Knitting Club

It’s Kentucky Derby weekend here in Louisville. This weekend brings out the hermit tendencies in me - I live in a congested part of town that is usually filled with annoying, possibly drunken tourists (and locals) this weekend, and I prefer to avoid contact as much as possible. Combine that with a cold, and you have a recipe for staying in, eating macaroni and cheese (with cauliflower, so it’s healthy?) and teaching myself to read and knit at the same time.

I have 13″ of the back of the tuxedo top completed (a few more than in this photo,) which represents way more hours of knitting than I’m going to admit to you. Stockinette can be comfortably mindless when you’re in a cold medicine haze and reading a nice cozy mystery. Plus I had Dr. Who to watch, on my breaks from reading.

Marc just shakes his head; I think he can’t imagine why I would want to knit and read at the same time. Well… because now I don’t feel like either one is taking away from the other! Mind you, I wouldn’t knit or read anything demanding, but it is a nice way to pass the time.

I’m having a bit of a tension problem with this yarn - I don’t want to knit too tightly, but linen has zero elasticity, and I get occasional loose rows. I’ve decided not to care about them, and wait until the back is blocked to decide between reverse stockinette and regular.

I’ve also been reorganizing my queue on Ravelry (I went down from 7 pages to 3 by way of stern “are you really going to knit that” questions) and reassigning my stashed yarns. I got my Ella Rae Bamboo silk from Webs (guess they were wrong about that backorder) and it’s gorgeous - perfect for the Wallis cardigan I think!

I haven’t actually received my Summer IK yet, but this does not stop me from planning. I decided on Ella Rae Silkience, bought at the last Knit Nook sale, for the lacy tunic - I hope it works out! I also got out my yarns for the designs for Nectar that I want to knit (you would not believe the places I have stashed yarns in our 2 closet condo) so that I can swatch when my book gets here (I hope I have enough, but I think I should based on the prices of the kits… if not I will reassess my plans.)

Yes, if I am anything I am a planner. I am the type of person who cannot go on a vacation without 4 guidebooks and a typed itinerary. I like to make lists and check things off of them (thus: why I adore Ravelry, though I rarely use the forums.) I don’t do things on the spur of the moment, because I like to be prepared, and extremely spontaneous people make me cranky.

Marc thinks that the reason why I get along so well with our new cranky cat (Sarah Jane) is because we are just alike. He has a point. She will complain loudly if you do anything to upset her routine, which I think is adorable… she’s so grumpy, but at the same time wants to spend 24 hours a day in physical contact with one of us.  I think my reaction to a sudden bath in the sink would be about the same as hers.