BeverlyArmyWilliams – Page 86 – Beverly Army Williams

In Which Meg Plays the Coast Guard

I’ve vowed to think only happy, joyful thoughts while I knit the wedding shawl, but last night I was emotional as I knit and gave in to the ache that filled me. Wouldn’t you know, before long I had a dropped stitch, then I did a lace row (Row 7, if you’re interested) on the purl side. I tinked, but things were getting worse. I thought about my deadline, then thought about the fact that it is important for me to get this shawl right. That’s not to say there aren’t errors in it, but so far (knock on wood), the errors are not glaring.

That’s when I remembered the lifeline that Meg had encouraged me to use after every repeat. It’s also the same moment that I remembered how, just a few hours earlier, hubris had reared its ugly head, and I nearly decided to forgo the lifeline. It was there to rescue me, though, and I re-knit half the repeat before bed.

You may have seen this on Whip-up, but if not, take a look and fill a bag if you’re so inclined.

Ache

I’ve been saddened by the tragic events in Virginia, and as I looked around at my kids this morning, I thought of how beautiful they are…beautiful in that on-the-brink-of-adulthood-but-sometimes-still-a-child way of older teens. Being a part of an academic community is wonderful in so many ways. Most wonderful to me is the little tiny glimpses I get into the lives of the young people I teach. They can drive me crazy (oh, especially the ones who are so smart but don’t believe it at all), but by the end of every semester, I’ve fallen a bit in love with my students. I can only imagine the heartache of the kids at VA Tech, of the staff, and of the faculty, and I wish I could ease it for them.

But those aches are all around, aren’t they? During my office hours today, I had an e-mail from a dear friend and former co-worker to call her asap, which I did. The news she gave me has left me feeling ill; I feel like I did in the months after 9/11: stunned, ill, disbelieving, and a little afraid. Another co-worker of ours, MP, is missing. Her car was found, but she is gone, and it’s presumed that her car went over a New Jersey bridge during Sunday’s storm. I can’t stop imagining the different scenarios that may have unfolded, but mostly I can’t stop imagining how her teenaged daughter feels right now. MP was a tough lady, often difficult to work with, but she knew her stuff, and she cared deeply about her work. My favorite memory of her is playing over and over in my head: a few summers back, in the Hudson Valley, we had record-breaking heat. MP saw me in the hall at work and asked if I’d like to go for a walk.

"How often do you get to see what record breaking heat feels like?" she asked, luring me into the nearly unbearable temperature. We had a delightful walk that ended with each of us drinking a bottle of water and laughing about the silliness of what we’d done.

I’ve never forgotten, though, the curiousity MP had, and the willingness to take on something unpleasant just to experience life a little more richly.

Please send good thoughts to her family in New Jersey and around the nation. Her loss, like the loss of the victims in Virginia, is a great one for so many people, and my heart aches for them all.

Doesn’t Hurt to Ask

On Friday I ordered two dress from J Crew so that I could try them on in person and decide which will be my wedding dress. Well, I ordered a pair of argyle socks, and Wellie socks (despite my sad lack of Wellies) as well. I was dark about the shipping expense; MB works at a catalog-based business, and I know full well about the actual cost of shipping versus what I was paying for a few light frocks. After whining to MB this morning about the coupon for $4.95 shipping that had just expired, another one came in my e-mail. This afternoon, she forwarded a code for free shipping and suggested I call to see if they’d refund the $16.95. It’s not the sort of thing I typically do; usually I whine a little and accept my bad luck.

I took MB’s advice, though, and I was told that this was not normally something they would do, but because of the crossover of the coupons, J. Crew reimbursed the entire shipping amount. You can bet I’ll give them my business when I have clothes to purchase. Gotta love good customer service.

Project Wedding Shawl Spectrum

A cup of tea in a mug MB brought me from Tuscany, Almost French, on loan from Blogless Sara, and the Wedding Shawl. No, I don’t normally knit while I read and sip tea, but these are a few of my favorite things this afternoon.

Here’s a picture of the shawl on its own. I’m almost finished with repeat 7, which will leave me with about 18 more repeats to do.

What have I learned in my eleven days of lace knitting? Here’s a list for you:

1. Don’t imagine that you can hold a conversation and keep track of your location on the chart. It will all end with your having to recount stitches.

2. That gets annoying pretty quickly.

3. Supah dupah sharp needles are clutch.

4. Project Spectrum can help make the chart easier to follow. A little yellow highlighter mixed in with pink tape from a great kitter, and lace knitting is a bit easier.

Tonight is my SnB group, and I’ll probably bring Neal’s socks to finish (for reals). See list items #1 and #2.

Ting a Ling

Two of my great heroes in art passed away this week. Sol LeWitt, the great Conceptual artist, was critical in my understanding of line. Years ago I saw a retrospective of his work in New York, and I was astounded. Before that day, I’d never heard of Conceptualists or of Sol LeWitt, but after that day, my perception of art was radically changed.

