Knitting a Soap Opera

I've had this idea bouncing around in my head for awhile, a weekly serial that I post on my blog. I've had the first paragraph taunting me for quite some time and I think I'm just going to go for it. Clearly those who read my blog like reading. Most of you like knitting. I'm sure one or two of you may think I'm funny. Roll that all together and it's the perfect audience for my story of a knitting grandma (don't worry, she's not JUST a knitting grandma, and she's not a stereotype either) and how she got to where she is. The story takes place in an imaginary land in an imaginary time because I don't want to do any research. Suffice to say it's an Arthurian, middle ages, type feel I'm going for. Also all the characters will be named for patterns or yarns whose links will be given upon the character's first appearence. With no further ado the story: The prolouge, in which we learn very little but much set-up is acheived. "Knit, knit, knit, purl, knit, purl, knit, purl, knit, knit, knit, purl..." the clear voice chanted as she worked through a pattern she had memorized in her youth. Even though she could no longer see she still always knit the sweaters outside in the sunlight, just like the other women who needed the light to see the complex patterns work up in the traditonal dark grey yarn that was spun in the village. When she sat out on the porch she felt like she could still see the land around her since it never changed. The marsh not far off, full of the sounds of birds, and the rolling hills to the south from which her granddaughter would soon come. The familiar sounds and smells of her home were enough for her to remember the last time she had seen it years before. It was the last thing she had seen and though sh'ed never seen her granddaughter's face she didn't regret it. "Grandma!" came the call from the hills, Beatrix was coming. "Grandma!" she called again, she was deffinately in a tizzy about something. "What's the matter Beatrix?" "Grandma! Grandpa called you a witch! Grandpa called you a witch!" the little girl threw herself down next to her grandmother, completelty out of breath now that she had used the last of it to tattle on her ornery grandfather. "Oh he did, did he? What else did he say?" "Grandpa said that I'm a princess because you used to be a princess but that now you're just an old haggy swamp witch that curses everybody!" "Oh really?" she chocked back a chuckle. "I think Grandpa was pulling your leg, Beatrix. Have you ever seen me curse anybody?" "No." "And do I look like a haggy old swamp witch?" "No but sometimes in town I hear people say there's a swamp witch." "Okay, I'll tell you the truth, I am a swamp witch but I only do nice things for the people in town, I don't curse anyone. I just knit out here by the marsh, how could that be any harm to anyone?" "I guess it's not." "Good girl, now you wind up that new wool into a ball for the Swamp Witch would you?" "Yes Grandma." The girl happily went to work winding away at the rough grey wool that had been delivered since her last visit. Soon the two were in a good rhythm, Beatrix's little hands turning a basket of skeins into a basket of balls and Grandma the Swamp Witch making quick work of the sweater she was making for a boy about to become a soldier. Beatrix would hum a tune and Grandma would chant her pattern. Finally, little Beatrix couldn't contain herself anymore. "Grandma?" "Yes Beatrix?" "Were you really a princess?" "Grandpa says a lot of things dear, not many of them are altogether true." "Is your house really made of dragon scales?" "What?" "Grandpa told me your house looks funny because it's made out of dragon scales. He said he slayed a dragon and made your house out of so it could never burn down." "He told you what?" Grandma was clearly irate. "He slayed a dragon? He told you he slayed a dragon? Well, Beatrix, I guess it's time you heard the truth. I did used to be a princess and how I got here by the marsh, married to your grandpa is a very long story." "I have time Grandma, I have lots of yarn to wind still and a whole basket of fleece to spin when I'm done with that," Beatrix said quickly, trying to contain her excitement at the prospect of being a possible princess. "Alright, I'll start at the beggining when I was a princess. Before I even learned to knit which is what changed my life forever..." Tune in again next week for chapter one! (Later Edit: Here's a direct link to Chapter One)