Knit Sisters

I have finished the main body of Rumpelstiltskin and have moved right along to the lace edging.

 

As with most lace edgings I have experienced, beginning this one has given me a feeling of utter and absolute despair.  It’s one hell of a long way around this shawl, and I in my infinite wisdom made the shawl even a little bigger than the pattern called for.  Why couldn’t I have left well enough alone?  Why, WHY, WHY?

And yet, there is absolutely nothing to do but push forward, in the hope that somehow I will be able to finish this project by June 20, the day I leave for California and my sister’s wedding.  Hah!  I should live so long!

(In case you’re wondering, the pink yarn above is just the crochet cast-on, which will be removed once I have circumnavigated the entire shawl and the live stitches will be grafted to the invisible cast-on loops.) 

OH MY GOD.  Let me just stick a pin in my eye right now.  This is way, way worse than the I-cord edging on Nicola, which some of you may remember.

Since I’ll be spending so much time sitting there (knitting, doncha know) over the next couple of weeks, Harvey and I picked out some new pillows for the couch.

These came from Tuesday Morning, as do many good things that end up in my house.  Well, except the ones that I score from garage sales.  Anyway, aren’t they pretty?  We’re going for kind of a soft, muted look.

OK.  Going back to that edging now.

Brace up, little friend.

To say that I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed and in kind of a bad mood is the same kind of understatement that would be involved in saying that Mount Everest is a gently rolling hill.

But seeing as that’s not really your problem and that you probably came to the blog to be entertained, we are going to shelve my various specific and miasmic complaints and see some photos of Vegas! Right on!

Here’s something unusual:

Yeah, desert ducks. Shown here swimming in one of the arroyos that carries the runoff from Lake Mead.

It ain’t easy to be a duck in Vegas:

Facing not only heat and the unsuitably arid climate, but also the consistent prejudice Duck Americans routinely confront in area casinos, these particular ducks are furthermore being stalked by a cat (see right). A cat! Nature, red in tooth and claw!

Tell you the truth, I wish I had just stayed in Vegas. Make a note of it, because you’ll probably never again hear me say that I wish I could have spent more time in Vegas. This is a “special time” (as we’ve been told ad nauseam by the bridal industry and well-meaning observers who have forgotten their own pre-wedding experience) and leading up to our “special day” there are a lot of things to do. Most of them are neither very interesting nor very rewarding. But yet here we are! Busy, busy, busy!

Meanwhile, back in Vegas, there’s the Bellagio Fountain:

In what may be one of the most ironic moments I have ever experienced in my life, this fountain display was done to the musical accompaniment of the Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts.” You know the one: “Tis a gift to be simple/tis a gift to be free/tis a gift to come down/where you ought to be./And when you find yourself/in the place just right/it will be in the valley of love and delight…” and so forth.

I like to hum that little ditty while I’m playing blackjack and enjoying a free cocktail, don’t you?

The Bellagio’s so big (I understand it cost $1.6 billion to build and I simply cannot think of a better use for that money, can you?) that you could drive a car in there:

Somebody was getting his kicks.

I also visited the Palace of the Mighty Caesar and captured the beauty of this “sculpture” on film. This one sits just outside the entrace to the shopping mall at the Palace of the Mighty Caesar, the Forum Shops:

All hail the great Shopimus Maximus!

La Tour Eiffel still stands in the desert:

Shameless Replicas ‘R Us!

And speaking of shameless replicas, I finally made it to the Venetian, which cost $1.2 billion to construct. Fine place like this don’t come cheap, people!:

Phoney baloney frescoes on the ceiling of the second-floor shopping area. Ask not “Is it art?” for the answer should be obvious.

They also have a replica of the Grand Canal, complete with gondoliers…

…and more gondoliers:

As you might expect, there is a special wedding gondola:

Two lucky people whose wedding is over. How I envy them!

In my current predicament, I can’t help but feel that those two were the smartest people in the room. Why Alex and I didn’t realize that the Vegas wedding was the royal road to happiness right from the beginning, I’ll never know.

In spite of all we’re juggling, Lord willing, I’ll be back with some knitting later in the week.

In the meantime, if you have any thoughts about why the modest family wedding with a traditional ceremony in a place that isn’t a casino is actually really worth it, please leave a comment. For the moment, I’ve forgotten entirely why it seemed like a good idea.

