KnitKnack Saves the Day

You would think that at this point I would no longer be surprised at how beautiful and soft yarn can be.  You would be wrong.  Of course, this ability to be constantly surprised by yarn is a large part of my attraction to knitting.   

Let’s back up the story a bit.  My SIL is pregnant.  We are very excited and wanted to do something special. Hub is making a beautiful gift [I will post pictures when he is done] and I wanted to knit something.  But I was struggling with what to make.  I finally found a pattern I was interested in and then needed the right yarn.  Off I went to KnitKnack and within five minutes of getting there the owner handed me the perfect yarn.  So I said what any reasonable knitter would say in my place, “Do you have more of this?”  I left with two skeins of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted in Child’s Play.           

Memorial Day

Today makes me feel melancholy.  Ever since September 11th Memorial Day has taken on greater meaning for me.  Intellectually I always knew today was a day for remembering and appreciating the sacrifices of people who have fallen while serving the U.S. in the military.  But I have never known anyone who actually died while serving in the U.S. military.  My Dad tried to enlist when he immigrated to this country but he was a few months too old.  They would later increase the age but again, he was too old at that point.   

Anyway, the meaning of the day never truly hit home with me, even though the marchers in the local Memorial Day parade made me feel sad for their sacrifices and losses.  May be the meaning of the day never hit home with me because I never felt it personally.  September 11th changed all that.  I do not feel safe the way I used to.  Actually I still have very raw feelings about September 11th.  Now on Memorial Day I tap into those feelings. 

Please note that I am not an in-your-face religious zealot.  But every day I pray for peace around the world, particularly in Iraq; for the safety of our soldiers and their families; and for a peaceful end to the war in Iraq.  Sometimes I wonder if these prayers are somewhat contradictory. 

Okay, so I hope everyone has a safe and meaningful Memorial Day. 

I particularly hope that Frank Buckles, the last living U.S. veteran of World War I, has an excellent day.  Actually I hope every day is a great one for Frank.  Go Frank!             

Don’t Eat Your Own Puke!

Kitty has been out of sorts recently.  We took him to the vet and since then he has been getting antibiotics twice a day.  He really hates all of this.  To make matters worse he is shedding like crazy.  We comb him with both a furminator and a regular comb but due to being sick he has not been enjoying it as much so the combing sessions are just too short to really decrease the furballs.

The other evening he let out this very pained cry.  From experience we know that this is the “I think I am going to puke” warning.  Hub and I swung into action.  Kitty puked his just eaten dinner on the stairs and the second floor hallway.  While Hub took care of the mess in the hallway I went to take care of the small amount of puke on the stairs.  However, Kitty got there first and was very interested in his recently upchucked dinner.  I found myself yelling, “Don’t eat your own puke!”  He was distracted by this and I cleaned it up. 

Hub noted that because Kitty does not really chew his dry food, it looked pretty much like it did when he put it in Kitty’s bowl 20 minutes before.  It was probably the least gross kitty puke ever. 

Earlier that day Kitty was very naughty.  While I was upstairs he knocked a glass of milk off the kitchen table.  You would be surprised at how far milk can splash.  It got on some wool I had unwisely left in the kitchen.  I blotted the wool and hope it won’t need washing before I knit up.  It will get washed when I block it but I hope it it will be fine to knit with.  It is already in balls so if it needs to be washed I think I will have to unball it into hanks.  I really do not want to do that.  So we will see.        

The Bulletproof Poncho Has Issues

The knitting fervor continues.  Today I worked on both the second pair of Fuzzy Feet and the “So Many Ponchos So Little Time” poncho from The Yarn Girls’ Guide to Beyond the Basics.  I also caught up with some of the Sticks and String podcasts.  Now, I do not know David Reidy but I have to admit that I was rooting for him to win something at the Easter Show with his Henry VIII sweater.  That is one impressive piece of knitting!  I was happy to hear that he won second place.  Go David! 

Pictured below is the poncho at an early stage.

The poncho is now being called “Bulletproof” because it is very dense.  When it is done it may be able to stand up on its own!  But it will be very warm.  St. Patrick’s Day in New York is always colder than I would want it to be so the poncho should work well.   

Anyway, in the middle of my desire to just knit, I came to a crossroads with the poncho.  Time to decide whether it is wide enough so I can start the decreases.  My plan is to knit the medium size.  But with it scrunched up on the needles I could not determine it’s true width.  So I put in a lifeline and took it off the needles.  And well, my gauge was a little bit off.  When I measured it, I realized it was now a size large.  I spent some time agonizing over whether I should continue on or rip back.  I have never made a poncho so I am not sure how big it should be.  However, the fact that it is knitting up into a very dense fabric makes me think that if I continue with it as a size large it will look like a circus tent on me.  Not a good plan so tomorrow I will fix it.  Though, just to be safe I will put a lifeline in. 

When I took it off the needles I also realized that the cables were turning out much better than I expected.  That was an encouraging discovery.

Knitting Fervor Takes Hold

I am in the midst of a knitting fervor.  The joy of the stitches flying across my needles is so simple and so intoxicating.  The only reason I can stop to write this is because it is about knitting.  To be honest, I am tired and should stop because this is the time when mistakes are made.  But I can’t.  It started because I took the light rail a few times this week, including tonight.  Public transportation, doctor’s waiting rooms, courthouses, public places are my favorite places to knit.  I can be immersed in my knitting and still be surrounded by the jangly energy of people.  All the hustle and bustle around me energizes me.  The other night I made a remark about how I would enjoy my train ride home and one of my friends explained to another that I would enjoy the ride because I would be knitting.  She knows me well.  Enough writing, back to the knitting.          

Whatever happened to those Fuzzy Feet?

I am not going to be lame and apologize for not posting for a long time and complain that I have been very busy.  Really, do you know anyone these days who is not super busy? 

One of the reasons I have not been posting is that I do not like to put up posts without pictures.  Once I thought about it I realized that it was rather an odd view since some of my favorite blogs rarely contain pictures and I have stopped following some blogs because there were too many uninteresting pictures.  So I am forcing myself to write this and post it without any pictures.

Right now trapped in my digital camera are quite a lot of photos.  I am having a problem with my camera in that it automatically sames all my pictures to a file entitled “January.”  What I really need to do is go through the manual with a fine tooth comb and then probably call customer service.  But I am too lazy to do that right now.

Anyway, I finished the first pair of Fuzzy Feet and then cast on for a second pair.  Some progress has been made on the second pair but not with any kind of fervor.  They are currently my “portable” project.  Yes, even though I am generally a monagamous knitter, I have two projects currently on the needles. 

The second project is the “So many ponchos so little time” poncho from The Yarn Girls’ Guide to Beyond the Basics book.  Yes, I know that ponchos have once again fallen out of style.  But I have three reasons for knitting it:

(1) I have the yarn and love it.  Hub bought me the yarn as a birthday gift a few years ago. I also have a very small stash and finishing this item will take a huge chunk out of the stash;

(2) It is not difficult so it is a good project to be my first adult sized garment (yes, another first); and

(3) It has a cable on the front and back so it will be my official St. Patrick’s Day garment.  It also helps that it is bright green. 

I am also getting ready to cast on for a third item.  But that will have to wait for another post.