i pine for my people partying in the pines of the pacific northwest

i specifically did not call my mom while she had the whole family at her house for thanksgiving. the phone gets passed around to everyone, we exchange superficial small talk and i get all resentful that they are all together without me. it sucks sucks sucks to be so far from home. so i saved that 'poor me, i'm all left out' feeling for this afternoon.

my dream is for dah and i to have the groove that would allow me to take the kids to mom's for most of the summer. it won't happen next year as i have courses to take to earn the 'highly qualified' credential for my teaching position. but perhaps someday. for now i'll content myself with the memories so far. like this one, my niece knitting in her wetsuit. i'm helping her to salvage the hat she started months prior. the hat turned out great but the other pic got lost somewhere between the cell phone and the computer 'cause i'm not sure what i'm doing with the whole pix message thing.

seriously though; me, lonely on thanksgiving? not likely.

a quickie for your birthday?

while getting ready for hartford's festival of lights on friday afternoon, i watched dah try on every hat in the winter accessories basket that roosts in the coatroom... including all the kids'. it has become glaringly obvious that he requires one of these: men's cap, seaman's cap, double knit ski cap, or perhaps even the brioche hat in weekend knits.

with his birthday coming right up, this provides the perfect excuse for starting yet another project, but hopefully one that has hopes of being completed this month. mmm... yarn shopping, pattern browsing, i'm thankful for the time off.

the days off have also allowed for considerable headway to be made on the wrap cardigan. it is the perfect cold weather project, so cozy to have in your lap. it's hinting at the lure of afghans...

when you can't knit rows, hum a few bars instead

what i wanted to comment on was the radio. i tend to surf the bottom of the dial where the public and college stations reside. this week i came across a faith middleton spot about knitting. i was pretty excited by the theme, but her choice of guests left much to be desired. it was the honcho at lion brand yarns. how would the beer types feel if there was a buzz about the craft of beer making and budweiser was elected to speak for them? phooey.

as long as i've been hearing her, i've had this conflicted 'love to hate her'/'hate to love her' opinion of faith. the slightly 'under-water' quality of her voice and know-it-all tone of her conversations keep me on the verge of scanning the dial for the entire time it takes me to listen to her show to the end. it's ironic that i even have a favorite. that would be food schmooze, in case you hadn't gathered that by my choice of shopping destinations shared here in a previous post.

i'm happy when the scan button lands me on fm on toast. that is a fun variety of fare for the preoccupied commuter. it's rather like new england weather; if you don't like it, wait ten minutes, or in this case tune in tomorrow, it will have changed.

four days without a commute and i end up writing about it. what does that say about the grind; the momentum just keeps you treading along in that hamster wheel doesn't it? methinks i need to knit a few rows.

man knitting sighting - once removed

there is a cute teacher at wesley school in middletown. today i spotted her sporting a martha poncho. i asked her, "is that a martha poncho you have on?". "yes" was the reply. some follow up conversation revealed that it was crocheted, not knit. she was not the crafter, a relative was. when encouraged to share with said relative (referred to by me as she/her) that the poncho was both recognized and admired by a fellow knitter, she corrected me, divulging that a male relative had made it. she went on to describe how he arrived with a giant hefty filled with ponchos at a family gathering. he knit enough ponchos for all the female relatives: sisters, nieces et. al. isn't that cute?

how's that for some gift crafting inspiration.

i gave it away...

... so there are no pics.

i struggle with clutter constantly. there are five of us living in roughly 850 square feet. so, when i found this lady, i was pretty happy for the encouragement to purge. alas, i got a little carried away. i accidentally donated a 100% cashmere sweater! it was buffugly. big, saggy. i was through loving it and wanted it gone. it's gone.

i went back a few days later, hoping i could find it on the 'reds and pinks' rack at goodwill. waiting for me to come back for it. to rip it, and make something new. why didn't i think to recycle it before? dunno. i think i did think of it, but somehow it didn't translate into actually saving it from the ditch bag. next time, think twice, think thrice, think four times.

i hope the buyer was a thrifty knitter. reader from middletown, ct out there? did you score a good find at the goodwill recently? i should check the rekal. haven't done that in a while.

west hartford area shopping boom

any store that mentions yarn and knitting kits specifically in a promotional article needs to be checked out.

my new pre-work stop for coffee, baked breakfast item, and the occasional sweep through the prepared salads bar for a healthful lunch. this store actually has a chocolate! fountain!

haven't checked out trader joe's in west hartford yet but have been waiting for one to open in my vicinity since i left the west coast,
!19 years ago!

what's in your basket?

warm up for the cool down

It looks as though the warm temps we've had are finally going to come down a bit. so, it's time i make a real push to finish the wrap cardigan.

forearm pain is causing a bit of a slow down but we'll get there eventually. I'm trying blue blog's trick of having an alternate project going on at a different gauge. I've taken it one step further though and rather than actually knit on the alternate, i let it sit in a pile next to me while i doze off in front of evening television. guess what? my forearm is rested.

this is such a cozy item. i feel like I'm knitting myself the security blankie each of the kiddies have. only i get to wear mine on my back. clearly, it's irresistible to the tots; hands off Bea, yours is pink already!

and, look what i plan to treat myself with once it's all done. pretty closure, no?

what's that in your pocket?

no, i'm not glad to see you, it's just my nostepinne.
do you like it; the one erected amid balls from the previous post? er helped me choose it at rhinebeck. we fondled them at length. the one that seduced er was beautiful, lightly colored, and burly. those left weren't as lovely, except for a larger dark walnut one. there was much deliberation about size. another peruser rightly pointed out that any larger ball than the small size could accommodate would be better wound on a winder.

these nostes are attractive in part for their portability, and the smaller ones are of course... more portable. so i asked the artisan if he had any more stock tucked away. as i looked over the expanded selection he pulled out, er kept up the small talk. at last, i thought i had made my choice, meanwhile er had coaxed this exotic find off his person. this one is turned of bermuda cedar, a species that was nearly wiped out by parasites. it makes the balls and my knitting bag smell all nice and earthy.

we all parted feeling rather elated by the feel good transaction, including the young woman who left with the dark walnut. she had waited patiently the whole while, enduring my tease behaviour picking it up, putting it down. she said she wouldn't take it until i was firmly decided on something else as she did not want to bring bad karma on herself for snatching my possibly intended. she may have left the most satisfied of all of us...

unseasonable

had a nice sat am kip with eina and linda this morning at cosi. outside table, enjoying the mid 70's temps of the northeast in november!

i promised myself i would finish the knitting on cindy. i came within a few dozen stitches of that goal before noticing the problem. i had bogarted the denise needles, for want of a loooong cable, about 2/3 through my second cardi front. the replacement pair, though the same size were of different material, whatever addi's are made with, nickel plated or somesuch? anyway the guage was significantly altered and a frogging session is imminent.

the loooong cable was required for the winter 04/05 vk shawl wrap cardigan that is my current 'mindless' knitting project. it is a cast on of 234 stitches for the small size that i am making. i am just to the point of separating for the armholes. into the 5th ball of berroco softy, just 9+ to go. i have a feeling i'll be going back to the yarn store praying to the dye lot gods before this one is 'wrapped' up. snort.