Sunday, July 18
Book, disk, picture and skein
A River Runs Throught It is a quiet masterpiece by Norman MacLean. I used to read it at least once a year until I decided to put it away for a while.
We have the books - the 1976 paperback published by the University of Chicago Press which includes other short stories; 1989 hardback published by the Pennyroyal Press with wide margins that extends the story to 161 pages. Some of the short stories are integrated into the larger story.
We have the movie - one time we invited several friends to watch the movie and everyone had to bring a dish with a fish theme. I can't remember what we made but I remember a neighbor boy snatched one or two crab cakes from his parents' platter to express his displeasure at being excluded from the feast.
We even have a poster. I honestly don't know where this came from - maybe it was a give-away with the hardback from the UC bookstore. We had this poster in our very early days when tacking up pictures with wall putty was just fine, as you can see by the oil marks in the corner. I didn't remember we have this until I cleaned out the closet in the spare room as we were moving - used to be the master bedroom - and pulled down a picture mat that I could see had a couple different prints. This was under a child's print of a bunny.
Now I have the sock yarn.
When I went to the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival to take the 1/2 day class, "Lace Edgings: Before, During and After," taught by Franklin Habit, I was determined not to buy any yarn. I am full-up! Not only are there the many boxes that can't be unpacked because there is no where to put the yarn, UFOs, embroidery projects, I also have the boxes that had to be sent from Indy after my LYS crawl with the blog-free, Mrs. B, as well as the two bags full hiding in plain view from the Nana's Knitting Shop closure. Too much!
I was not surprised to see the core contingent from Nana's at MWFFA. I listened while some told of their excesses. They all came away with some beautiful stuff. I was especially interested in the Carol Sunday stall and some sock yarn that everyone seemed to buy - multi-colored, interesting names. I succumbed. Toe Jamz Sock Yarn, A River Runs Through It colorway. Resistance was futile.
Each skein is 450 yards. That's too much for the way I knit socks. This is going to have to marinate for a bit while I wait for inspiration. I think I'll read the book.
We have the books - the 1976 paperback published by the University of Chicago Press which includes other short stories; 1989 hardback published by the Pennyroyal Press with wide margins that extends the story to 161 pages. Some of the short stories are integrated into the larger story.
We have the movie - one time we invited several friends to watch the movie and everyone had to bring a dish with a fish theme. I can't remember what we made but I remember a neighbor boy snatched one or two crab cakes from his parents' platter to express his displeasure at being excluded from the feast.
We even have a poster. I honestly don't know where this came from - maybe it was a give-away with the hardback from the UC bookstore. We had this poster in our very early days when tacking up pictures with wall putty was just fine, as you can see by the oil marks in the corner. I didn't remember we have this until I cleaned out the closet in the spare room as we were moving - used to be the master bedroom - and pulled down a picture mat that I could see had a couple different prints. This was under a child's print of a bunny.
Now I have the sock yarn.
When I went to the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Festival to take the 1/2 day class, "Lace Edgings: Before, During and After," taught by Franklin Habit, I was determined not to buy any yarn. I am full-up! Not only are there the many boxes that can't be unpacked because there is no where to put the yarn, UFOs, embroidery projects, I also have the boxes that had to be sent from Indy after my LYS crawl with the blog-free, Mrs. B, as well as the two bags full hiding in plain view from the Nana's Knitting Shop closure. Too much!
I was not surprised to see the core contingent from Nana's at MWFFA. I listened while some told of their excesses. They all came away with some beautiful stuff. I was especially interested in the Carol Sunday stall and some sock yarn that everyone seemed to buy - multi-colored, interesting names. I succumbed. Toe Jamz Sock Yarn, A River Runs Through It colorway. Resistance was futile.
Each skein is 450 yards. That's too much for the way I knit socks. This is going to have to marinate for a bit while I wait for inspiration. I think I'll read the book.
