It's raining. Call the Midwife.

OMG, to quote a friend, "Where are my ark building tools?".   It has been pouring practically non-stop for the last two days.  The Sunshine State can be a bit moody that way.

Between the weather and my mood (bleak of late), I have been sticking pretty close to home lately.   I did make it out to meet the girls for KAL knitting yesterday.   Kerri made an interesting observation, which I think could apply to a lot of us ("us" meaning knitters).   She told me to keep knitting, said that she could see me visibly lighten when I was knitting but when I stopped, it was like the weight settled back on my shoulders.

Since Hubby hung around long enough this morning to take T2 to school, I decided to go back to bed.   Since I could not get back to sleep, I treated myself to another episode of "Call the Midwife".    I am so enjoying this show.   It is in it's third (?) season.  I don't know why it took so long to hit my radar.   BBC series are usually top of my list.    Anyway, now that I have discovered it, I am enthralled.

It is about a group of nurse midwives, living in a nursing convent, seeing to the medical needs of the poor in the depressed Poplar district of East London in the 1950's.   However, with 80-100 babies being born each month, their primary work is delivering babies and pre/post natal care.  One of the main characters even knits (the crazy one, hmm) which has an obvious appeal.

It is going to be a long week...

My day started with a text to a couple of friends to find out if we were still meeting "tomorrow" morning.   I got a pretty quick inquiry from Kerri (the Ridgely wonder knitter) saying that she thought we were meeting on Thursday.   I was just about to send a message saying that since today is Wednesday, tomorrow would almost surely be Thursday, when I realized that today is Monday not Wednesday.   It is going to be a long week.

What you see here are Kerri's Ridgely (photo taken last Monday) beside my Ridgely (photo taken ten minutes ago).    As you can see, mine is coming along but at no where near the pace of Kerri's.   Even our partner in crime knitting, Michele, is further along than I am.   I have given some thought to what it is about this pattern that keeps me from just sitting down and getting the job done?   At first I thought it was the mystery aspect but thanks to Kerri, that is no longer an issue.   I have come to the conclusion that this pattern requires my complete attention.   I can listen to a book, podcast, or TEDtalk and work on it with  no problem, but I can not chat, or watch TV.   What is more, I can not be interrupted mid-row without dire consequences.    Here is the thing, apparently I live a life with very little uninterrupted time.   I multi-task like nobody's business and this pattern does not work for me under those conditions.   I am not saying that I am giving up, or that I am not going to complete my Ridgely.   I am just saying that seasoned knitter or not, I am going to be the last one finished.

Thank you to everyone who asked about Friday's fall.   I am mobile and knitting once more.   There is a light brace on my ankle/foot and I am doomed to flats while the ligaments heal.   My knee is still ugly and sore but that is because it got skinned.   There is no deep damage there for which I am grateful.  My wrist is much, much better and only twinges if I move it just the wrong way.   Knitting no longer hurts so I am taking that as permission from my body to get on with my knitting.

One step forward, three back...

What you see here is the almost completed first section of Knit, Purl, Hunter's April KAL.   I would love to be able to tell you that it is mine, but that would be untrue.   This is Kerri's.   Hers is bigger than mine because she has actually put some time into knitting it.   I, on the other hand, have alternating between "I will get to it later" and "Poop!  What do you mean I have to rip it out again" (except that I don't usually say "poop").     At this point, mine looks only slightly bigger than it did this time last week.   Of the nineteen, repeats (at 12 rows each), I have only successfully knit one and a half.    For some reason, I can't really get into the Zen of knitting this pattern, but I will persevere (at least that is what I have told Kerri).

Get with the program

Ridgely KAL 10Apr13

Two thumbs down, a sad face, and a crying face, that is what I got (via text) when I admitted to my cohorts that I have not touched the KAL since Friday.

Apparently, I have been very, very naughty :-)

WIP diving rocks...

The Purl Bee: Linen Tunic

I realized the other day that I would need something other than the KAL to work on over the next month.   The weather in NE FL is finally warming up, which had me thinking of summer knits, specifically a tank top, maybe in linen, maybe blue.    Which brought me to the realization that I had an unfinished blue, linen, tank in the WIP stash.   A short dive later, and I had unearthed the Linen Tunic from The Purl Bee (one of my favorite LYS before the move).  

Not only did I find it in short order but apparently I abandoned it in nearly finished condition.   Were it not for the fact that it had slid off the needles and run back a bit, I could have started on the armholes right then and there.   It was a bit fiddly getting the stitches back on the needles, and working them up (including the last set of decreases) but by Saturday night, the deed was done and I was on my way.

I remember working on this the summer before we moved.    It is knit from the bottom up and  love, love, love the picot hem right at the beginning.   For the life of me, I can't remember why I put it aside.   Possibly it is just another casualty of our move.   In any case, it has my attention now and I can't wait to wear it.