35. A Nod To The Fact That This Is A Knit Blog

Holy crap.  I almost forgot this was supposed to be a knitting blog.

All right, look, so here's a State Of The Knits Address. 

Hm. 

Uh. 

Well. 

Look, over there! 

What was that?  A bird?

.

.

.

Cripe, I'm pathetic. 

The other night during LOST, I knitted a few rows on this.

And then on Friday in between my class and a lunch engagement, I knitted a few more rows.

And while listening to an episode of This American Life and reading blogs Saturday morning, I knitted still more rows.  And a few more rows here and a few more rows there during that nail-biter called the Super Bowl last night. So the scarf, it grows.

Every time I make one of these Noro Silk Garden scarves, it is my new favorite. These two colorways (267 and 255) were so random and seemingly uncomplementary, I was dubious as to the outcome, but it's turning out to be subtle and pretty and (yes, I already said this) my new favorite. It almost seems that you can't lose with these yarns.  Just grab two colorways and knit. You'll end up with a soft, warm, interesting and pretty scarf that gathers compliments from strangers.  Yes, Cookie, you should.

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In case you haven't heard about this project, Maryse is collecting 8-inch machine-washable worsted-weight squares (by February 14th) for a blanket for Elisa's dad, who is in a V.A. hospital in Iowa following a stroke. Elisa and Maryse are women I know here in New England. Elisa was a New England gal, that is, until she moved to California.      

In Elisa's words:  My dad will likely be in that hospital for the foreseeable future, and when I arrived, there was virtually nothing in his room that makes it seem like he is a man who is cared about.

Maryse took the bull by the horns.  'nuff said.

 

My square is made of Mission Falls 1824 wool, in denim blue.  As my sometimes amazingly super-fantastic dumb luck would have it, I cast on 40 stitches on US 7 needles and did a simple basketweave pattern with garter stitch edges, without swatching, knitted it during the evening news on TV Saturday, and the friggin' thing came out PRECISELY 8 inches square.  Let's pretend that superwash wool doesn't stretch out like a mofo when it's washed, ok?  We'll just forget about that little detail while I send in my perfect 8-inch specimen.  Deal, Maryse?  Elisa? 

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I am serving notice on the sock:  I'm going to give the yarn one more chance with a ribbed pattern, and if that doesn't work, it's going to be available to someone as a giveaway.  I've had it with that damn Zitron yarn!  Had it!

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I'm sad that I'm not knitting on the three sweaters I have on the needles, and I have no decent excuse to offer. Sooner or later I'll get in the mood.  I was close this weekend, actually. February seems like a good sweater-knitting month. That is not to be taken as a promise.

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The other day Adelaide said something that made me feel nice:

You know, N, for a kid who lives way in the boonies, you sure have an interesting time of it.

It's true. I do have an interesting time of it. My life is pretty full. Despite how it may seem (this is meant to be s-a-r-c-a-s-m) it's not all wine and roses, and there are some gloomy moments to help make the bright ones more bright. So it's all good. There isn't always a whole lot of time (or interest) for the knitting. Maybe the blog name should indeed be changed. Blog 365 is a wonderful vehicle through which to notice things in my day, though. I just love that about it. 

Speaking of comments to make me feel good, I thank you all for the lovely comments lately.  It makes me happy that I'm meeting some little measure of success at entertaining you - be it through my video choices, my little vignettes, my work stories, or my kvetching  - even if there's not much knitting going on.

Comments

[Stephanie]

The noro scarves are so pretty. One of these days I'll make one. Yup. I sure will. (cough...cough) uh-huh. As for your socks...If they don't work out for you...I'd be more than happy to swap you some of my handmade soaps for the skein :) Just thought I'd offer it up there....since...ya know...you said if it didn't work out...you'd be giving it away and all.....(cough cough)

I love reading your blog stories with or without knitting. You crack me up constantly! Yours was one of the first blogs I started reading and I've been a local lurker/ occasional commenter ever since. Keep up the good work Norma. We love you!

(and I am sure my grammer and puncuation is horrid. I use dot dot dots waaaaay too much to compensate. Don't hate me for it please LOL)

[Rachel]

Now that one can look at your beautiful stone from different sides the birch trees reflected in a lake are staring at me and it looks so beautiful, thank you.

