Knit Night: The Zombie Knit Group Ate My Brains!!!!

Originally published at Am I the Only One Dancing?. Please leave any comments there.

originally from Tor

(Herein lies another in the saga of the knit group, the Knotty Knitters, Happy Hookers, and Salacious Spinners that make my Monday evenings complete.  This Monday, my son got to share in the joy with us).  With zombies.

I allowed the Perpetually Grounded Son (PGS) to tag along with me to Knit Night this week.  He has developed a very deep interest in zombies, and has decided to form his own zombie blog (already up at Zombie Apocalypse Patrol), so the ride across town was devoted to discussing possible upcoming articles, including a thorough zombie taxonomy and an indepth guide to makeshift anti-zombie weapons.

The condition under which PGS was allowed to accompany me (and don’t let him fool you, he *begged* to come.  My friends are cool) was that he had to learn to do something involving either twisting fiber or tying it in knots.  Aa a result, he had a bag full of cheap acrylic yarn, a crochet hook, and a copy of Stitch and Bitch Crochet:  Happy Hooker.

Then we ran into a snag.  I’m right handed, PGS is left handed.  He had learned a little crochet about a year ago from his father who is also left handed.  I’m good at teaching concepts, but I absolutely suck at teaching handicrafts.  Fortunately, the Mistress of Corruption lived up to her name and, a la Karate Kid, set him to making a foundation chain for most of the rest of the evening.  Wax on, wax off, or alternately, hang up your jacket.

While PGS hasn’t quite gotten the knack of working and talking simultaneously, and had to be reminded repeatedly to pick up his hook (Cap’n Hook, maybe?), the rest of us began to wander far and wide in our conversation. 

But somehow, we kept returning to Zombies.  We talked about the Romero zombies vs. the Resident Evil zombies, and the rules from Zombieland.  We talked about Shaun of the Dead and how making a zombie a pet sounded like a really neat idea, until you started thinking of the logistics of it.  We all agreed that the valley girl goofiness of Night of the Comet was one of our favorites, and PGS firmly vetoed seeing Zombie Strippers (you see now how the Mistress of Corruption got her name), stating he didn’t want to see zombie boobies (although I’m sure, at nearly 14, boobies in general have a sudden and increasing fascination for him). And OMG, we forgot the zombies from Heavy Metal that scared the daylights out of me when I was a teen! (guess I know what we’re talking about next week).

The Gauntlets of Corruption

The Seductress at Arms talked with deep personal knowledge about the Voudoun tradition in Haiti (she is from the Dominican Republic, and had friends growing up who practice Voudoun) and the very different conception of zombies, as an outgrowth of the fear of slaves that even after death they could not rest, but still had to serve their masters.

But the absolute scariest part of the evening cames toward the end, when the Mistress of Corruption showed off the Gauntlets.  See them over there?  Aren’t they horrific in a sort of mesmerizing sort of way?  I remarked to her that I thought the flowers were like the version of Oz’s poppies found in Namesake (which is an amazing!!!! web comic, speaking of zombies, but I won’t spoil it for you.  Go read the series from the beginning, here).

Zombies make me happy — so long as its light outside, I’m with my friends, and we have plenty of ammunition and a couple of kukri.  What are you building your happiness out of?

Play Zombies Ate My Neighbors.  You know you want to!

And since I plan to revisit the issue of Zombies in the future, Jonathon Coulton will have to wait.

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Let’s do the Zombie Shuffle

Originally published at Am I the Only One Dancing?. Please leave any comments there.

Yes, I know.  I have Zombies on the

BRAaAAIIiiinnnnNNNNNNSSSsssSSSSSSS

Daphne and Shaggy at last year’s walk

Ahem.  Anyhow.

Here in Kansas City, our Zombies are philanthropists.  Twice a year, on the first Friday in June (to coordinate with First Fridays at the Crossroads Arts district) and in October at the Plaza, hundreds or even thousands of Zombies gather together to donate food, consumables and cash (after all, all they eat is

BRAaAAIIiiinnnnNNNNNNSSSsssSSSSSSS)

 to a worthy charity. 

This spring’s charity is Bishop Sullivan Center, an organization that helps families keep afloat in tough economic times, including helping with utility bills, food, and summer fans.  

The price of admission is five items from the list at the Zombie Walk Facebook Page, or $10.00 per zombie. 

Go to the

The Official Kansas City Zombie Walk for Hunger Facebook Page

for more information.

Me and some of my Knit Night peeps are planning to be there, getting happy.  Hope to see you there as well!



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