splityarn

harlotry

I always have the best time at Yarn Harlot book signings. It's wonderful to be surrounded by like-minded knitters in such a positive environment. I come home exhausted but happy, my pocketbook lightened and new yarn in hand.

Mum and I made the trek out to Northampton with Jess, Maryse, Kellee, Stitchy and Ms. Melanie. Those girls are made of good times. I'm fairly sure that we could have stood around in the parking lot talking for HOURS afterwards. And really, we kinda did.

The event was flawless, WEBS was packed and well organized and much yarn was bought. Whew!

When do we get to do it again?

eye candy friday, all around boston edition

Since Mum has been here, we've really been trying to hit all the good bits.

The view of the North End from a super fantastic semi-secret free tourist spot. That white steeple you see is the "One if by land, two if by sea" tower at the Old North Church with the Bunker Hill Monument in the background:

The T station at Harvard Square:

On the water under the Longfellow Bridge:

On the water under the bridge near the Museum of Science:

The rest of the Boston photos are here in the flickr set.

a marathon weekend

One of the bonuses of having family fly into town is getting to take some time to see the city as a tourist. Boston has hosts the world's oldest marathon and is a major prestige event. My mum and my aunt flew in last Thursday ahead of the crowds here for the marathon. My aunt had qualified to run and Mum was coming in to offer some support. Conditions on Monday were sunny with a nice breeze so it didn't get too hot. Mum, my cousin-in-law and I set up about a half mile from the finish line and waited until my aunt ran past.

I didn't expect to get as emotional as I did, but the enormity of running 26.2 miles and the amount of people running toward the finish line quite often brought tears to my eyes. We cheered everyone who had their name written on their bib and encouraged the few that were faltering so close to the end.

My Aunt kicked some serious marathon ass and finished in 4:02:18. She placed 20th out of 154 in her division (60-69 year olds) and resolved to do even better next year. I'll be there supporting her again for sure.

falconry isn't my gig

The body of the Tangled Yoke is finished. I confess I haven't put much effort into it lately. Spring is in the air and I've been busy at the sewing machine instead. The only time I've worked on the sweater is at knit night and on Saturday afternoons watching marathon sessions of Deadwood on DVD.

I cast on for the first sleeve this weekend and despite a niggling feeling, kept knitting. It just seemed so big. By the time I finished the ribbing and started into the stockinette portion it was confirmed. It's a gauntlet. Hawks can swoop in and land on my wrist kinda big. Mum is flying into town this afternoon so I'll try it on her then, but my suspicion is that it'll be frogged before I go to bed tonight. Sigh. I had really hoped I could make a push and finish it to have Mum model it and take it home with her, but I think I have to frog that idea too.

eye candy friday, out and about edition

I went downtown to get our taxes finished up and stepped across the street for some pictures on the Common. Spring is juuuuuust starting to hit Boston.

The wildlife is out in full friendly gimme-food force.

Including yours truly. (Another of my 365 shots. Cartwheels! They're popping up everywhere.)

(more mushrooms and knitterly pouches going in the shop this arvo)