Wines and Patterns

If you want to read an absolutely hysterical, and sad, and beautiful and wonderful blog, check out www.crazyauntpurl.com

I am hard-pressed to choose a favorite part, but the fact that Laurie recommends which wine to drink with which patterns, like they're items on a menu, has to be up there.

And today is her birthday. So send her some lovin'.

Regularly... you know, every six months or so...

So I've been posting every six months or so. Not good. I'll try to be better. And now that I'm done with the first year of law school, maybe it will be with a little more frequency.

Now that I've finished Dad's sweater-vest, I get to work on the shawl my mother wants for the holidays in September. I thought I would be able to start it Tuesday night when I got home, but I left one ball of yarn at her house, and the shawl is created by knitting with two strands at the same time.

I find that all I want to do is pet the yarn. It is by far the most expensive yarn with which I have ever worked ($18 a ball for I don't even know how much) so I'm a little afraid to start it. The shawl is gorgeous, with beads and lacework and everything. Mostly, I find, I just very much enjoy petting the yarn. I hope it is still as soft when I am done.

I got the yarn (and the pattern) at Knitting Nation in Nyack. Jane and Joanna are FABULOUS. They are so kind and they run their knitting store the way it should be run. The space is open and light and welcoming. The selection is large and soft. The help is ever-available, and the conversation is plentiful. I intend to go back as much as I can.

Father's Day, Two Years in the Making

This weekend, I finished a sweater vest for my Dad for Father's Day. It only took me two years. He was supposed to get it last year for Father's Day, but then I wasn't finished, and, well, then I went to law school. For quite some time, it sat in a bag in my bedroom, OTK and unfinished. The better part of a year, at least. But then I found Knitting Nation in Nyack, and they're fabulous. I went in with questions, and happened to catch Joanna the day before a finishing class. So I signed up, came back on Saturday and had great 2 on 1 instruction with Etta. I was so scared to finish it, but now, it's done. A picture will follow soon. Tres exciting. And it inspires me to create more, take more classes, and work on other projects. I may just tackle something with sleeves this summer...

Long time, no knit

I love law school. I love the reading, and I love the interactions. I don't love the lack of time I have for knitting. So now that I've been off for two whole weeks, I have been knitting up a storm. I am a little more than halfway through with the vest I'm making for my father, and I made about half of a sock. Of course, now I can't figure out what to do next with the sock pattern, so it is sitting on the cirucular needles until I can find someone to ask.

This abstract blogging is interesting. It's kind of like throwing a note in a bottle into the ocean not knowing if it will ever find anyone. Sometimes I think my blog is like the line, "What if you threw a party and no one came?" But I have fun writing it... when I get around to it...

Cables for Men

For a friend's birthday, I wanted to make him a hat and scarf. I saw all of these patterns online for cabled scarves, and they all were attached to comments from people saying they used them for the men in their lives. Having never done cables before, I thought it would be a fun challenge. I love the cables, but the scarf didn't look manly enough. Maybe I didn't do it in the right color. I'll take a picture one of these days and post it, too. I wound up going with a straight 2k 2p rib pattern with three different greens. I alternated greens every 20 lines, and then made the hat out of the brightest color green. I think he was happy with it. At least I hope so.

After a hiatus...

... I'm back. Took some vacation days out in California, and resisted the urge to pack up my entire stash to bring with me. The last time I flew out there, I think I brought more yarn than clothes. And with the exception of I think one skein, I used everything I brought. Granted, I had gotten bumped off of my flight and had a whole extra day to sit in the sun and knit, but...

This time I didn't do much knitting at all. I made one scarf for breast cancer awareness (the light pink -- I give them to/sell them to people walking in breast cancer awareness walks). My family all has them for the walk they do to celebrate and remember the life of my aunt who died of breast cancer at the age of 54. She would have been 62 this coming Sunday.

After multiple knee surgeries, one of which resulted from the training for and walking of the Avon Breast Cancer Three-Day, I can no longer justify doing these walks to raise money and awareness, but I love being able to contribute in my way, which, in this case, is to make scarves. I had made some last year out of the light and lofty baby clouds bubblegum pink color, and some out of the fun fur light pink. They're both the requisite light pink of breast cancer awareness and last year, October in Providence (where my cousins and mother walk) was pretty chilly -- they were all really happy to have the warmer scarves.

Switching Gears or working on a need to sew basis

No, I didn't finish sewing the Windowpane blanket yet. What I have sewn came out all bumpy and I'm not at all sure that I like it. My aunt maintains that she does, but I wonder if she's just saying that.

And now, now that I don't need to finish it right this very moment, I find myself pulled to other things. Like the baby sweater I am going to attempt for not one, but two friends who are currently pregnant. I'm not at all sure how these are going to work out, which is why I am starting them now (really, I should have started when I got the first "I'm pregnant!" call). I figure if it doesn't work out, the kid can always get a blanket and booties and maybe a little hat to match. For now, I will attempt the sweater.