This morning I was deeply saddened to hear of Kurt Vonnegut’s death. In the late 1990’s my ex and I listened to one of his books on tape on a road trip, and after that we bought everything by him that our local used bookstore had and ripped through it. His wit, his understanding of humanity, his desire for a better world, his poignancy all moved me. I’ve wanted to hear him lecture since that time, and now I regret that I never have. He was a true visionary, and an artist with a voice that could not be denied.

I’ll see you in Heaven, boys. To paraphrase Beatrice, St. Peter will show me where the artists sit, and there live we, as merry as the day is long.

So it goes.

Cat Dog

Click on this picture. Go ahead, I’ll wait for you.

Yup. The figure on the right? A bear. The figure crouched in front of it? Maddie, the cat-dog, so named because this mutt used her third life on Thursday as she would not stand down from chasing this bear out of our back yard. Tilly (seen on the far left) came back to the deck when Neal called, but Maddie? Well, she’s in her own little world when it comes to listening as my pal blogless Kim can testify (yes, Maddie used up life #2 when she ran away from us in the woods and crossed the BUSY street in front of the house to curl up and rest on the deck. By. Her. Self.).

My first bear sighting was so exciting that I couldn’t hold still for about an hour. The only problem? Now that I’ve seen how big they are live and in person, I’m not looking forward to my next sighting!

Kudos to Scout for her Knitty Gritty show! JessaLu is burning me a copy from her TiVo, and I cannot wait to see my girly on tv!

I’m making decent progress on the Wedding Shawl. I’ve got six repeats done with hopes of tackling number seven after my continuing ed class tonight. On Monday I managed to knit a repeat in 2.5 hours, which is a big improvement over my 3-3.5 hour average. It helps to be well rested and to not talk to anyone while I do this.

I’m off to write a quiz and then take the mutts on a long walk. I’ll let you know if I meet up with any more bears!

Unexpected Joy

My oldest sister, who also happens to be my best friend, booked a ticket to fly here tomorrow night. She’ll be here for the whole weekend, and on Friday she’ll join me and blogless Sara for an afternoon of shopping. Neal’s going to cook us dinner on Saturday, and I’ve got plans for an Easter breakfast before she heads back to TN.

What’s more fun than a spontaneous visit with a loved one?

If you haven’t read the entries in Scout’s Prepster Contest, hop over there now and be entertained. I just submitted my top three favorites to her, and as soon as Pippi sends hers, we can hash out a winner.

With all due humility (I don’t want to be accused of hubris when it comes to the wedding shawl project), I’m gathering speed with each repeat. Meg has assured me that life lines are critical, so I will be diligent about them. I’ve got a favorite row on the pattern, too. Does that happen to you when you knit lace? I feel a little thrill each time I reach Row 5. Lurv Row 5. Wish the entire pattern were Row 5.

I’ve got to try to sleep soon. I’m so excited about MB’s arrival in 24 hours that I’m not sure I can close my eyes!

Finished the second repeat of the shawl. I got through it more quickly and with less tinking (there still was some, though), which has given me hope for achieving my goal.

I’m about ready to go to bed, but I spent a few minutes trolling Swap-bot and signed up for the best-named swap I’ve seen: Swap a Goat. Helen came up with the idea that swappers might donate what they would spend on a swap to a charity in their partner’s name. I’ve signed up, and I hope you’ll consider it, too.

Sweet dreams.

Tinkerbell

I’m going to learn a lot from this project. It has been many years since I knit from a chart, and I had forgotten that the pattern said to read from right to left. You already know what I’m going to say next; I had to tink the first few rows because I read left to right.

Yesterday morning I woke up and wanted to get this repeat finished, so I started on Row 5. It wasn’t working out, though, so I tinked.

Normally I would ditch a project that required so much tinking before I even began it for real, but there’s that pesky deadline and my determination to create this stole. I’ve set some rules for myself, the foremost of which is that I have to focus my thoughts on joy and happiness while I knit it. I want my shoulders to be covered in something with no bad karma knit into it. So each time I tink, I think about what I’ve learned.

I also had used stitch markers (aren’t they lovely? FiberFly makes them.), but after reading some of the boards, I think I’m going to ditch them. I don’t quite understand the reasoning behind why they’re a bad idea, but I know that I’ve been led astray by them. Something to do with yarnovers and stitches moving, but it makes my head hurt to think about the reason right now.

Can you see the subtle variegation in the color of the yarn? Scout did a fantastic job with this dye job, and I’m not exaggerating in the least when I say it’s exactly what I wanted. Ex.Act.Ly.

There’s about an hour before the girls get their walk, so I’m off to get a few rows of repeat 2 done. First, though? A lifeline. This Tinkerbell needs one.

Notes to Self

1. That smug feeling you get when you figure out the crochet cast on tempts the fates too much. Lose it, and you won’t have to start over again next time. Because you will think about more than how very clever you are and remember that you don’t need to zip out the waste yarn until you’re ready to pick up the stitches.

2. While denial of your errors is easily succumbed to, especially when you can surf the Internet for new spindles that you don’t even need, there is a freaking DEADLINE here! Turn off the damn computer and go knit. Now.

Um. Yeah. The journey of a thousand miles and all that jazz.

Author: BeverlyArmyWilliams