Knitting Update

And politics too, but I'll keep it depressingly brief:

The polls show that the Republicans have gained ten points in two weeks--howinthehell is THAT happening? No wonder Karl Rove doesn't look worried.

Joe Lieberman is ahead by 17 points despite his incredibly hawkish position. This concerns me because it implies that despite the big talk, local/personal issues are more important to voters than the war, at least in Connecticut.

It's the Bush administration which brought down the Empire but it's Bill Clinton who looks more like Emperor Palpatine by the day....what's up with that?

And now on to the knitting....


I know I'm late to the party but I'm only just now reading Yarn Harlot. (http://www.amazon.com/Yarn-Harlot-Secret-Life-Knitter/dp/0740750372/sr=8-1/qid=1161689941/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5370447-4875164?ie=UTF8&s=books)

What a fantastic book!

I must admit that when it first came in the mail and I realized there were no photographs I was a tad concerned...how can you have a knitting book with no pictures?!?

I shouldn't have worried at all. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee WRITES about knitting in such an engaging way that one doesn't miss the pictures at all. If you're not a knitter you won't get it but if you HAVE been bitten by that particular bug then this book has it all. If, like me, you fancy yourself both a knitter and a writer you'll think you're in hog heaven.

Last night I only got two rounds of colorwork done because I was so enchanted by the book and I've brought it with me to the office today so I can finish the last bit over lunch. The essay "I Can Do That" struck a chord and I just LOVED the ending...but those of you who have read her book AND read yesterday's blog post will realize just how timely and appropriate the essay "Veni Vedi Steeki" is in my own knitting life--I laughed out loud in a couple different places!

(There is also heartbreak too: "What Her Hands Won't Do" brought tears to my eyes because it was so clearly real life and "One Little Sock" did too because it was such a well-crafted piece of writing, complete with proper foreshadowing.)

Last night was also when the family weighed in on the Wintergarden sweater color choices. The "grass" and "butter" combination was voted off the island so early that I wondered if it had been a hormonally-assisted thought in the first place. Eldest Duckling is strongly in favor of a red background. Youngest Duckling at first liked the orchid I was considering but after seeing the picture of Wintergarden itself she changed her mind to the violet...and her point is well-taken since the violet would give such fine contrast.

I've had one blogger opine for red (thanks JoVE!) and am waiting for other thoughts.

The point is most likely going to be moot though because there's no way I can ignore HBF's opinion, which went like this:
"I was drawn to the purple, actually."
"Which one--the lighter or darker one?"
"The one that would've gotten you arrested in Rome." you see why I keep this guy around.

Meanwhile I MUST mention that I've gotten nothing but exquisite customer service from Mary Ann at KidsKnits. Not only did she make sure to mention that I could contact her for pattern help (customer support from an online store!) but when she realized that I had ordered the Wintergarden pattern on the Monday morning she was going to ship my Dale book, she spontaneously combined the orders into one and refunded the second set of shipping charges.

Yes, it's a little thing but it's a decent little thing in a world with too little of that going around. Just as Marsha White at Needle Arts Book Shop has become my supplier for books (sheesh, that reminds me I've got a discount coupon that expires in a few months--Barbara Walker here I come!) Mary Ann has become my supplier for All Things Dale-Related. You can be certain I'll get the yarn for Boo-Bug's Sweater from her store...superwash variety.

Oh and speaking of that yarn, we decided that said sweater should go to Youngest Duckling--Eldest is still wearing my impressive cabled hoodie that needs clasps and Middle is a small-for-age fourth-grade boy who isn't interested in anything that could possibly be deemed childish so a fancypants sweater is Right Out (although I intend to eventually make him something in just plain black-and-white with a bunch of butch skull-and-crossbones all over it to take the curse off.)

Youngest was Quite Excited over being the lucky recipient of Mom's eventual handiwork (I know me; I'm gonna start Wintergarden first) but had an interesting idea for the color scheme: she wants it identical up to the point where the main design starts but then instead of red she wants purple....which I think will be pretty smashing, actually.

I want a whole weekend of uninterrupted knitting time, not that I think it will happen.