~ on gloriousness ~
Despite my busyness, recently I've made time for knitting. Months ago, I "briefly mentioned" how I was going to rework the Nantucket Jacket and, well, I'm still working on it. Sweaters can take a bit of work, especially if they have a somewhat elaborate stitch pattern. Anyway, I've become a bit more enthused about my subscription to Netflix (perhaps it's due to the change in weather?) and have been ending the day by cuddling up in my big poofy chair watching some thrilling thing. Last night, I watched the National Geographic version of "Guns, Germs, and Steel" which I thought was very interesting. As I always say, "why read the book when you can netflix the movie." But back to knitting. Sometimes I get a bit stressed out knitting sweaters because there's so much pressure to get the construction and the fit right. At the moment, I'm almost finished with the first sleeve. And for some time, I've been wondering if I knat the sleeve poorly with regards to being able to properly attach to the body of the sweater. In the latest issue of Interweave Knits, which I received in mailbox over the weekend, there's a very interesting article about sleeve construction, which I would recommend to any other OCD knitters. So yea, been thinking alot about sleeves. Last night, while I was being intellectually stimulated about why inequality exists, I decided to attach the sleeve to the sweater even though I was not done knitting the sleeve. For whatever reason, I decided to knit the sleeve, contrary to the instructions, from the shoulder to the cuff. After carefully attaching it to the rest of the sweater, I was pleasantly surprised that it was perfect! So now I can continue knitting the rest of the sleeves without anxiety.
Anyhoot, there is additional cause to celebrate in my world (I know, I know - - I, too, have difficulty believing that there is more to life than knitting, but trust me on this one) because I recently had the very rare experience of seeing the candidates for whom I voted actually win the election. Even though there was never much of a chance that they would not win, it is still very exciting for me because I usually vote for losers. On election night, Josh and I popped by the Basque Center to see all of the Democrats congregating around the mayor and city council members and it reminded me of the night, several years ago, when he and a few other local law makers I had voted for won, and how amazing and wonderful it was. Brings tears to my eyes just to think of how awesome it is when progressive individuals can win elections in such a conservative state.
In other news, during the week I never have time to cook, so I always reheat something or rely on some premade or packaged item (which I feel badly about, but, you know, after doing a thorough pro-con analysis, I figured that it was more important for me to ensure that I exercise regularly, spend time with Josh, spend time knitting, sleeping, working, schooling, homeworking, and whatever else I do to keep my life together, that eating on the fly was the best sacrifice). But, I've made a committment to cook something on the weekends - - as I just find cooking to be such a wonderful experience. I love chopping vegetables, combining spices, etc,. etc. Anyway, so this weekend I made spiced rice with cashews and it was AMAZING!
So, my parents have a new dog. The black lab died about a year ago and the other dog, Chancy, died over the summer. Which was sad, but you know, death happens. I was actually very surprised to encounter this new dog, as I feel that bringing a new dog into the family should be announced like one would annouce a pregnancy or something. Anyway, I really like the new dog. He looks like a small deer, and he leaps and bounds like one too. You'll note that I'm calling the dog, "the dog." And this is because my parents are calling the dog "Chancy," which is the name of my old dog, the dead one. My mother asked me privately if I'm upset that they're calling the new dog by the name of the dead dog, and I'm not, I'm just flabergasted by their lack of creativity. Of course, I'm the one who names everything and spends loads of time coming up with names. I name my car, I've named by bikes, and I feel as though I have given my parents ample suggestions on names for the dog (Reginald, Eisenhower, Otto, Roy) but they insist that they won't remember any of these names and continue to call the dog by the name of the dead dog. (insert, a rolling of my eyes)
i started doing sleeves from the shoulder-down, i find they're more likely to be the right length that way. also, having a row counter and complicated system of post-it notes helps them end up the same size!
though i just mis-read one of my post-it notes and got the front of my sweater mixed up.
Posted by: Emma | November 11, 2007 12:34 PM