Neither did she mine and smelt the metal for her needles

Early in our grad school career, a college friend of mine and I were visiting The Doktah at her apartment. College friend complimented her on her sweater, and The Doktah said, “Thanks. It’s handmade. I made it myself, actually.” College friend and I were both impressed, as knitting in my opinion is a mysterious skill wherein sweaters and blankets are created out of string, seemingly by magic. But The Doktah is not one to take credit where credit is not due, and had to admit, completely seriously, “Well, I bought the yarn,” as though that negated the claim of “handmade.”