Who Is This Guy?

Behold, the best beginning EVER to a long weekend. Phil and I drove into town in the pouring rain on friday to see the game. Luckily, the sky cleared up by 7:15, and the ground crew was just wrapping things up as we hit the souvenir shop (I lost my baseball hat last summer).

I wanted to take a moment to introduce my new friends, or so you would think from the next photo. Sitting in our usual seats in the RF grandstand, I experienced another phenomenon or version of the red sox fan, commonly known as "the commentator." Nice enough guy, but he was hell-bent on impressing his girlfriend with his baseball lingo and criticism throughout the whole game. And when the camera was brought out, he turned out to be quite the ham:

Witness as well his extremely exhuberant girlfriend. Yeah, we were great pals by the end of the night. They almost jumped in to help beat up some drunk girl who decided to get in a stare-down with me at the beer stand.

I heard all you knit-bloggers had a great time without me at Cummington this weekend! Blogless Sharon has promised me the coveted photo of her working the spinning wheel at an exhibit at the shaker village, just as soon as she masters emailing photos. AAAAAAnd, we may soon have two new additions to the family, namely a couple of softy Alpacas who need a home. I guess they're too short to be used for breeding, but at a stately height of 5'2" I beg to differ! Who says taller is better?

What I want

I should rename my blog Snail-Knitter since I am so darn impatient. Two projects in the works, and I am dying to get started on a cute capelet from the book "Wrap Style" I bought this month. I also found a cute sleeveless shell on the Berrocco website (god I love free patterns) that I must have.

Any suggestion on what I should use for this? Keep in mind my wardrobe is 99% black, grey and muted shades of brown.

So it will be grey, grey or cream...

And to all you in knitblogland, have a great time at Cummington and take lots of pictures! I wish I could join you for the bloggers picnic-I am so jealous!!

I Feel So Lara Croft Today

The events following are a true account, I swear.
A guy walks up to a woman in a parking lot outside Bradford Liquors (Heron 2003 Pinot Noir, in case you're wondering). The woman rolls down her window carefully....

Guy: Hey there, I just wanted to check out your rack. Its pretty nice.

Woman: Uhhh, thanks. I like it a lot. It comes in handy.

Guy: That must have cost quite a bundle.

Woman: Actually, it wasn't cheap. But it was a Christmas gift from my husband.

Guy: OH. Well, you're very Lara Croft.

Woman: What?

Now you get to see what we were talking about. My Baby:


Now I know he was just talking about the car. Just ask Carole (gratuitous name-dropping), but there's a big bond amongst Jeep owners. It goes a bit further than just "the wave."

Nevertheless, I am soooo Lara Croft today.

Phil's Cable Scarf

Materials:
3 skeins Green Mountain Spinnery Mountain Mohair 2 oz/140 yards in balsam
Size 8 needles

Cast on 32. Knit 2 rows in garter stitch.
Row 1: (RS) K2 P4 K3 P4 K6 P4 K3 P4 K2
Row 2: (WS) K6 P3 K4 P6 K4 P3 K6
Repeat 6 times
Row 13: (RS) K2 P4 K3 P4 C3B P4 K3 P4 K2
Row 14: (WS) K6 P3 K4 P6 K4 P3 K6

Repeat Rows 1-14 until the man says its long enough, end with 2 rows of garter stitch. Weave in loose ends and block.

Its a simple cable scarf, but I can't wait to finish and block it! And then put it away until October. Boooo.

Lazy Sundays

What a strange afternoon...I had a wonderful visit from my mother (AKA Blogless Sharon) with little Cassandra yesterday. The day had been bright and clear, so we took a walk on the beach. I explained to Cassandra that seaglass was called "Mermaids Tears" after which she thought it best to return every piece to the ocean with a mighty toss, so the mermaids could have their tears back. I guess that was her reasoning. After it started to rain, we had to drag her away from the water, she was so intent on all the different colors of beach stone. Just like her auntie Heather.

So I carried back my collection of seaglass (the ones she let me keep) and waited for my mother. Blogless Sharon connected with another spinner along the way, of course, and stayed behing to talk about border leisters and spinning wheels, oh my.

Slightly damp, and extremely hungry, we settled in my kitchen for some knitting, and Cassandra modeled the rollneck raglan her grandmother lovingly made out of Spunky Eclectic. Very very cute, and in great spring colors.

