I'm on a bit of a cable kick lately. The big cables? a pillow cover for my living room. This has been dragging on forever. Well, forever since last January. Lately, I have picked it up again, and am determined to get it finished before... well.... before Christmas at the latest! In my defense, the pillow is an 18" square, so it's really not that much smaller than knitting a sweater! I'm making it up as I go along, but basically it will be two squares sewn together with a flap and some buttons.
The little cables? That's the start of my Christmas gift knitting, 2008 edition. The pattern is Merike's Gloves, from
Folk Knitting in Estonia. This is my first time knitting a Nancy Bush pattern, and I really appreciate her attention to detail. (Though I don't think I'm going to become a fan of this style of thumb anytime soon. I guess it would be an afterthought thumb... I should look that up.) I'm using up some leftover Elann Devon, which although it's supposed to be sport weight, gives me a gague smaller than I usually get with fingering weight. I went up a needle size, and am still slightly under the recommended gague. I read on Ravelry that the fingers come out a little large with this pattern, so with the smaller gague and leaving out a stitch or two from each finger, I have a glove that fits me really nicely. Now, I just have to figure out who on my gift list has hands similar in dimension to mine! (I guess I should have thought about that before I started knitting!) Anyway, the pattern is quite fun to knit, and has really kept my interest. Let's hope that it holds through the second glove.
I should also show you my finished
Helena.
My only modification on this pattern was to add three buttonholes instead of the i-cord ties. It was fun and very quick to knit up. I highly recomend the pattern
In other news, it has been a great year in St. John's for music lovers. A couple of weeks ago one of my favourite folk singers,
David Francy, was in town, and we treated my brother to the show for his birthday. It was fantastic. Later that week, we joined my family to see the legenday local music/comedy group,
Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers, at the Arts and Culture Centre. And while I missed my chance to see Leonard Cohen, Feist, Bob Dillon, and Lenny Kravitz, who have all been here recently, last night I got to spend an amazing night at Mile One being entertained by Elton John. He brought no band or backup singers; it was just him and his piano. And yet the sounds was amazing, and he held everyone's attention though a show that last almost three hours with no break. Just amazing.
I'm incredibly appreciative that artists who routinely play to massive audiences for far more money, take the time to come to St. John's and play at our smaller venues, our even our biggest stadium, which only holds 8000 people. I think a lot of them come because they personally want to visit Newfoundland - it's certainly a beautiful place here, at least when it's not foggy, and the audiences and the people are great. I was thinking last night, as I left my highly livable downtown neighbourhood, and
walked fifteen minutes to the stadium to see Elton John, how much I love St. John's. It sure is good to be home.
Labels: baby wear, gloves, life
