Spectator to History

Today I was a spectator to baseball history along with 47,500+ people.  I was at the game where Alex Rodriguez hit his 600th home run.  He became the youngest of the six other players who have achieved that mark.  It was very unexpected, happened in an instant and was the only hit he got during the game.  It was wondrous to watch the ball fly and hope that it would go over the wall.  And when it did, it landed in the net over Monument Park.  There was no fighting over the ball, no negotiations for it with a fan.  Just a pure and simple flight into history.  It seemed quite fitting.  The roar of the crowd was deafening.  The ovation lasted the whole trip around the bases and then some.  It started up again when Alex came out to play defense.  He tipped his cap to the crowd several times.  It was something to see.  The couple next to me had their 10 month old son with them.  I am sure they will be telling him about this and showing him all the pictures they took for a long time. 

I have now taken my knitting to the stadium twice with no problems.  Of course, it is mindless knitting so I can watch the game.  This time I took a snuggle sack to donate to Cooper University Hospital.  It was at a point when all I was doing was going round and round.  I did start decreasing for the bottom.  The sack is made like a big ski hat, a long tube that tapers at the bottom.  I'm doing a little variation by having the first 8 to 10 inches open.  It can be closed with a button, or left open.  There's a pattern for this on Ravelry.   Here's the link: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/butterfly-baby-wrap .  I had made some plain sacks for them earlier and thought this variation would be good.  There will be some knit  fabric behind the baby's head and  may  keep the baby warmer.  I'm using an acrylic worsted weight held double.  If you have a chunky weight yarn, you won't need to double it.  They are cute and would make good baby gifts.  Many babies sleep better if they are swaddled.  It also adds a extra cover that is safe for the child.  So if you're caught in a rash of babies and need some quick gifts, give this one a look.  Bye.

World Cup and Knitting

Thanks to the World Cup, I have found out the nationality of my neighbors in the next house down.  I knew they were Hispanic and either from Central or South America.  My neighborhood has a fair number of Hispanics and the town seems to have a large contingent from South America.  My neighbors are from Paraguay.  I know this because after the match between Paraguay and Japan today, one of my neighbors came out cheering, grabbed the flag that was on their house and went running down the street.  I looked at the World Cup scores and found out that Paraguay won and is in the group of 8.  Funny, we Americans would rarely do that.  People at the Olympics will wave the flag at an event, but I've never seen people running through the streets waving the flag because a USA team won.  Perhaps, we've become too jaded with all the sporting events within the country.  Perhaps we no longer have a national sport, unlike many countries where football (soccer) is the national sport.  But it was nice to see this spontaneous demonstration of joy and national pride I saw this morning.

I have been watching some of the World Cup matches and not just the USA team's matches.  The crowd noise and the vuvusellas can be distracting, but I like watching the matches.  Maybe because my older brother played soccer while in college and did get a letter.  It and Yankee games are my prime knitting time.  I did get bored with all the seed stitch and jumped on the Icelandic Lace Group's KAL for a shawl.  It is the Lacy Shawl by Rowan.  I made it in Kidsilk Haze (the yarn specified in the pattern) in a color called Majestic.  It is the color of distant mountains, a hazy grayish lilac purple.  The color doesn't photograph well, but here are some of the finished shawl.  It took me about 2 weeks.  I used 5.0 mm (US 8) for it.  It really doesn't need to be dressed being knit in a fuzzy mohair.  Plus it is about 4 feet long at the center point.  I'm only 5'2" so if I stretched it out any more, it would definitely be too long.  I haven't decided if I'm keeping this one.  I have been thinking about sending it to my old college boyfriend's new fiancee as a wedding gift and peace offering.  What do you think?

I must be getting into a combination mood of wanting to finish things but I have startitis.  I went back to a drudge knit that I didn't think would be a drudge.  I was making a side to side top I found on Ravelry.  I chose a lovely bamboo tape yarn for it.  It was in stockinette stitch, mindless knitting, something I took to knitting group.  I started it in early April, I just finished the knitting today.  The thing just went on and on.  Now I just have to do the seams and crochet around the neck to finish it.  Whew!!  I have several projects waiting to be finished, a Goddess Knits shawl that only needs the edging completed, MMario's Mystery Shawl that's half done and the Moonfleet shawl.  But I want to cast on for a pair of socks.  I just got a kit from the Knitters Brewing Co for their Ravelry KAL of the Pink Ribbon Socks.  The KAL started in May, but is running through July.  I didn't get their Breast Cancer Pink yarn.  I got a teal yarn which is the color for reproductive cancers.  My knitting friend, Angela, has just completed chemo for fallopian tube cancer and so far, so good.  But I'm doing these in honor of Angela.  I may make them for Angela or make her a second pair.  Part of the cost of the kit is going to Susan G Komen so it's a good thing all around.  Or I could and probably should go back to the endless seed stitch and try to complete it for the challenge.  Choices, choices, what should I do?  Let me know what you would do.  Bye.

A Start

This is the first post in my blog. I've often thought about doing this but never actually sat down and did it. I will be writing about my life, my knitting and whatever crosses my mind. I suppose I should tell you something about myself. I'm a single middle-aged woman living in a upscale suburban town in western New Jersey. I live in the section of town that once held the maid, gardeners and stone masons for the large estates in the area, a section known as Italian Hill. Now a days, it houses immigrants who perform those tasks for the rich people on the mountain and regular working people. I spent 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry, making many of the medicines you've probably used. For six years, I was responsible for the Neosporin product line along with many other products. I was quite successful at my work. I left my job to take care of my parents in their last days. Both of them are now gone and now I find that I like staying at home. I did not have children so I have been either working or in school since I was sixteen. It feels good to be at home, doing the things I like and those that I don't on my own schedule. I have more time to do some charitable works I always wanted to do. I have time to start designing some knitware. I have time to investigate what will be next for me. Enough about me, onto the knitting.

I am participating in a challenge on Ravelry, in the ColourMart group. If you are a knitter and

haven't joined Ravelry, you should. It's free to join and has a massive repository of patterns. You can get advise and have questions answered about your knitting and other things. The challenge involves using ColourMart yarns for garments and accessories. The challenge categories are lace, sweaters, shawls and designer. It started May 20th and runs to July 20. So far I have made a shawl and am working on part of a twin set for myself. This is not a little knit since I am not a little woman.

Here is a picture of the finished shawl. The design is Threadfall by MMario. It can be found in his Yahoo group, MMario KKnits. I made it in a light laceweight from ColourMart. It is a 2/36NM cashmere in a color called Argent. If you haven't tried ColourMart yarns yet, you should try one of their sets on eBay. You get a lot of cashmere yarn for a very small price.

The second project in this challenge is a twin set. I am designing the set in a ramie/silk dk weight yarn. The set is a short sleeved, u-neck top with a v-neck cardigan. The top is made in moss stitch, otherwise known as double seed stitch. The cardigan will have lace panels on the fronts and back. The lace panels, button bands and edges will either be or include seed stitch. I am entering the top and cardigan separately. I've just started the top. I've made all the notes I need to be able to make this again since I have some more ramie/silk and a linen/silk blend for tops and cardigans. Of course I will check my gauge with the other yarns because I want my garments to fit.

I think I've come to an end. So far, so good. See you next time.