[Marika]

Oh, we don't need knitting to come here, Norma!

[Dave Daniels]

How can you knit when LOST is on? I'm glued to the screen. And I even taped it so I can re-watch it in case I missed any details. And knit DURING? Pffft, I'd be dropping stitches left and right.

[Jane]

Yes, knitting during lost is guaranteed to make me miss something crucial, like Dead Charlie with "they need you" written on his hand. I had to re-watch to see that!

And I don't care if you don't blog much about knitting!

[Nora]

Knitting definitely optional - but you certainly pull your weight in that department. Love the Noro!

[Carole]

Oh, my dear Norma. You are nothing if not entertaining. Mwah.

[marianne]

Heh.... I admit, although your knitting is always lovely and inspiring (jeeze, woman, I've only managed to knit one of those scarves and you're on your 'what'?) it's not the main reason I 'come a'callin' every single morning..... heh, it's the pie for breakfast thing :^) and I thank you.

[margene]

Norma Knits? It matters not dear one...the only reason I like seeing knits on your blog is you kvetch so eloquently about them and knits are dear to me because without knitting you wouldn't have started this blog and we wouldn't have met.

[marianne]

ps I just happen to have a ball of Mission Falls Wool floating about, I'll get right on that square!

[Carol]

OMG! I didn't know you liked to knit! ;-) Sorry, that was corny. But a LOST fan?! That show just keeps getting more mysterious as it goes, I love it!

[Lucia]

I'm finding the same thing about posting every day. I too used a basketweave pattern (of my own invention, first used in a red scarf) for my two squares so far.

[Kim]

You & Sandy both knitting with Noro Silk Garden? Oh man, I've been resisting the lure of that fabulous stuff. Successfully resisting, until seeing that you guys are knitting with it. And, well...I always wanted to be like the cool kids, dontchano. ;)

Your Mission Falls square is beautiful. What a wonderful project.

[kmkat]

Sometimes you knit with needles and wool, sometimes you knit with words and thoughts. It's all good.

[Marcia Cooke]

Perhaps you should change the blog name to "When Norma Knits?", or how 'bout "If Norma Knits"?? It doesn't matter, dear. We'll still come visit, if for no other reason than to find the good travel potties.

[Teresa]

As someone who has been seduced by Trekking and not loved it, I was intrigued by how Cat Bordhi uses it in her new book- she holds it double and I loved the look.

I love the scarf.

[Sara]

Norma... we come here to read because you are fabulous and entertaining and knitting really is just like whipped cream on the sundae. Honestly. You could recite the phone book and I'm sure you could make it amusing.

[carrie]

I've given you a You Make Me Smile award on my blog! Have a great day, and thanks for being such a nice blogger.

[claudia]

Some of us are extremely easily entertained. ;-)

[Elizabeth]

I love that scarf. Face it, I love all the Noro scarves.
You are a more interesting blogger and knitter because it's not all k1p1 all the time.
And your right, you do have to be in the mood for knitting but as Margene said, you "kvetch so eloquently" in the meantime...

[Vicki]

Love that Noro combo! Haven't seen one yet that I didn't love... and I wonder about the "grab-and-knit" theory. Perhaps there should be a study.
; )

[Cookie]

FFS! Send me the yarn and I'll make you socks. You'll get another post of two out of that yarn that way. ;^)

I'll see if Tony wants one of those scarves. I'm more of a 'shawl worn as scarf' kinda girl at this point. Something about all that lace I've been knitting, I think.

♥

[Beth S.]

I have never seen an ugly Noro striped scarf... except maybe the one I started and ripped. But even that one wasn't ugly, it was just boring. This new one of yours is lovely; I like how it has a "warm" bit and then a "cool" bit.

[Rachel]

Can you do an entry about living out in the boonies? we're going to be moving out in the woods to live deliberately and I haven't done so since I was a girl. I'm excited and anxious at the same time. Help me feel better about it.

Love,
R.

[tayloe]

We love you Norma!

[KellyS]

Did you say wine?

[maryse]

thank you love for the square. it's a beauty. you have my address, right?

and i appreciate that the square is precisely 8 inches. thank you.

[Barb]

Can you explain how you knit this with two yarns? Maybe you've explained before and could just provide a link to that post. Thanks!