An Interesting Question

Last night I was struggling with Row 125 of the Hempathy Brambling Shawl at Friday Night Knitting, tinking back because I forgot to k2tog (knit 2 together) at the end of yarn A and then M1R (Make 1 stitch that leans Right) at the beginning of yarn B.  I was also grumbling because each and every row of this pattern is different so there's no memorizing anything, no carefree "rest" rows, and I'm not even halfway through the increases (meaning halfway) so not even a quarter finished.  AP asked if I wanted the shawl and before my brain kicked in my mouth said, "no, not really." Huh.  I love the "idea" of it but I'm not loving, not even really liking, the making of it.  This is not a relaxing knit.  I have notes and Xes in places, Post-its dangling here and there, and a locking row counter, plus what's a "do this increase" row on one time through a clump of rows isn't necessarily a "do this increase" row on the next time through.  I guess what I'm saying is there all this thinking necessary and I'm not at all convinced that the end result will be worth it.  Since the needles aren't something I'll need for awhile (and I have others that size in case I do) I think I'll put it in time-out for a while.


So then this morning I cast on a little cap-sleeve cardi (wisteria for the yoke and sleeves, purple for the body) for LC that I've had the pattern for a while and the yarn for even longer.  It has a sparkle ply.  I think she'll like it.



I wish the grape hyacinths showed to their best advantage.  No matter which camera I use they fade into the background and lose their beautiful color--but here they are anyway.


Oh!  Here's a near tragedy.  I pulled out a pair of anklets this morning, put them on, and went about my day.  A couple hours ago I decided to put on sneakers to go outside and look!  A couple stitches decided to come unraveled.  I guess I dropped a stitch when I was decreasing for the toe and it ran down, turning into three stitches.  Good thing I caught it before tossing it into the washer, huh?  I'll use a tiny crochet hook to work them back up and do a little darning.  Whew.



April 22--Henri Manuel, Claude Monet in his Studio.

The old man bends over
reaches for a wide brush
to swirl on his palette.
Loaded with paint
it becomes water lilies
floating on blue-green canvas water.
Flowers grown from a shaky hand
bloom forever in the world's eye.
~~~~~

Even though I was a good two months late in my search for a spring coat (which Aunt B says is an archaic thing) I was lucky at my first stop.  Since Burlington used to be Burlington Coat Factory I thought I'd start there.  I asked a lady who turned out to be the manager about a spring coat and she led me to a rack of garish pink/magenta jackets.  "No," I said, "I'd like a coat."  "Oh," she swiped at her ankle, "a long one," and shook her head.  "Not a long coat," I said, "I'm way too round and way too short for a long coat.  I want something that falls between my butt and my knees."  She said they didn't have anything but we went across the store anyway, there were more of those hideous pink jackets.  I thanked her and turned around to leave only to be confronted with a Clearance rack and there it was.  A taupe spring coat, water resistant and washable, with a detachable hood.  Even better, it's one size smaller than I'd have tried on if there'd been a bigger one there.  Woohoo!  She said she had a 15% off coupon I could use.  Score!  Plus I found a couple more things on the Clearance rack.   Since I really don't like to shop I was thrilled to find what I wanted in the first place I went.  I have a spring coat.  I am a grown-up.
--Barbara