Memorial Day Weekend - Knitting & Other Fun

A week has gone by since our last post, and a lot has happened.

On Saturday the Knit Wits gathered for a KIP at the Second Street Market. (The photos are on T’s camera. Hopefully she’ll post them soon.) Almost all of the Knit Wits were there: Teresa, Ellenmarie, Mollinda, Vicky (after a FOUR MONTH honeymoon – sheesh!), Molly, her husband Mark, and their baby Ingrid, and me. Ellenmarie’s husband, Tom, came by to be social. Missing were: Holly and Alice (who’s been MIA for a while now). We had a table at the east end of the market, where there was (loud) live jazz. T opened the glass garage door next to us, so there was a delightful breeze. (This explains what I anticipate to be my disheveled “windblown” look, in T’s pics.) People we knew and strangers came by to say hello. It was fun! We’ll have to do that again the next time T has a Saturday off.

On Sunday Dave and I drove out to the boat. I felt guilty about not inviting friends to go sailing, but Dave was worried about the weather. Other sailors took their boats out, but we stayed at the dock.



Dave tinkered.

I knit. I’m wearing the first Basalt Tank, which has turned into a bit of a disappointment. It’s my fault, really. I used Elann.com Sonata yarn, which is 100% cotton. The garment is heavy, and it’s stretch a bit – making it too low cut in front. It’s fine for sailing, though.

Below is a pic of a boat in a nearby slip.

A thunderstorm blew through. We sat in the cabin and watched the rain come down. Here is a photo of the same boat taken through the porthole.

Not sure you could tell from the photo of me knitting on the Odyssey, but I’ve abandoned the second Basalt Tank. Instead I’m making a “lacy tank” which is a modified version of this tank top, which appeared in the Spring/Summer 2004 issue of Vogue.

Instead of knitting the tank all in one piece so that it ties in the front, I’m knitting the front and back separately. The lacy bottom part of the tank will be laced with ties up the sides. I did this once before using the Microspun yarn the pattern calls for, and it turned out really well. However, I wasn’t so happy with the Microspun. The Microspun is acrylic, so it’s a bit warm, and I’m a natural fiber kinda’ gal. This lacy tank is made with Elann.com Callista yarn in the Boysenberry colorway. Here's a photo of the front. The back is just flying along. I’ve finished the lacy bottom and have just started the “Bodice Stitch,” which makes up the upper back. I hope to be able to wear it this weekend.

On Monday I watched the last few episodes of Band of Brothers on the History Channel. BOB has become a Memorial Day tradition. (By now my son John and I know the mini-series backwards and forwards.) Later, Dave and I rode bikes around the “neighborhood” (his definition of the neighborhood is rather broad), which included a jaunt through The Greene (a local outdoor mall). Dave has panniers (baskets) for his bike so we stopped for groceries on the way home and picked up some fish to grill.

I had plans to include a photo of the Microspun version of the lacy tank, but once again real life intervened. The house smelled like gas when I got home last night. The utility company advised us to leave the house without turning any appliances on or off and to wait out front for the gas man. Before I left, I grabbed my knitting. (Isn’t that what you would take if your house might blow up???) It was after 7:30p by the time the gas man left. He’d found a small leak at a valve in the basement and was able to stop it so we were allowed to return to our home and cook (well, microwave) dinner. Hopefully I’ll get a photo of the Microspun lacy tank tonight.