabling becomes rather simpler, too. One thing I like in particular is the ability to make a strip of, say, a blanket, and then make the next strip without having to sew them together later, because I hate sewing. (Okay, I don’t hate sewing, per se; I hate sewing knitting.)

In any case, Vera got her name because I keep her in a foam-lined rifle case when not in use:

Why a rifle case? The box she came in, while durable, was too short to store her in without complete disassembly (Johnny 5 says Nooooo!) and also had no padding, and the only case we could find anywhere that was suitable was the rifle case, into which she fits perfectly, minus the carriage. On my own, I’d have never thought to use a rifle case - it was my hubby who suggested it: he transports his Reaper miniatures (D&D) in a rifle case because it’s big enough to hold lots of them, even the largest ones.  

Note that the piece by my feline assistant's right shoulder is an extension, which does have to be removed to get Vera in the case:

There’s a scene in one episode of the TV series “Firefly” where Jayne Cobb mentions that he calls his “most favorite gun” Vera, and she is also referred to by name in a couple of later episodes and maybe even the movie, “Serenity,” if memory serves. Once we bought the rifle case to store my knitting machine in, the connection seemed obvious and she’s been Vera ever since. Her ‘nails’ are even painted - I used a shiny silver nail polish on the counter bumps that appear every 5 needles, which makes them easier to see from under the carriage when I need to make a color change. “…See, Vera? Get yourself all dolled up and you get taken places….”