I’m back
Hoo boy, when the catcalls start rolling in you know it’s been too long since your last post! I only wish my absence had been due to over-celebration of Mr. Garter’s birthday, as certain readers have begun to speculate. Alas, the 28th saw an emergency trip to New York City on sad business. My brother’s girl, whom I regard as my own sister, lost her mom to cancer. Her death was sudden and shocking despite the fact that we knew her chemo treatments weren’t working, and it left her daughter with no surviving relatives. My whole family flew out immediately to support them, and they are fortunate to have a bountiful and devoted group of friends who will help them through any crisis. Those two kids are up against the kind of responsibility and strain nobody 24 years old should have to face, so send them a few good wishes or a prayer if that’s your style.
The positive notes of the trip were the chances to spend time with my family, my friends at my former job, and of course my beloved Spiders. A visit or two to The Point is always welcome, although I was very good and didn’t buy any new yarn. (Not for lack of trying, but no one seemed to have the color of Debbie Bliss Cathay I needed for a project I’ll unveil the week after next…)
I had to return home to sit for an art history final this morning. It was one of those tricksy exams that doesn’t cover anything you were sure you’d have to write on, and instead throws you curveballs you didn’t think you’d have to handle because the material was from before the mid-term. I thought I’d figured out the professor’s style, and so I was sort of crushed that I didn’t get to hold forth on Vanderlyn’s Ariadne and Protestant views of the nude. Nor did I get to use my knowledge of cavetto cornices and the Egyptian Renaissance, peripteral columns, Archibald Alison’s associationist aesthetic, the significance of the invention of the lead tube in 1837, or even Frederick Church’s gruesome poisoning by those new-fangled cadmium paints. I feel so thwarted, darn it. I think I achieved a respectable grade all the same, but it wasn’t a very satisfying experience. Ah well, there’s always Part 2 of the course next term.
In other news, the holiday knitting crunch is here. I’m afraid Mr. Garter’s Fishtrap Aran won’t have sleeves in time. Here’s what it looks like these days:
 
I think I’m about eight inches shy of the top of the body, but I need to measure the armholes of some of his other sweaters to be sure. He’ll never wear it if it pinches his armpits, and I can’t say I’d blame him. Down with armpit pinching.
I’ve finished the first raven mitten, and hopefully I’ll have a picture of it for you in a couple of days. I missed the good light for photography today. Only three more to go if the neighbors are to have warm fingers! At least they finally got a new boiler – the old one broke and they had to pin blankets over the windows and use their oven to heat the house for several weeks. I was feeling badly I hadn’t started their mittens earlier in the season.
It’s definitely mitten weather in Portland – cold and dry. A scouring easterly came through while I was gone and did most of the raking for me, although I suspect most of my leaves have just gone to annoy the neighbors across the street. Poor things, they bought a property without any deciduous trees and probably imagined they were going to have it easy with the yardwork. There’s a pointer for you if you’re in the market for a house: be sure to ask your realtor about the prevailing winds! Tangentially, I think it’s a pity we Americans have such an impoverished vocabulary for our winds. Other people have names for each one, as you can see here. Now I’m fantasizing about a family of mitten designs named things like Squamish and Williwaw and Matanuska. But for now, it’s back to the holiday knits. No use fattening up the design notebook when so many gifts are wanting!
Posted: December 7th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
It was certainly lovely having you here. Wish we saw you more often, and that Portland weren’t such a long, long way away. The temperature sure took a dip here once you left and I’m feeling very glad to have finished my Norwegian Mittens in time for the cold. Have you seen Eunny’s new Anemoi Mittens? They certainly have a gusty, windy look to them. I bought the pattern – now I just need to pick out the colors! Mittens are the only thing I want to knit lately. Your neighbors will be nice and toasty with those awesome looking Raven mittens.
Posted: December 7th, 2006 at 8:10 pm
i’m really sad to have missed you in nyc – whilst you were here i was nearer your neck of the woods, in bellingham, WA. such sad news… but at least you were able to come out and be of some help 🙁
in any case, your fishtrap is looking fabulous! you may spur me to action yet. but i doubt it.
be honest, how long is the pattern taking you? i fear all the twisted stitches may be slow going, and i’ll admit i’m considering escaping to the urban aran cardigan instead.
