The meaning behind the blog's name and other reasons I am obsessed with Julia Roberts

I think I have an obsession with Julia Roberts. I based the name of my blog off of a statement she made about knitting. and of course, there is the fact that she KNITS! Third, I adore the movie Steel Magnolias for many reasons, Julia being one of them. But more on that in a minute...

So why did I decide to name my blog "Girlfriends Knitting?" During the filming of the movie Larry Crown (she played a community college teacher! We have so many connections, I think we should be BFFs), Tom Hanks played a prank on Julia Roberts, who is known for knitting on the set. He had an assistant and the costume director prepare 50 skeins of yarn with a few rows of knitting, then passed out these knitting projects to 65 men in the crew. When Julia walked in, she began cracking up laughing, and immediately got into the spirit of the prank, talking about knitting with the guys.

Here is a small excerpt of that from Access Hollywood, but the line I remember most came from another video, that no longer exists on YouTube. (This one is still cute and worth the watch.)

In the longer clip, Julia says something to the effect of "All you need to get started is a girlfriend who knits!" That is how I got started, with my knitting girlfriend Virge showing me how to hold my yarn and follow patterns and fix mistakes, while visiting and laughing. It was fabulous. Thus, I wanted to create a similar knitting circle, although a virtual one, for all of my knitting girlfriends.

Furthermore, I am a Steel Magnolia. Born and raised in Louisana, just like Julia's character in the movie, and then moving to Mississippi and becoming a true magonlia at 18. Additionally, as her character states in the movie, "Pink is my signature color!" Thus, when I got married in 2016, and my mom asked me what colors I wanted for my wedding, the conversation ended up just being us repeating the following lines from the movie to each other:

Shelby: My colors are blush and bashful, Mama.

M’Lynn: How precious is this wedding gonna get, I ask you?

Shelby: My colors are blush and bashful. I have chosen two shades of pink, one is much deeper than the other.

M’Lynn: But the bridesmaids dresses, they are really beautiful.

Shelby: Ceremony will be too. The walls are banked with sprays of flowers, in my two shades of blush and bashful. Pink carpets especially laid out for my service, and pink silk bunting, draped over anything that would stand still.

M’Lynn: That sanctuary looks like it’s been hosed down with Pepto Bismol!

Shelby: I like pink! Pink is my signature color.

Though we got married outside on a gazebo overlooking a lake and not in a sanctuary, I still had sprays of flowers, in my two shades of blush and bashful, everywhere. And it was indeed precious!