been knittin'

Everyone is familiar with the cultural trope of the shop that is unexpectedly shuttered and closed on a beautiful summer day. A hand-lettered sign hangs crookedly on the door, explaining, "gone fishin". Lately, those who come to "If this isn't nice...", expecting a bit of nonsense or profundity have found instead an empty shop, lacking even a sign on the door. I apologize for that. The fact of the matter is that I am deep in the clutches of my newest obsession, knitting. I can't begin to tell you how much I am enjoying it.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my daughter-in-law, Kristy, gave me a refresher course in knitting when she and my son were here over Christmas. I don't remember anymore when I first learned to knit, but I know that by the time I was in college, I had knit a couple of sweaters. I only did the actual knitting and perling, you understand. My mother would cast on the stitches, bind off the sections as I completed them and sew the pieces together. But, hey, I did the knitting.

My brother, Bill, who has always been good with his hands, learned at the same time I did, even though he was still just a kid. He would knit the rows together so tightly that every once in a while he would hand his knitting over to me so that I could knit a row in to loosen it. When I read about the pregnant character in one of Louise Erdrich's books who knit the little onesies for her baby so tightly that they stood on their own and resembled little suits of armor, I understood exactly what she meant.

So, anyway, I have been knitting. I started by making a scarf for myself with the beautiful Malabrigo yarn that Kristy gave me as part of my Christmas present. I made a scarf for Ben with some yarn that he selected, and I have most recently been working on a scarf for Julie with some yarn that she picked out for herself. Nothing too complicated yet, in other words, but I did cast on my own stitches and bind off my completed work. I have even learned to fix my own mistakes - if they aren't too serious.

I have missed posting on my blog, and I hope a few of my readers have missed my posts, as well. (If you are still out there. Are you out there?) At least now I have hung a sign in the window so you will understand where I have gone. I will be back, though. Stay with me.