Nephew, Knitting and the Yarn Harlot

Saturday was all about the new Nephew. Isn't he cute?!Yes, I finished the blanket.
Yes, that is the seat of the Amtrak train. Yes, I was cutting ends just 15 minutes before we pulled in to the station. Yes, I almost picked up my sock to knit after finishing the blanket. My aching hands, however, over-ruled me and I read for the few minutes instead.

This is probably the fastest that I have ever knit anything and the first time that I have sacrificed sleep for the sake of a gift. It was totally worth it!

Pattern: Rainbow Blanket from Knit It! 2006. Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun. Note: pattern error -- the pattern calls for 2 skeins of each color. You only need one each of the blue, pink, purple, and green. I now have almost enough to make a second blanket -- I never did acquire the second skein of green and will need one more yellow. I guess my soon-to-be niece will have a blanket to match that of my new nephew.

The trip to meet my nephew was great. I spent 6 hours there and helped where I could. Laundry was done, the first bath watched and showers were taken.

I then took the train back home and spent the next 4 hours half knitting, half reading and half dozing. (That's 3 halves, right?) Every time I picked up the knitting I started to fall asleep. A heel was turned , a few chapters read and some sleep was caught up on.

Sunday should have been a return to normality but Papa Squid is not overly fond of "command performances" at Hebrew School so I agreed to do it. I figured I could knit ... and I did. (He usually takes the kids to Hebrew School to give me some "alone" time. I use this valuable time by myself to do the laundry and pay the bills. Sometimes I get some spinning in before they get back.)

Papa Squid proved wonderful as always, I did not have to do the laundry when I returned -- the laundry fairy came while I was visiting the Nephew! Got to love him!

After lunch we decided to ride down to the International Pickle Day festivities. Next year we will take the subway. The festival was neat but it was too crowded for four of us with bikes attached. We did, however, get to the Doughnut Plant and picked up some treats for later. This was not a smart ride -- we took the streets and had to cross the Feast of San Gennaro on our way to the Pickle District. It took us less time to ride twice as many miles to get home by using the Greenway from Grand Street down and around the tip of Manhattan and back north to home. Only 10 miles today and the first three were slow going.

Once home, I gave in to my baser instincts and took a nap. Then ... Squidette and I went to see the Yarn Harlot!!! Squee!
Look! Me and Stephanie! A rare photograph where I actually look like a human being -- it is all her doing. Stephanie is a very funny lady and nice to boot. The session was conducted at Knitty City (my favorite LYS in a town with lots of great LYS's) Squidette came with me and is now very aware that I can use this blog to embarrass the heck out of her. She brought some knitting and actually knit over an inch while laughing with us older folks. I think she now understands why I got so excited when Pearl told me that Stephanie was coming to town. The Yarn Harlot was the first blog that I ever read that was not written by a relative. It opened up a whole world to me that I was only vaguely aware existed. Thank you so much Stephanie!

Also present at Knitty City were Persia and Iris:














And Harlem Purls. Also present were many of the Upper West Side knitters and Knitty City Book Club. Hi Ladies!

Today, back to work on Woven. I am resuming my pledge to not start anything else until I finish Woven. It wants to be my Rhinebeck Sweater.