I had a first time knitting experience the past few days. I knit withEXPENSIVE yarn – specifically with DiVe’s Orientale, a polyamide ribbon with gold foil flakes in the blue shown in the middle of the display. Pretty esoteric, huh? I had made Donna a chemo cap in cotton (if I had any sort of internet connection I’d be able to upload the blinking photos!) and was planning another one using Grumperina’s Odessa pattern. We were at Emily’s to take advantage of her 10th Anniversary Sale. Donna had said she would pay for the yarn and we went in there thinking Rowan Calmer or a similar cotton type yarn but since Emily didn’t have any yarns like that in colors Donna liked, and since Donna fell in love with this, what the hey. It was $18.00 a spool – 60 yards/spool. I have never knit with anything that expensive before. I also had never knit with ribbon before. Donna was lucky – she pulled a 25% discount ticket out of the grab bag at the register. I got a lousy 10% for the book to which I treated myself.
The cap’s a very simple one with such blingy yarn. I don’t think it would have worked for a fancy cap although I may be mistaken. Again, if I had a camera I’d take a photo; so I’ll try to scan it. It came out on spot to gauge and if I had been brave enough to add some length to the directions and gone an extra 4 rounds (instead of the extra 2 I did) I would probably have not had any yarn left at all. This is the pattern I used. I have a scan of it, but since I don’t have an internet connection that doesn’t suck 6 kinds of cat poop I can’t upload it to Photobucket or here.
So, now I’ll go back to my socks. I took a few days away from them after having to tear a bunch back because I was mad at myself. Knitters may not like math, but it really does work better if we USE math. I was trying a new heel and thought I was at the right point to start making it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t and in order to use the sock I would have had to cut off my toes… If I had bothered to see how many rows I needed to make to get all the increases in, and then had checked that by my rows per inch, I would have seen the heel would have turned about 1.5” before the end of my foot. I only got to the point where all the increases were made and hadn’t actually made the heel turn yet. And, most fortunately for me, I had used enough forethought to have strung a lifeline at the point where I started the heel increase. There are some good points about being lazy and I knew if I had to rip back I would have not done it evenly. Don’t forget, I knit 2 at a time so…
On the job front – I wasn’t offered that customer service job in Sunderland. I did the drug test etc for a temp that “may turn perm” job in Westminster. The pay’s better, it’s closer to home and the hours are 7:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. I don’t’ know how I’ll react to getting up at 5:30 to leave at 6:15 but getting out at 3:30 sounds great to me! Let’s just hope that the job doesn’t go back into a holding pattern again, shall we?
It’s May Day! In many places of the world there are celebrations in favor of Labor. The May Day Labor Celebrations actually started in Chicago in the 1880's or 1890's. They've been adopted by the rest of the world, but here we tend to discount the labor movement. We work more hours per year than any of the more civilized countries. Of course, our health care is pretty poor too - unless you're rich. Today the immigrants are marching – not just Latinos but Orientals, Hungarians, Poles, Russians, Iranians....
There’s a local election today; nobody’s running opposed but there’s this ballot initiative to conserve open space by raising our taxes for consideration. Since my little town is 80% open space – owned by the damn Department of Conservation & Recreation – why the hell should we agree to a tax increase to preserve open space? The selectmen say it’s to provide eventually for low cost housing so our elders can stay in town. Well, excuse me, but we also have 2-acre minimum zoning so no “low cost housing” is likely and being rural there’s no municipal sewerage so putting up an elderly housing complex is highly unlikely. Just another excuse for higher taxes and to let the head of the select board exercise his already inflated sense of self importance. I wrote in the smae of an ex-selectman just for the heck of it. At least he had a "corporate perspective" and did what was best for the town, not just what tickled his fancy.
I’m sending wishes to heaven for my friend Anne who was born on this day so many years ago. She was my best buddy – we vacationed together, talked about boys together, her father used to call me up to try to get some insight into her, we conspired to coordinate her move across the country to get away from home and start a life of her own. She was back in the area for my wedding, visited us as many times as Marc and I her. She died before the age of 40, having made a life for herself and realizing some of her dreams, but still too young. I miss her still -- can you tell?
Blessings to all who pass this way. Happy May! Happy Spring!
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