Yesterday I watched The Holiday, a sweet but rather predictable movie starring Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, and Jude Law (always easy on the eyes, if nothing else).

In the end, I was more interested in the knitwear the main characters wore than I was in the storyline.  (Although, if truth be told, I didn’t miss much by losing focus on the plot for a little while in favor of figuring out the sweaters.)

As a matter of fact, I had to load up the movie again this morning and do some selective forwarding, reversing, and pausing in order to get some sketches of those sweaters.  Lots of good inspiration there.

I was particularly interested in this cabled sweater, worn by Cameron Diaz.

It has some very clever shaping on the back, which both moves the cables around in a flattering way and provides some waist shaping.  Very cool.

Also, it has a striking attached shawl collar/buttonband which is one large, bold cable.  Then that cable is repeated in a smaller incarnation on the fronts and back.  The wheels in my head are turning…

I myself have been having my own little holiday–hanging out at my parents’ house and dogsitting while they’re away for a long weekend.  I get to hang out with their bassett hound, Izzy.  (Or as Harvey tells people, “Izzapoo.”  Her full given name is Isabella Maria.)

                                           “Aren’t I sweet?  How could anyone not love me?”

She is very sweet, and it’s a good thing, too, because she is also very spoiled.  My mother fixes her oatmeal every morning, and she has her own couch.  I think she’s been a little unhappy this weekend with the lack of breakfast oatmeal.  Yesterday, when I went upstairs in their house (where she cannot go because of the steepness of the stairs) to write my post, she got mad and started pulling yarn and knitting out of my knitting bag.  I guess she showed me.  (Well, I suppose she really did, since today I brought her over to my place to write this post, where I can keep an eye on her.)

You will all be happy to know that I have been working diligently on Rumpelstiltskin, and I am almost finished with the main body of the shawl.  Just 2 1/2 more repeats to go, and then I’ll start the edging.

(That’s my parents’ couch that Rumpel is reclining on.)

Two and half weeks to go.  Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen.

Oh, and one more thing.  I forgot to picture this yesterday in the roll call of my garage sale finds.

An Oneida silver pitcher.  $5.  Pretty, huh?

This weekend was our citywide garage sale.  (Although, as Harvey astutely pointed out to me, calling Savannah a “city” is a bit of a stretch.  “Townwide garage sale would be more accurate,” he said, and I have to agree.)

But, aptly named or not, Harvey and I spent some quality time running down bargains and looking over other people’s old junk.  And we found some real treasures in amongst the crap!

1.  These handy little spice jars.

2.  Some useful Tupperware items.  (Since moving out on my own, I have very few food-storage type containers.)

3.  A couple of small coolers/Thermoses.  Always handy.

4.  An ice cream scoop, a silver pie server, and a small Christmas tin, which will be squirrelled away to be used at Christmas for giving cookies.

5.  Three brass candlesticks, of the romantic “Wee Willie Winky” variety.  I have a vision of myself, enveloped in a silky wrapper, with long, loose tresses tumbling down my back, using one of these candlesticks (with a candle in it, naturally) to espy dark and mysterious corners and cupboards.  (Never mind that I don’t own a silky wrapper, nor do I have long tresses any more.  I can dream, can’t I?)

6.  Two bookcases, badly needed at my place.  You can see some of my knitting books have already taken up residence on the second one, there.

7.  A large basket and a cool spindle, which was labelled a “yarn winder.”  Hah!  Those people obviously know nothing!  Nothing!

8.  A wire shelving system, which came with 42 sides, a steal at only $5.  (A representative sample shown here.)

9.  A stoneware bowl, good for holding fruit, onions, or other such sundries. 

10.  Eleven very acceptable wine glasses for only $2!  $2.00!  Yes, indeed. 

11.  A new bike for Harvey, not pictured.  He is absolutely happy as a clam about this, and wants to ride all over town, right now.

12.  And, saving the best for last, an almost brand-new pair of Dansko clogs, in exactly my size.  These are a $100 pair of shoes which I obtained for the low, low price of….wait for it….$7.50. 

It’s hard to describe how happy this makes me.  I love these shoes and already own two pairs in a couple of different colors.  Ever since I worked in a commercial kitchen, I’ve developed a slight addiction to these clogs.  Oh, my goodness.  Be still, my beating heart.