there and back again

This baby blanket has been keeping my hands busy, keeping me steady, through my back and forth journeying.

September 10.
Pine, AZ.

September 19.
Cambridge, MA

September 23.
Pine, AZ.

Arizona to Massachusetts, rocks to grass.

wedding shawls

Went to a wedding in cool, drizzly Chicago last weekend. It was a college buddy's wedding, and Amy was there, too. You know her. She's the one who taught me to knit. We've held chickens together. I gave her the glorious, pink Vermont shawl. And guess what? She wore it to the wedding!


We were so pleased that the drinks matched the shawl ...


And she was such a good sport about taking copious knitting blog photos.


But enough is enough!!

Seattle

I spent several days in Seattle for a conference. What a beautiful city! I saw all the sights ....

The Space Needle

Pike's Place Market

City Lights

Maritime Sunsets

Mount St. Helen's (on my flight home)

It was a grand trip. Intellectual stimulation. Catching up with old friends, some of whom I hadn't seen in a decade. Falling under the spell of Seattle in the summer.

There was no knitting, as you might gather. But my knitting life did profoundly color the trip, as I stayed with a friend who used to be in my knitting group in Phoenix. Actually, she moved to Seattle just before I moved to Phoenix, so we never overlapped. But she's a fantastic virtual member of the group on Ravelry, and she still visits from time to time, and she generously opened her place to me even though we hardly knew each other in real life. Isn't the knitting community awesome?

old, new, traded, blue

Last summer, after I finished the pattern for the Sagebrush Shrug, I set to knitting a second one. It was last seen during a climbing trip last August. But after finishing the body, I ran out of the yarn, and I just paused on the whole enterprise.


For a while I thought, heck, I've got gobs of yarn hanging around, why don't I knit the ribbing in something else? And so the unfinished shrug and a spare ball of black yarn were toted to my Cambridge apartment (evidence: here) where they sat untouched for an entire year. Truth be told, I didn't want to do it that way. So, I finally got myself together enough to just go on Ravelry and trade with another knitter for the right yarn.


In no time at all, I've finished the ribbing around the body opening. Looking good. Now I just have to pick up and knit the ribbing around the arms.


I'm really a terrible procrastinator, but it always does feel so delicious when I finally face the music and get things done. In that vein, there's always mowing the lawn ...