A Weekend Without Knitting and an Update

As long as I can remember, knitting time has come in spurts. I worked two jobs most of the years when I had young daughters, and my time was at a premium. I knit for them, but it was catch-as-catch-can. Then I was remarried, then divorced and a single mother again, then self-employed and going to school full time. Then a grandmother. Now I have a very demanding job and shuttle between Georgia and North Carolina and, occasionally, Virginia. But it's still unusual these days for me to go four days with not one stitch.

Last Thursday I drove from here to Charlotte. The following morning K and I piled two of her kids into the car, went to J's house and picked up two more, and then drove to Virginia, where we picked up one more. Yes, two of us, five children. Not one stitch. Not one yarn store. No needles.

Then on Sunday, we drove back to Charlotte, and yesterday I drove home. Not one stitch. Couldn't wait to get home to my knitting -- ask me about my lace! -- but I was so tired, I never picked it up.

Tonight I will knit. I will finish the last Horcrux sock for CIC. I will finish the black helmet liner. And I will knit at least one pattern repeat of my lace scarf. I swear I will. I need to get back to what de-stresses my life.

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Now about that lace. Every year some members of our knitting guild go to Highlands, NC and hang out at The Mountain for a weekend. I've never gone, for a combination of reasons. Mostly (a) I snore and (b) money. This year I decided I was going. My term as president is coming to an end and I wanted to have the pleasure of going there as president. Turns out, that part was totally meaningless. Knitters have no officers at The Mountain.

What a wonderful weekend. No program, no classes, not much of a schedule. Get up early, watch the sun rise with a cup of coffee and your knitting, knit all day, breaking for meals if you feel like it, and don't if you don't. Then change into your pajamas, and knit until your eyes close. Then repeat. What a perfect restful weekend. I'm only sorry that I had to cut the trip short by a day because I had a big deliverable at work.

While we were there, we drove into the town of Highlands to have lunch and visit a new shop recently opened by one of our members here in GA. Very tiny, very cute, maybe a little pricey but not bad. I went to look for a specific type of yarn (Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold) because I wanted to knit a lace scarf. I did buy it, but my friend Pat talked me into buying a hank of Jade Sapphire Mongolian Cashmere to knit a delicate froth of a lacy scarf out of. $40! Then she sat patiently with me while I, a lace virgin, knit my first few repeats. I came home with about 5 inches of scarf. (There's way too much good conversation going on around the tables to make it good lace knitting territory--next year I'll take a big stockinette project!)

Snce then, my knitting time has been very light. And, of course, you can't (or at least, I can't) knit lace from a pattern set up on a magnetic board, using a cobweb, when you have pugs on your lap. Not happening. But I'm up to about 14 or 15 inches. Tonight I will knit lace.

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Beth Brown-Reinsel came to our guild this month. I didn't know what to expect. I've never been very interested in Scandinavian knitting or fair isle. Oh, my...she was terrific! She spoke to us on Thursday night and showed slides of her knitting and the traditional knitting that she's passionate about. Then, on Friday, she taught a fair isle class. I was not good at it, but I did it! And what a nice person--some of us went to dinner on Friday and she was so pleasant and fun! Loved her! (And now I want to knit something fair isle--in my spare time!)