Pickles by Brian Crane for May 25, 2023

Why pretend Earl. If you’re not interested then just ignore it and move on.

This sounds familiar…

Just think; if Earl had simply said “What’s that you’re making?,” all this could have been avoided.

My husband’s stock answer to any needlework I was doing was: Uh huh, that’s nice. ." Had no clue what I said because he wasn’t listening? He thought that by merely asking, I would think he was interested. Although I did the same when he gave me a hole by hole description of that days golf game!

I can crochet. I learned when I was a bachelor. But I don’t crochet now and couldn’t if I wanted to since I have arthritis in my hands. I ask my wife, who’s much more accomplished, what she’s making, but seldom remember because she has four or five projects going at once and most of them are for her friends grandchildren I don’t know. Her favorite afghan, though, is a granny square one I made in 1974.

To crochety to knit

Looked the same to me when I use to watch Grandma.

Opal could’ve embroidered her explanation, but that might be crewel.

Earl and Opal never fail to make me smile. Thanks Brian :-)

Just trying to make polite conversation!

And Roscoe takes it all in!

I don’t knit but I do crochet. Nevertheless my husband calls it knitting. EVERY TIME. No matter how many times I tell him it’s not knitting, it’s crocheting and that I don’t knit!

Opal’s purls of wisdom.

Somehow the old childhood honesty pledge doesn’t seem the same with “crochet hook” substituted for “needle”:

“Cross my heart and hope to die / Stick a crochet hook in my eye!”

I wonder if she can crochet a pleasant personality for herself. Bet, if she does, it wouldn’t fit anyways

Amen Earl

My grandmother was great at knitting. Once I gave her 200 pounds of steel wool and she knitted me a stove.

She might be crocheting, but her hands are placed like she’s knitting and there is no crochet in her hand… but l’m really happy that the author knows there is a difference between knitting and crocheting :)

What matters is that you try. My wife often tries to pretend to care what I am saying, up until she wants to say something and doesn’t notice I am talking to her.

Back during my bus driving days" “Mr. Green, who are you talking to?”

“Myself I guess, unless any of you are also listening.”

“Nope, just you.”

“Good, then I won’t have to explain so much.”

This is like asking an engineer what he’s designing on the computer. “Designing a bridge?”, I ask. He says, “Well, I’m calculating load factors. Ben designed the bridge, but I am having to modify it because he gusset calculations were wrong because blah blah blah blah.”

Opal is mansplaining

Have a seat and give it a try Earl. You’ll better understand why the women folk like to do it with wine and chocolate. You need to laugh at yourself occasionally.

It’s best to just MOVE along…..

I still have a half dozen afghans and covers the Mom completed, one of which won a red ribbon in competition. She could never just sit still, so she always had either the crochet hook or the knitting needles and plenty of stuff to work on everywhere she might light for a few minutes.

Don’t know if many still do that. She put them down in the 80’s’ and, by then attitudes and hobbies had changed a great deal. The later development of cell phones, chat rooms, digital games, etc, drew attention away from the idea of sitting comfortably and in contemplation while the fingers produced beauty.

She’s a crocheting old woman and he’s being a crotchety old man.

I think I’ll use this line on my wife.

I want to know what Opal is crocheting.

Roscoe is also confused!

I never understood the difference but now that Opal has explained it, I’m as clueless as ever.

Knitting uses thick, soft cords that you have to hold your hands out so your mother can wrap the cord around them and then make into a ball.

Crocheting uses thin string and you don’t have to be involved.

Earl, after all of these years have you not learned to let sleeping dogs lie, and never ask your wife a question that isn’t absolutely necessary for your immediate survival?

Oy!

That really should be taught in high school: The Art of Pretending to be Interested". Should be among the Human Relation classes, or maybe American Politics.

What? She’s a hooker.

That’s just cruel (crewel).

My wife is the same way. I honestly don’t know the difference between crocheting and knitting but she’ll tell me the difference if I guess wrong

Like I told my friend yesterday when she apologised for her tone, I prefer your honesty. :))

Earl does it again!!!!! Funniest darn strip. Roscoe’s eyes say it all!

Married Life 101. This comic is brilliant!

My Mom God rest her could look at a crochet picture and make it, but she could never follow just the written directions.

Earl’s drive-by chit chat needs some tweaking.

Earl gets the novel today.

Even the dog didn’t know the difference, lookit his expression of wonderment…

Looks like Roscoe is confused too about what Opal said.

Nit… Pick… Earl… Too… Che’… Crow… Ate…

What does Earl e’en do to keep his hands busy? whittle (hopefully not in the house)?