The evening did clear up long enough for me to plant some flowers on the back porch, but then thunder resumed, the sky turned orange, and it poured. Again. I'm just waiting now for that perfect sunday afternoon for knitting on the deck. Too bad, the trees are almost green again, and my view of the ocean is almost obscured. At least all summer long you can still hear the waves, and catch the lovely breeze.

Good Beginnings

Since there has been very little about knitting this week, I present for you my two works in progress. First, to keep Phil cozy next fall I am whipping up a balsam green woolly scarf, made from Green Mountain Spinnery's Mountain Mohair. Staying true to my mission of buying only yarn I need, I exercised great restraint in New Hampshire last weekend, and walked out with only two hanks of this wonderful tweedy yarn, the color selected by Mr. Rand himself. (This is my first project for him-I've been so selfish!) Since it's just two ribs and a cable, no pattern is needed!

But of course there's something for me me ME! In Duxbury a few weeks ago I was dazzled by this tencel blend by Classic Elite Yarns, called Miracle. And even though my good sense tells me that a color like this will look terrible on me, I fell in love with the softness and subtle sheen. This should make a great "Almost Cowl", the sleek pattern I picked up from Wendy Bernard at www.knitandtonic.typepad.com

Of course on those little size 5's it make take me a while. I'm not ashamed to say that big knits are my best friend, with their quick results, and immediate gratification.

Overheard in the Cubicles

Thursday is officially dedicated to the delights of working in a cubicle. You get quite close to those tapping away around you, their annoying habits, phone-isms, horrendous judgement errors, and smelly tuna fish sandwich lunches.

Here to help me is my good friend, Masta' Shake. I dedicate today's posting to that wonderful cubicle neighbor I lovingly call "Riverdance" or "Thumper" after his propensity for tapping his heels loudly all day long. I kid you not.

Thumper spent two whole days injecting every conversation with a mention of his upcoming tee-time. Here's one of his gems:

I have this special approach to the game that if I go in thinking I'm gonna' lose my balls, I lose my balls! So if I don't go in thinking about losing my balls, I don't lose my balls.."

Now this conversation went on for a lot longer, but I was already distracted by how many times a man can say the word "balls" in a conversation. I was also struck by how his tone of voice emitted a quality that would say to any listener (and every member of cubicle land was subjected to this) that this was a profound and deeply meaningful approach to golf. But I have to admit I suffer frequently from a streak of immaturity and hearing the word "balls" at least half a dozen times was too much for me to stand. Balls balls balls balls. The next week I wanted nothing more than to ask Thumper if he lost his balls. It's still a pressing question...Maybe next week we will have our answer. Did Thumper lose his balls?

When Good Tuesdays Go Bad

It seemed like a good day for practice. I spent the last two weeks working on my intonation, playing rounds until I feared my neighbors would file a petition. I also discovered Scout had a great singing voice. For a dog. I learned to jump from D to E with grace, I even trained my pincky to curve and stretch in a manner one would find very painful. In fact, I had been looking forward to this night, dreaming of dazzling my instructor, the woman who waits for her daughter in the hallway every tuesday, even the chubby ballerinas in the studio downstairs with my skill.

No such luck.

After 45 minutes of what might be described as the worst slurring known to the Suzuki world, we called it a night. Cynthia smiled patiently at me, and swore for the umpteenth time that I sounded just fine. And as I left the room I realized the pimply teenage boy waiting outside for his cello lesson was smirking. Paranoia set in, and I slunk off to my car.

There's always next week...

An Introduction

Manomet-not exactly the most beautiful place on earth, but it has one amazing quality that never fails to amaze me. Yesterday I cruised down Route 3 in the messy fog and drizzle, slightly worried about the reports of flooding I saw on the tube at my gym/lunch break. As I passed the Plymouth Plantation exit the inevitable happened: a break in the clouds.

It never fails that the rest of the world could be covered in a soaking downpour, but my neighborhood is dry and sunny. They say the precipitation just gets "pulled" out to sea. This afternoon, and any day of course, is reason enough for a barefoot walk on the beach.

So I take this moment for a few gratuitious beach shots, of course spotlighting my most recent FO: the boxy off-shoulder cable sweater.

No pattern here, I just figured a warm woolly pink sweater would be perfect for spring. Knit with Manos de Uruguay 100% wool in color 01, and finished on my way back from the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Festival on saturday. I started with a cable/ rib at the neck and made the rest up as I went along. Should I try this again, I would certainly add some shaping to the main body. One last shot before I go: