Saturday, November 24, 2007

Lucky

While the myriad effects of L-Tryptophan are well documented, this is the first year I have ever really experienced the lesser-known yet equally pernicious role Thanksgiving feasts play in the lives of knitters everywhere. Thanksgiving really cuts into your knitting time. I spent two days menu planning, shopping, baking, basting, snipping, sauteeing and serving. All for three people. Two days gone. My friends and family are fully cognizant of my feelings about this ersatz holiday. I celebrate the glorious two days off, guilt-free, from all responsibility save that of culinary origin. I REFUSE to acknowledge the purported reason for this day, given who I am and what I study. I do (somewhat shamefully) enjoy the turkey, pumpkin pie, greenbean casserole, homemade rolls, gravy, etc. etc that are a part of this created occasion for gluttony. I embrace the concept of being thankful for what we do have. Especially after watching things like the recent Frontline special on Darfur, I cannot help but be humbled by the plenty in which I wallow. My ample tummy and full cupboards are reminder enough that I have more goods, food, shelter, and power than most humans living in the world today or at any time before us. So it was in that spirit of humbled appreciation that I embraced our dear friend visiting from Connecticut, dished out the white meat and homemade cranberry sauce, and reveled in the thought that the gf would be doing the dishes. While I definitely missed having my sister and parents around the (metaphorical--we ate on the couch in the living room) table with me, I also savor the love that creates new definitions of family.
However, did I mention that it was more than two days of knitting time lost? Completely gone. Clearly I needed to amp up the energy level--enter the glory of "Black Friday" and my LYS. I love my LYS. They are friendly, warm, inviting and have fantastic sales. I dropped more on yarn and fiber in one day than I ever have before. Even at Maryland Sheep and Wool. It's really hard to resist 25% off everything in the store. So I loaded up on enough Lavold Silky Wool to make a Weasley sweater for the gf, some Zara in a perfect red that will probably be a scarf for my boss, some Claudia's handpaints that may just sit in the stash until the whisper to me, and did I mention spinning fiber? Oh yes. A full pound of a black merino/silver silk blend, and another half-pound of the Louet rovings in burning bush ( I fell in love with these after the MIL bag). More than enough fiber in my diet yesterday. Yummy goodness. Plus, left-over pumpkin pie and turkey shepherd's pie. What's not to love?
I have already cast-on and begun the Weasley sweater.... Boring isn't it? Nothing but miles and miles of stockinette. This sweater is about the easiest thing in the world to knit...it's two rectangles, two near rectangles, a bit of intarsia and a picked-up neck funnel in the round. Cute and what the gf wants, but phenomenally boring to knit. The yarn I chose, Elspeth Lavold Silky Wool in dark blue with a light blue for the letter, has to be doubled to make gauge and the desired "this sweater cannot cling to ANYTHING" requested by the gf. Snooooore. Good knitting to do while waiting the eleventy million days it takes for my images to upload. I LOVE dial-up. What blogger has dial-up, I ask you? Ok, ok, humility. Thanksgiving. I'm over it.
In the world of FOs, I'm finally done with the Archives Shrug. I couldn't stand it anymore and had to finish it. I'm not happy with it and will probably never wear it in public, but here it is. I had to rip out the arms and open the armscyes to re-knit them for more room. However, when I went back to the only yarn store (not my favorite LYS) that carries Malabrigo in the area, they no longer had the right colorway. of course. So rather than ordering the right color, or just waiting for more to come in, I bought a close match and took it home, re-knitted the arms, which involved inserting a plain stockinette panel underneath and attached to the lace panel that formed the top of the arm, wove in the ends and called it done. It's done, but not very pretty. The new yarn inserts are way too green and bright. They don't work with the softer apple green of the sweater at all. I may tea stain them to tone down their brightness. I creatively arranged the photo so they don't show.
I have also finished something so quickly I didn't even have time to blog about its progress. I knitted another squatty, this time in yarn I dyed at home with kool-aid; a really easy and very fun process. Again, it's a colorway I would never wear, carry, or own voluntarily but I think the recipient will love it. I will felt it this afternoon and post the final version later this week.
I'm also working on a mitt based on this pattern. I'm using Berroco's Ultimate Alpaca in my favorite leafy green. The yarn, for being ostensibly 50% Alpaca, is a little scratchy, which I'm not that happy with, but I love the pattern and the way they worked for mitts. I saw this on someone's Ravelry page (sorry, I'm not remembering who at the moment. mea maxima culpa) and fell in love with the idea. I should finish these this weekend and will post the final version then. I'm especially happy with the thumb gusset, as I made it fall just at the point of a leaf expansion, so the yo's bracket the thumb.
I also managed to turn in a revised version of the article, so hopefully that will go out for review soon.
Clearly I have innumerable reasons for thankfulness this year. I am one lucky girl.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Died it with Kool-aid??!! Sweet! And I thought you were just trying to avoid your dis. Turns out you were secretly plotting was to get a sugar high!! I wonder if they taste like green apple? :)

spinningleaves said...

LOL, the whole house smelled like black cherry and lime. So did the yarn for about a week. It washed out with the felting, sadly. It really was yarn good enough to eat!
thanks for visiting btw--spinningleaves