Monday, March 21, 2011

Around and around and around ...

is my knit path this week, everything seems to be about going around. The blanket continues to have its edge added, one repeat at a time, corner by corner. The sock grows, the stripes have come to an end and now there is just the rib and then the second sock. And the weekend was long and good ... Bear is pink, which is still a nice surprise to see, and as a family we headed away for a long lunch and a spot of relaxation inland and along the way there was a pen find and a gift.

Here is the blanket in its most recent form, the edging is I think over half way done. At some point over the past few days I knit past the join from one 25g skein to another, but silly me, I forgot to make note of where the join is. In hindsight I hope that point was more than half way around the blanket ... just so I will have enough blue yarn to complete the edging.

The sock grew and is now nearly done, all that remains is to work the ribbing at the top, weave in ends and make a pair. Kathy suggested I invest in stealth needles, and make something of a stealth sock ... and I am sorely tempted. The Blackthorne needles have caught my eye before as have the Celtic Swan Stirling silver ones. Oh is it both wonderful and terrible to be tempted by so many nice knitting tools, and I really love that there is such choice ... one day, I tell myself, one day.

Monday was a 'non-work' day, Otago Anniversary day, so both Bear, the cubs and I had a long weekend. Bear suggested we head inland to Ranfurly for a lunch and bit of antiquing .... and the day was lovely. Along the way Bear spotted this pen, a Conway Stewart in Blue ... with a 14ct gold nib. A little reserach tells us it is late 1940's to mid 1950,s and it will need a little work (the nib split is a tad open and the sac that hold the ink is old and brittle). those are easy things to arrange ... and Bear knowing my penchant for things blue bought it for me. Amongst pen collectors this kind of find is called in-the-wild, I've been wondering what the knitters equivalent is ..... the potential of stash being spotted in-the-wild seems less likely. Karma follows, today Bear received a gift of a pen from his sister, a lovely modern gold Targa Sheaffer 1005, that her husband R had been gifted when he retired. R is not into fountain pens and so when Bears sister shared Bears hand written letter with him, R dug out the unused pen and passed on to Bear knowing he would use it. Lovely sometimes how the world works. Being nice begets being nice.


It is Tuesday, my 'long-day, Tuesdays my teaching starts at 9am and finishes at 5:30pm, then I go home, ...and now I'm fully done ... the dishes are cleared and away .. and its time to knit.

na Stella

2 comments:

Knitting Linguist said...

You're right - I love it when giving a gift comes back around to the giver. And that pen is such a nice gift to have given! The blanket is looking more and more done every time you show it; what will you do when it's over? As for needles, I've had my eye on the Blackthorns myself - I haven't tried them yet - but I do have Celtic Swans, both bronze and sterling, and I love them madly :)

KathyR said...

A lovely gift, indeed, from Bear's brother-in-law. Is it just me or does a Targa Sheaffer 1005 sound rather like a new broom from "Harry Potter"? A nice "wild" find you had, too!

Those Celtic Swan needles do look very, very nice! They could make your knitting look very classy indeed. ;)

I see two corners of the blanket already completed so you must be at least halfway there - are you feeling like the little engine right about now as far as the amount of yarn left to go is concerned? (I think I can, I think I can...)