The Family Conclave

Once a year, my brother, my sister and I get together. This get together is done without husbands, wives, or significant others. We have done this for three years and the next conclave, our fourth, will be held this coming week-end up in Woodstock, VT. On the first conclave we were not sure what the hell we were going to talk about. We all lead very different lives and usually talk to each other about once a month. We are 5 years apart and it seemed after much wine and chatter that we grew up in 3 different households. Every year we learn something new about ourselves and each other. It is something that I highly recommend for all siblings to do.

BTW, we do have some ground rules. We always stay in the best place we can afford that year. We have stayed in amazing locations or stayed local. There is no phoning to see how everyone else is, it is about us. There is a lot of wine, and we always stay in a 2 bedroom suite sort of like a high class sleep over.

My first pair of socks

YIKES... who knew socks were so difficult! I hope that anyone that gets hand knitted socks really appreciates them. First you have the tiny needles, then you have the engineering, and finally you do have to do 2 of them. I have been battling them for a week now. I have to admit that I could not see how the heel-turn was going to work, but followed the instructions to the stitch and it actually worked. It is a good thing that the book I got was very clear.

If you wonder how I got started with the socks, check out Ken's site, he got a slot in the current edition of the Sock Wars, and is my current vote to win it all.

The Highland Games

I have this thing about men in kilts. Don't ask me where it came from since I am from Puerto Rico and never had any exposure to things Scottish. Yes, my second favorite architect is Scottish (Charles Rennie Macintosh), but that is it. A few years a go at a black tie charity event we attended, one of the trustees showed up in full formal kilt regalia, he looked sensational, ever since that event, I think of men in kilts as always looking particularly wonderful.

My partner wears a kilt when we go to the Highland Games up in New Hampshire... and damn he looks good ! The games are one of the most civilized cultural festivals I've ever been to. Between the food, the crowd, the parades and of course the "game" portion of the games, I am in heaven. This year, there was a particular band playing what amounts to Caribbean rhythms with bagpipes, it was excellent, they had everyone stomping, including myself. This year, I got a kilt for me, next year, maybe a trip to Scotland would be fun!

My Italy vest

We are leaving for 2 weeks in Italy soon, and I needed a simple vest for my wardrobe. Having come to the conclusion that everything in the stores was not to my liking, I decided on a Classic Elite Yarn. Egyptian Cotton. I enjoyed so much knitting with this yarn, that I will be making a full sweater on the next go around. At this point, I've done a personal embargo on ribbing. They never come out as I want so I have completely changed the to a hem.

Foolish Virgins

This is my favorite name of a sweater. Once again a Kaffe Fassett design. I've done this sweater in two different neck styles and two different sizes. The larger one, I had to add a virgin to the front and one to the back to make it work for the size intended. To say that it was a difficult sweater, is an understatement, however, when you start seeing the women take shape, is all worth it. Regrettably, I've never found again the kits that Rowan Yarns use to make for Kaffe Fassett sweaters.

A New Brain

Every so often there is a show that just does it for you. For me, it is A New Brain. We just saw a production done by a small company called Metro Stage Company. We had seen this show before and what struck me this time was the high caliber of singing and acting. The main character was excellent, certainly a good casting decision. The author of the piece is William Finn, which turns out, has also written another favorite show, Falsettos. I have to try and see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, his latest show.

Sweater Curse

I just read in the blog of a fellow knitter about the boyfriend sweater curse. I have been together with my partner for 18 years. When we were just dating, I was not aware (luckily) about the dreaded boyfriend sweater curse. He had seen a sweater that I made for me and very politely expressed the appropriate ooh's and aaah's. Of course, I wanted to impress him so I decided to knit him basically the same sweater in his size. If I recall I had about 3 months to finish it since I wanted to do it for Christmas. It is based on a Kaffe Fassett pattern and for those who want to try it, it is incredibly easy to do and a lot of fun to pick colors for. Eighteen years later, my partner has received a few more sweaters, but you will see those in a later post. What has become my way of signing the sweater is to knit my name into the bottom of the sleeve.

More colors to deal with

This week-end I spent some time painting two rooms at my sister’s apartment. Although I enjoy painting, this was painting to beat the clock. It had to be done on Saturday or it was not going to be finished for a while. I was pleased that when we were done, she and her husband (who was hanging lamps and building furniture) were both pleased at the outcome. I should have taken pictures, but I was not that prepared.

In knitting news, I am almost done with a silk/cotton vest I am making for my upcoming trip to Italy/Greece. One more day of joining front and back and doing the ribbing for the armholes and it will be done.

A weekend in the country

This past Labor Day week-end we went to my sister’s house up in Vermont. It is always interesting to be “in the country” vs. the city. Clean air, no congestion, starry skies. There was lots of wine tasting, a long hike, and a climbing wall. I know that a place in the country is in our future; the perfect place will be near a ski mountain, and good restaurants. Hopefully, there will also be a good yarn store in the vicinity.

A cross to bear

This is one of my favorite sweaters. I made it as a present. It is a variation of a Kaffe Fassett design. I was particularly pleased that I was able to change the needle size from 4 to 8 and adjust the pattern design without creating something that had no proportions. All of the yarn is Brown Sheep Yarn. Needless to say, when I was done, I had to knit a solid color vest to uncross my poor eyes. In all my sweaters particularly the ones I make for other people I place my name either in contrasting colors or as relief (purl on a knit row).