Thursday, July 8
How long does it take?
This is a question knitters get from time to time. Time spent on a project is hard to quantify because nothing is done in one sitting. I, for one, do not practice knitting monogamy. Does one count the amount of time sitting motionless, watching the ball going towards the goal and then ricocheting off the pole? How about the time spent yelling at the refs?
I could tell you, step by step, exactly how long these socks have took to knit if I could remember how to make a line in Photoshop. Instead, I'll use my words.
As we drove through Indiana and Ohio, I knit a cuff the length of my hand.
I knit the heel and turned the heel before we got to Exit 111 on I-80 (Clearfield) but that includes our dinner at the Dutch Pantry and watching the weather channel while Chicago was under a tornado warning.
Then the toe decrease was worked around packing, cleaning, sweeping, storing DD#3 stuff in Brooklyn. And waiting through traffic on the Queens/Brooklyn Expressway, getting to a hotel in the LaGuardia area. Brooklyn is a hotel desert.
I did a temporary 3-needle bind-off because I didn't pack a needle nor my plasticated Kitchner instructions.
Sock #2:
This much was done NJ/Pennsylvania. There were two back-ups that swelled the clock. One was a spinning roll-over accident on I-282 in NJ. The minivan was upside down still when we passed by. The other one was so slow that we got off on exit 242 and detoured through charming
rural PA to exit 224 where traffic was moving as if there were not a cork stuck in the bottle. You never know if the detour will take longer than sitting it out. But I can tell you there is nothing more interminable that watching the back end of a semi trailer at 15 miles an hour.
I don't think I did any knitting when we visited DD#2 in Pittsburgh. I'm pretty sure I didn't do any knitting. We spent some time with the ping-pong table in her living room and the rest of the time staring at the floor - how can anyone live with all that stuff on the floor? Clothes, pennies, quarters, empty envelopes - she says no food but I have my doubts about that.
And then the heel/gusset/insole as we zipped through OH/IN.
I was so relieved to be back home that I put the sock aside while I reacquainted myself with the kitties, did laundry (no coins! no laundry cards! no stairs!), enjoyed our central air.
I could tell you, step by step, exactly how long these socks have took to knit if I could remember how to make a line in Photoshop. Instead, I'll use my words.
As we drove through Indiana and Ohio, I knit a cuff the length of my hand.
I knit the heel and turned the heel before we got to Exit 111 on I-80 (Clearfield) but that includes our dinner at the Dutch Pantry and watching the weather channel while Chicago was under a tornado warning.
Then the toe decrease was worked around packing, cleaning, sweeping, storing DD#3 stuff in Brooklyn. And waiting through traffic on the Queens/Brooklyn Expressway, getting to a hotel in the LaGuardia area. Brooklyn is a hotel desert.
I did a temporary 3-needle bind-off because I didn't pack a needle nor my plasticated Kitchner instructions.
Sock #2:
This much was done NJ/Pennsylvania. There were two back-ups that swelled the clock. One was a spinning roll-over accident on I-282 in NJ. The minivan was upside down still when we passed by. The other one was so slow that we got off on exit 242 and detoured through charming
rural PA to exit 224 where traffic was moving as if there were not a cork stuck in the bottle. You never know if the detour will take longer than sitting it out. But I can tell you there is nothing more interminable that watching the back end of a semi trailer at 15 miles an hour.
I don't think I did any knitting when we visited DD#2 in Pittsburgh. I'm pretty sure I didn't do any knitting. We spent some time with the ping-pong table in her living room and the rest of the time staring at the floor - how can anyone live with all that stuff on the floor? Clothes, pennies, quarters, empty envelopes - she says no food but I have my doubts about that.
And then the heel/gusset/insole as we zipped through OH/IN.
I was so relieved to be back home that I put the sock aside while I reacquainted myself with the kitties, did laundry (no coins! no laundry cards! no stairs!), enjoyed our central air.
