Posts from — September 2005

This weekend turned out to be quite productive on the knitting front. My mother in law called Saturday night while some friends were over and Jim thought she sounded pretty down. So, being the wonderful wife I am, Sunday morning I suggested he call her and see if she wanted to come down (she is four hours away and although she shouldn’t be driving that far anymore she is very stubborn about it…drives eight hours to see the other brother and grand children). Five hours later she was here.

How this relates to productive knitting…it was an especially beautiful weekend here and we have a lovely shaded patio on which she likes to sit and do crossword puzzles as we all chat and drink wine while Jim reads the paper. Oh sure, I could have read too but this seemed like a great time to finish some things that have been languishing while I knit other projects.

Exhibit A: Third pair of baby socks for my friend that had twins. They were due in May and I had the other two pair ready in time. I had one of these complete and had barely started on the second. Up until Sunday there it sat, one blue baby sock, lost and alone. One evening on the patio with cocktails and some #2 needles cured that. Doesn’t it look much happier now?

Exhibit B: Pair of socks for me. First one complete in June. Cast on for the second one on Monday and produced this: An amazing amount of progress can be made on a sock when one can knit on the patio with morning coffee and conversation, in the car 45 minutes to and from the “country” to pick fruit and vegetables and an evening in front of the television watching (knitting) a documentary on Rome. Only a couple more inches and I am finished. Oh and don’t make fun of my heel! I do it on purpose (really). I like for the heel to fit snugly and it seems like the overall fit is better with the deeper heel. Maybe I have weird feet??? In any case, they look fine on and feel great.

I think I can say with pretty high certainty that there isn’t a single person who hasn’t heard about the detestation in New Orleans and other cities bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. I have reserved commenting on it until now, I think, because I am in total shock. Although I haven’t lived there in many years, I was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana and traveled across Lake Ponchetrain many times into New Orleans. In case you don’t know where Bogalusa is (although I bet a lot more people know where it is now compared to a week ago) here is a You can see the proximity to New Orleans, Biloxi and Gulfport…now the ground zero of hurricane Katrina. I can’t even begin to fathom the detestation these people have experienced. Not only have they lost everything, but they may never be able to return to their beloved city. I have my own petty reasons for extra sorrow (see below) but right now just being safe, healthy and with my family makes me feel like the luckiest woman in the world. My heart goes out to all the victims of Katrina…especially the poor who had no means to leave New Orleans. And now, my inconsequential thoughts on losing one of the great cities that is dear to me.

My family has a long history with New Orleans. My great grandmother was French Cajun (Cajuns are French settlers that were exiled by Britain). Many of my relatives lived in New Orleans. My great grandmother lived in Westwego (just south of New Orleans across the Mississippi River) and I remember going to her house to see the Mardis Gras parades. I still have many aunts, uncles and cousins living in New Orleans. Although I have not spoken to any of them in years, I can only hope they are all safe. Fortunately, my father has heard from a few that had the means to evacuate while they still had the chance.

I have begged my husband for the last several years to visit New Orleans with me. I was fortunate enough to see it again in February 2001 while in town for a golf tournament. Most people think of Mardi Gras when they think of New Orleans, but that is not all it is. The city was just as I remembered…the food, music, people and culture. It actually made me a little homesick for the first time ever. I really wanted Jim to be able to experience a bit of how I had grown up…the history and feel of the city. Now I fear it will never happen. I cried last night as I watched images of a flooded New Orleans. How can they possibly rebuild??? Is it even feasible to do so??? The whole thing is really too difficult for me to grasp.

There has been an outpouring of generosity and of course knitters are no exception. Please join Margene and Susan in their effort to help storm victims. They are hosting a relief effort through the Red Cross and so far they have collected $15, 432 in donations from fellow knitters (of course, non-knitters are welcome to contribute).

yarn.com is donating 10% of purchases to the Red Cross for Katrina victims. I can’t think of a better reason to go yarn shopping!

Of course, I had to take something to knit on the plane to St. Petersburg. Since we were going to Florida I didn’t really want to start a heavy sweater or anything too bulky. Sure, I could’ve taken socks…but for some reason I wasn’t in the mood. So, me, thinking…Florida, hot, lightweight…why don’t I do something with the Cotton Ease I snagged from Tuesday Morning? I started a tank. No pattern…just me, cotton, and my trusty Denise circulars. It is K4 P2 rib, with a middle section of airy eyelets. The stitches are loose because I wanted to allow for the inevitable shrinkage of 100% cotton. Gotta love being able to try on garments when using interchangeable circular needles!

I have to say though, I’m not all that impressed with the Cotton Ease. It’s demise has been talked about extensively on knit boards and blogs…leading me to believe it was something I had to have. How could I possibly resist with all that hype and the fact that it was $5.99 for 3 100 gram skeins??? I guess at that price I should’ve known it wouldn’t be TOO exciting, but a girl can dream, can’t she? At any rate this has been fast knitting so if it doesn’t work out no big deal. I don’t anticipate this tank to be hugely popular with me but I hope I am wrong. The stitches just don’t look very “happy” to me. Hopefully it’ll look better after washing it.