nonaKnits

An Excellent Egg Sandwich

Two years ago -- after dropping nona-son-the-oldest off for his freshman year at USC -- I parked in the southern most Santa Monica beach lot and meandered my way down the promenade to Venice Beach.  A hole in the wall corner deli boasted in thick dark letters of its excellent egg sandwich.  Intrigued -- but not convinced -- I took the bait and ordered one.  The owner, an old opinionated guy, was not mistaken when he scrawled his boast -- it was indeed an excellent egg sandwich.

That sandwich stuck with me and on subsequent trips to L.A. I was ever at the ready to recreate that perfect moment.  During last week's trip the time was right, but the hole in the wall corner deli was gone with renovation in full swing for a sleek and modern bistro to fill its place.  Do I despair at the thought of never again or do I rejoice in the memory of excellence and laugh at my folly of attempting to recreate a perfect moment?  We all know by now, faithful reader, that I'll go for rejoicing and laughter over despair any day.

OK, enough about excellent egg sandwiches -- on to yarn!  While in Santa Monica I visited WildFiber, a shop previously owned by Mel Clark of the Knit 2 Together fame.  I was disappointed to hear that Mel had sold the shop, as I would have loved to have met her -- alas and alack.  The shop has a large selection and an excellent layout.  It was very quiet the afternoon I went in, so it was hard to get the vibe of the place.   I bought 4 skeins of Louet's Euroflax Linen to knit the Kilt Skirt from Knit 2 Together and these yummy colors of Koigu for a pair of anklet Sidewinders with contrasting cuff.   

Telling Time

There will come a day when you return home to find your husband with a wad of toilet paper wrapped around his thumb embarrassingly wiping blood off the kitchen counter.  What's a girl to do?  Replace the T.P. with a Kotex pad, grab a knitting project, and hustle the man off to the ER.   A mere 3 crocheted squares and 11 stitches later-- squares for me, stitches for him -- we were good to go.

My knitting -- and crocheting -- have begun to replace time.  How long were we at the ER?  3 crochet squares.  A traffic jam?  10 rows.  A high school basketball game?  Half a sock -- or just a toe if it's really exciting.  A cross country plane flight?  Half a baby sweater.

Did someone say half a baby sweater?  nona just happens to be halfway through the EZ baby sweater from Knitter's Almanac -- pop over to Carrie for an example of this classic.  I'm working the yoke and garter edging in Koigu and the lace pattern in Rowan 4-ply.  Hold on honey, I'll be there in 5 more rows

Road Trip

nona-son-the-elder and I are road tripping to LA.  I love road trips -- not sure why -- perhaps it's the simple freedom of no responsibilities and no time schedules -- just taking things as they come.  He'll be attending his USC orientation and I'll be working -- thank goodness for laptops -- and checking out some LA knitting stores -- recommendations anyone?  I'll be back by the end of the weekend and may post here and there if I can pop on the Internet. 

Girl With a Mission

nona's a girl -- okay, okay a middle-aged woman -- with a mission.  In general I try to go with the flow -- taking opportunities, inspiration, and day-to-day life as it comes.  But sometimes, darn it, you got to lay down the rules.   So I'm asking you to be my witness...

I, nona, being of sound mind -- more or less -- will try my best to do the following by Monday June 20th -- give or take a few days:

1. I will finish my spiral socks and wear them while playing tennis -- I'm curious how they'll wear on the courts.

2. I will finish my Sockapalooza socks for my adopted pal and mail them out.

3. I will select the yarn and pattern for a summer tank top project -- the current front runner is to knit Grumperina's Tivoli t-shirt in a wet-spun linen yarn.  Why?  Because I've never knit a sweater from the top down and I'm oh-so curious about the linen yarn. 

4. I will select the yarn and pattern for a pair of socks I'm going to knit Purly White as part of our "sit on our butts and watch Wimbledon" sock exchange.

Why the urgency and seriousness of my mission?  Well, the Wimbledon tennis tournament starts June 2oth and I need my WIPs plate cleared and my two new projects ready to go.  I plan on watching lots of tennis, doing lots of knitting, and cooking fast and easy dinners.  Wish me luck on my mission!

Wet spun linen yarn I'm thinking about knitting.
Has anyone knit with this before?  Any stories to tell?

Growing Up

Today, nona-son-the-elder graduated from high school.  When asked whether he would prefer a hand made quilt or knit afghan as a gift he replied, "No thanks, the comforter I have is fine".  Boys!  Remind me next time not to ask.  Graduation day is a day of mixed emotions -- you're happy, proud, sad, and nostalgic all at the same time.  nona-son is the spice of life in our household and will be sorely missed when he's off to USC -- fight on.  He was horrified when I suggested a pair of socks in USC colors -- what happened to that little kid who loved wearing crazy, mis-matched, hand knit socks with his Birkenstocks?  I suppose he grew up...