My SP Comes Thru Again

I got home from work & picking up The Boy to find this wonderful treasure in the mailbox:




I believe that my Secret Pal intends that I SHALL learn to knit socks. Indubitably! And with this handy, dandy guide, how could I not?? Thanks so much, SP, you incredibly thoughtful! Thank you.

MoA KAL Progress

I have about 12 inches done so far. This pattern is worked from the bottom up, so you start with about 420 stitches. I've done 3 decreses, but it's still a lot of stitches. I guess as I get closer to the top, it'll start going a lot faster. Whew! I love the variegated color, and the rustic effect of the thick/thin yarn. When I've finished the body of the cape proper, I'll make a Saxon Braid trim to go around the entire cape. That should be interesting, to say the least. I can't wait to finish and get to wear it. Sometime this decade, I suppose.

Heavenly Blue

Let's see, knitting news. The mohair bias stitch scarf; One slow row at a time. The wizard hat; moving along at a fair clip. The Manos cape; knitting feverishly. It's never going to be finished by April 28th. Not in this lifetime. But neither is the bias stitch scarf. I'm a KAL failure. I should be getting used to this - I was a knitting olympics failure, too.











But to console myself, this soft, gorgeous stuff was waiting in a big box when I got home, along with the Manos del Uruguay I'll need to finish the cape.











Yeah. Yarn porn. Ya gotta love it.

To Paraphrase William Hogan

The Great Equalizer had always enjoyed April. It was in April that he caused Hans Christian Andersen to be born, and Washington Irving, and Lenin, and Wilbur Wright. In April he took the life from William Shakespeare and Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin and Lord Byron, Samuel Clemens and Franklin Roosevelt, Bruno Hauptmann and Jesse James, and Baron von Richthofen, Adolph Hitler and Alfred Hitchcock. He founded Rome in April, and let Brazil be discovered, and started the American Revolution. And in April the Great Equalizer started and ended the United States’ Civil War. In April, the United States entered World War I. He organized the Salvation Army in April, and founded the Mormon Church, and liberated Buchenwald.

In April, he gave birth to Thomas Jefferson and U.S. Grant and James Buchanan and James Monroe, Presidents of the United States, and to Hirohito, emperor of Japan.

He made April sacred to the Jews for Passover, and to Christians for the death and rising of Jesus, and to Muslims for the Prophet’s birth.

And on Friday, April 20th, in 1962, on the Quartzsite Trip, during the dawn after the night of the first full moon after the vernal equinox, the Great Equalizer sent a flash flood to take away the life of P.J. Cooper. The Great Equalizer knew why he did it.

And in 1962, on Friday, April 20th, at the United States Embassy in Moscow, an ex-marine named Lee Harvey Oswald, who had previously dissolved his American citizenship, obtained a loan of 483.07 and a visa to return to America with his Russian wife, Marina, and their two month-old daughter.

The Great Equalizer had always enjoyed April.

In April the Great Earthquake struck San Francisco, killing over 500 people. And it was in April the WPA was approved, and the League of Nations disassembled. In April, 80 people died at Waco, and the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was blown up, killing 168. The Columbine shooting occurred in April. So did the Virginia Tech shooting.

And in April, the US Library of Congress was created, and Spain declared war on the US, and the Irish Easter Rebellion began, and the Vietnam War ended.

Yes, the Great Equalizer had always enjoyed April.

Some knitting and a Little Weather

I'm knitting on the Wizard Hat, the Manos Cape, and the Mohair Scarf. I wish there were pics; maybe tomorrow.

The big news is the weather. This storm is wicked. The wind is intense; the power has been out & I wont' be surprised if it goes out again. A lot of roads are detoured, and the waters are 5 ft high and risin' (joke). But the water is high, and the flooding in certain areas is horrific and of biblical proportion. Be safe, everyone!

Knitting Group

The knitting group met at the local library again on Saturday - and this time 8 people showed up! Wow, we're getting quite the following, lol. And a very interesting mix of people it is!

I'm still knitting on the bias-stitch scarf, the Manos cape, and the wizard hat. Whew. I will be needing size 10.5 dpn's for the wizards hat, and my local craft store doesn't carry that size. Any suggestions? And I'm waiting to hear from the store that ordered the extra Manos I'll need. Wait, wait, wait. Not that I'm impatient or anything. Nope. Not at all.

AWESOME!!!!

It hasn't been a very good week. So when I got home today, thinking longingly of my bed & oblivion, and found a package - for me - that I hadn't ordered - what a pick-me-up. So the boy helps me impatiently rip the package open, and we see this:

And this:

And after carefully tearing off the paper, this:


Thank you, Secret Pal! You done did good! I can't wait to sit down and read it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Knitting Update

I've been diligently working on the Manos Cape. Which is NEVER going to be finished by April 28th, so I had better get knitting on the mohair bias stitch scarf. Where is the time going??? But what do you think so far? It's getting pretty bulky, and awkward to handle. I think it's about to become a work-at-home-only project. I can start the saxon braid trim that will be attached as the carry-along project.
I cast on for the Harry Potter KAL project - the wizards hat, for my son. I tempted fate by NOT knitting a swatch. But that shouldn't matter, right? Lol, famous last words.