I almost stayed home. Then I saw the enthusiasm in the e-mails of others that would be there, and I decided to go. There was more gabbing than knitting that night. First it was double show and tell. JJ had returned from a business trip to California and brought back yarn for Jaspher. They generously gifted each of us with yarn. I got this extra groovy Cascade Pearls. Margaret’s Knitpicks order had arrived. She had a boatload of shade cards for us to view. That is so cool. I can’t tell all about the rest of her yarn because I want to wait for the finished object. Begin to prepare yourselves now. I don’t know when it will happen, but it is awesomely frightening for some, and frighteningly awesome for others. Eventually I did get the needles out and began to knit. I didn’t get but about three stitches in when I saw something was wrong. There was a problem with my Pomatomus that I could not reconcile (more on that later). I had already begun and completed one project that day. Don’t get too impressed. It was a sweatband made from worsted weight cotton. I shoved more of that yarn into my knitting bag before I headed out that night. It was a good thing that I did. Otherwise I would have been just sitting and not knitting. Sure, I had a ball of Royal Bamboo and the Ballet Camisole pattern, but I still couldn’t decide on the right size (details to follow on this, too). So, I pulled out some needles and that cotton, cast-on, and began knitting. They asked what my project was, and to answer I modeled the one I had made earlier that day. They got a good laugh. Do sweatbands improve the appearance of anyone? Not mine, nor anyone else’s I’ve seen. Still, they serve a function, and I’ve needed to knit more.
I sweat when I exercise. I’ve been expanding my exercise repertoire, and to aid in this, I received another sweet prize. Margaret kindly gave me her old VHS copy of Buns of Steel Power Yoga. Her VCR is kaput, and since she doesn’t plan to get another, she passed this workout video on to me. I viewed it last night, and I know that it will challenge me. It is a great addition to my exercise video collection especially because I’ve needed more stretching. Of course it will also serve to strengthen and get my heart going.
Monday Night Knitting is very dear to me. I’m thinking about something for them. I won’t write about it in case they stumble across the blog. They really do help me and my knitting. In fact, I think that it was the fact that I spent time with them that I was able to fix two knitting problems. One was the Pomatomus. Turns out I just needed to read some of the written directions to see what to do before working another repeat of the chart. Next, I figured out which size to knit on the Ballet Camisole. I was so focused on the chest measurement. Then I looked at the numbers on the schematic and the measurement at the bottom of the top let me know which size will be best. I’ve progressed a couple of rounds on the socks, and I’ve cast on and passed the ribbing on the camisole. I’m doing things and it is good. I was beginning to stall out a bit.
