Thursday, May 22, 2008

Memorial Days

Weddings. Ours and theirs.

We are heading off tomorrow before the sun rises to Traverse City, Michigan for my sister-in-law's wedding. A wedding!!!! I love weddings!

Well, actually, I dread weddings as they approach, which I can't explain very well, but I love them once they are near and then here. I am past the dread and am looking forward to it with childish glee-- Me! Gleefull!! It's been a while since I could claim the emotion glee. But suddenly this morning I find myself full of glee for the bride and groom. You know why? Senor and I watched our wedding dvd last night (he in preparation for officiating this weekend-- yes, friends, Senor is marrying his sister-- I in televisual solidarity-- and to remember how thin my arms were!). At first I was thinking, "I'm not sure I'm ready to watch it again. It hasn't been long enough." But then it was on, and I was watching us looking great and feeling great and having fun and the tears and the laughs and the... Ahhhh... the loveliness. Everyone should get to feel that way, and in a mere two days, Amanda and Nate will be feeling great and looking great and crying (maybe? not sure if they'll be criers, I have my doubts, but I could easily be surprised) and laughing (definitely) and singing some karaoke (Yeah baby! "Let's Get It On", Senor, you must sing it!) and having the loveliness. And I am happy for them! And after watching our dvd, I felt happy for us.

One of the most surprising things I can say about watching our dvd... seeing myself in that setting made me like me, made me think I'd like to have her as a friend. That's a nice thing to be reminded of... yes, yes, that's a dangling participle. I could fix it, but I choose not to. (See, again! Let it dangle!)



Another cool thing about weddings is the knitting time. Now, a wedding is a lot of work, and I may very well be busy helping with stuff during and around the wedding... but what of the airport time? The airplane time? The waiting at baggage claim time? All usable. All highly coveted by the avid knitter. And I have a plan!

My first plan is to not leave my knitting bag at home. At 4am tomorrow morning I will not be in the mood for taking a cab back to the apartment to retrieve it. I am taking sock yarn leftovers for Squares. I am taking a new stash-busting project, the Jewelled Shell from Knitty.com, which I cast on Tuesday night at 11:30pm as a midnight snack, and I am taking the Lace Ribbon Scarf, in case I get bored of all that stockinette. That's all I'm taking. Too many options will split my time too much, and I'll end up with nothing to show for all of my waiting this weekend. Yarn shopping is, of course, part of the plan, but shall be limited to sock yarn as I have plenty of unknit sweaters and hats and scarves staring at me at home. Sock yarn does not breed guilt as the others do. Sock yarn breeds hope and dreams of a delightful future.

That's how I will memorialize this weekend of loveliness and waiting. With a skein to build a dream on.

And photos, if the camera cord ever turns up. And memories for next Memorial Day.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

In the Absence of Camera Cord

I haven't felt compelled to post because I haven't had any photos to share... well, that's not quite true. I don't have any photos uploaded to share. The camera cord is riding around in one of my bags or purses, but cursory searches have turned up nothing. It is not gone, and will turn up after it's vacation, but until then-- Words.

Jaywalker 5.0 is finished! The Pagewood Farms yarn that I used is absolutely wonderful, and I would highly recommend it to anyone, especially in the Ireland colorway. Such interesting blue and green variations!

I am working on a design or two, one of which is really going for the jugular. While my visions for colorwork pieces are racing along at warp speed, my hands and needles are not living up to the ideas. It's totally frustrating! It's like trying to explain something in a language where you only know how to say Butter and Ice and you're not sure how to spell them.* I've had to rip back 5 times on a couple inches of a sock, and you should know that I don't usually rip back anything... even when there are mistakes, I usually let them slide. But this has been unacceptable. My design has looked like the knitting equivalent of a three-year-old's fingerpainting. It would be fridge-worthy if a three-year-old had actually done it, of course, but if an adult handed it to you and said, "Mommy, look what I made!" you'd say to her, "What the Eff?" Last night I would have thrown the stunted nub of a project across the room, but the idea of the yarn spiraling out of the center-pull ball like a cruise ship send-off was too cute to be rage appropriate. I hid it in a bag, probably with the camera cord and other misfit projects (one of whom wants to be a dentist), and pretended like it didn't exist.

The Pipe Dream scarf remains true to its name. The weather in Michigan is sufficiently chilly that I am consoling myself with the following mantra: It wouldn't have kept me warm anyway. It wouldn't have kept me warm anyway.

Other than that, squares. Barn Raising Quilt squares and yarn trading on Ravelry. A new friend is sending me a 1 gallon bag of sock yarn leftovers for some Cascade 220 leftovers. Smaller stash, more squares. How awesome is this? I also sold some Cascade 220 cheap to another new friend to help her make a point to her husband about how awesome knitting is. Smaller stash, promoting knitting awesomeness. What a great deal!!**


Bye for Now. ***






*CO 60sts. Knit 1" in k1p1 rib. Mantequilla. Yelo. BO loosely. Weave in ends.

**Senor endorses this message.

***You read it in the voice, didn't you? Admit it.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

My knits are doin' it!

They must be. Procreation is the only explanation for the proliferation of the species. Soon I shall have to hire hunters to come in and shoot the surplus population.

Current works in progress:
1. Lace Ribbon Scarf
2. Doppio Gauntlets
3. Citrus Yoke Pullover: This is an actual photo of mine... It's progressed quite a way since then...
4. Jaywalker 5.2
5. Lace Garter Stitch Scarf/Wrap/Wedding-Wearable for sister in law's wedding in less than 3 weeks... Also called "Pipe Dream Scarf".
6. Endpaper Mitts
7. Storm Water Shawl

They are doin' it. Swear. I am not responsible for this madness!