Posted: December 7th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
The fishtrap is really beautiful. The color you’re making it in is just right for the pattern. That one must be really fun to knit.
Posted: December 8th, 2006 at 5:35 am
i am SO SORRY I missed you! It was just too much to go into the city on Friday evening with the babe–and it sounds like it was too full of a house anyway. I hope that we can catch up more intimately next time you are here and that it is happy news rather than devastation that brings you East.
Posted: December 8th, 2006 at 6:18 am
Had to de-lurk to say that the EXACT same situation (how bizarre) just happened last month in my family, with my brother’s girl K. and her mom (except with the Coasts switched – my bro and K live in Virginia and had to go at moment’s notice to California, where her family lives). Needless to say, I’m sure your brother’s presence and support means the world to his lady right now – and it was so sweet of you all to be there in NYC with them (I couldn’t get to California and was pretty sad about it). I will keep them both in my thoughts.
Also, on an unrelated note, the aran looks lovely! Men’s sweaters (being much larger than our own) take so long to put together but I’m sure he’ll love it – sans armpit pinching, of course.
Happy knitting! ~gabriella
Posted: December 8th, 2006 at 6:49 am
I’m so sorry to hear about your brother’s girl’s mom — what a difficult thing to happen right before the holidays. I hope they are doing well all things considered and that their friends are helping them through this time.
Your sweater looks great. It sounds like it’s slow going like my Central Park sweater. Can’t wait to get that off the needles, and do some mittens and handwarmers that will go faster!
Posted: December 8th, 2006 at 6:55 am
I’m sorry I missed your visit, but I wanted to say how sorry I was to hear this news. I’m sure it was a comfort to your brother’s gf to have both of you with her. Hopefully we’ll see you here again soon under happier circumstances. In the meantime, I’ll be keeping you all in my thoughts.
Posted: December 8th, 2006 at 7:10 am
it was so great to see you at the table on friday night! we’ve missed you ever so much around here 🙂 but i’m still very saddened by what happened to your bro’s girl. it’s a very hard thing to have to deal with right before the holidays.
the fishtrap is beautiful but it does look awfully complicated! no wonder it’s a bit slow going. i’m looking forward to seeing the raven mittens complete. they were so cool to look at on friday!
Posted: December 8th, 2006 at 8:14 am
I was very glad to see you last Friday (we’ve missed you so much!), but so sorry for the terrible circumstances. You guys are wonderful for being so supportive and fabulous, flying across the country to be there for them when they need you.
Your aran is lovely; I want more photos! I have the yarn, but haven’t even started Ben’s yet.
I was hoping for an Etesian wind today, however with the wind chill hovers at 8 right now and I fear we’re experiencing somethinig more like a Vardarac.
Posted: December 8th, 2006 at 9:25 am
I am, as previously stated, deeply in love with your raven mittens, and quite sad that they, and you, are back on the other side of the country. But it was so nice to see you (and your mittens) while you were here! Even if it was terrible circumstances that brought you. I’ll be keeping your brother & girl in my thoughts.
Posted: December 8th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
Sarah,
Sorry about your sad news and sorry to send this query as a comment…..I’m in love with your Miss May sweater, which I also saw on Fig and Plum. So much in love that I’ve bought the Weldon book with the pattern. With no gauge guide, I’m wondering how you adapted the pattern. More particularly, how many stitches did you end up casting on, and if you don’t mind sharing, what other adaptations did you make? A friend has a baby girl on the way, and this would be perfect for her.
Many thanks.
Amy
Posted: December 8th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
it was very nice to meet you last friday, but very sad to hear the circumstances that brought you here. i hope you got home ok without getting any more soaked last week!
Posted: January 20th, 2007 at 12:57 am
What lovely knits and woolly bits, delight in every stitch,
Such clever craft! Both fore and aft (in wool that doesn’t itch)
You warm your friends in latest trends and patterns that are rich.
How is it done? And is it fun? You never gnash and twitch?
The stitches used don’t get confused and make a glompy glitch?
The rows don’t lump in such a bump to wonder which is which?
You don’t miss-pearl and want to hurl the thing across the kitch?
You patient thing! Your creations sing “She’s found a lovely niche (knitch?).”
No sheep’s forlorn when s/he is shorn, not one ram or b–(ewe),
When woolly fleeces become such pieces, knitted, that bewitch.