St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day was my birthday. It was a fine day indeed: sunny, mild for the season, full of good spirits. Mountain Man was visiting, and we spent the afternoon strolling around the neighborhoods of Boston. Here's a pause in the North End after savoring a cannoli from Mike's Pastry.


The new hat is yet another Rivendell, but instead of a snug cap in DK wool, it's a lush, soft, slouchy hat in worsted, single-spun alpaca. The yarn is Cascade's Eco-Alpaca, which is undyed and minimally processed. The cables are delicious in this yarn!


I plan on eventually re-releasing this pattern with instructions for both the DK wool cap and the worsted alpaca sloucher. But ... sigh .... I've kind of lost my steam with the pattern making since I've come back to Cambridge and re-focused on my real work. It's a simple enough pattern that it would probably only take one Saturday to photograph/type/chart/etc. and finish the pattern, but ... sigh ...


What I have had more energy and appetite for is photographing this place. I'll be headed back to Arizona after this academic year, and I'm trying to appreciate all the textures and experiences while I'm still East. Like these antique radiators, packed into an outside lot at a salvage company in Union Square.


They're so beautiful and sculptural. Every time I bike past, I think, "I should really come back here with a camera."

Or take this monstrous pothole in my neighborhood, which reveals a glimpse of paved-over cobblestone streets. I took this photo about a week ago. When I biked past the spot again yesterday, it was patched up and back to plain-old asphalt. It's amazing to think of these layers of hidden history.


And while I'm thinking about my own sense of place, here are two other posts, from two of my favorite blogs, that transported me so thoroughly to other magical places this week: Knitting Iris's St. Patrick's day in Montana and The Times We Are Living In's elk-research adventures in Wyoming. Enjoy!