17 April 2007

On Tragedy and Hope

Oh, don't you wish you could knit the world back together?

I'm so sad for the community at Virginia Tech. And I'm also sad for my own undergrad's personal tragedy that came to a head yesterday, when someone found the body of a student who'd been missing since last September. So much sadness in our world this week.

But I also have a great deal of hope today. Tomorrow I travel home to spend a weekend with my parents, doing some wedding planning and some secret knitting. More important than all that, though, is a super-important meeting on Sunday afternoon: a meeting that decides the fate of my career in ministry, I suppose, as my Association decides whether or not to approve me to apply for jobs. If you're the praying type, please send up a good word for me. If you're not, then please cross your fingers. And either way, knit me some good Spirit and eloquent speech on Sunday afternoon.

Thank you.

14 April 2007

From Drought to Surplus

I really need to get a digital camera.

I've been doing some good knitting lately, and (mostly) I've been not buying yarn, trying to save money for the wedding. It's only four months away, after all. The one exception has been that my second-favorite yarn store is closing this month, and I did pop in to take advantage of the please-take-away-this-yarn sale. And I bought an umbrella swift (my very own!), because, well, it's a swift and it was on major sale, and I am not a fool. And I did set it up and wind one ball of wool today, and it officially works and everything. It's a wooden swift, and I have no idea who made it, because there were no identifying features but the price tag.

So now I'm looking for a good sweater pattern for a lovely hand-died variegated heavy-worsted wool. It's Naturwolle by Ingeborg Michels, in the Steppe color, which is a lovely rust and sage and creme and mustard combo. I was thinking the Lace Leaf Pullover from Loop-d-Loop, but I think that requries a chunkier yarn than this is. I have yet to do a gauge swatch, though, so I could be wrong.

It's funny, a few months ago I went through quite an inspiration drought. Now, however, I'm full of knitting ideas -- so many that it's almost paralyzing. And my right wrist has been hurting lately, in a repetitive-motion-injury kind of way. Not cool. Plus, I'm super-busy right now (wedding planning, lots more travelling than usual, and the job hunt is finally picking up), so I don't have the time to go somewhere and pore over books until I find the perfect pattern for this yarn. But oh! I'm itching to do a sweater now. Now that it's spring, and there's no need for one anymore.

I am quite excited about a quick project I've been working on, though. I've designed my own fingerless-gloves-with-mitten flap, and I'm almost done with the second hand. I'm using Malabrigo, the lovely dark blue color (that's my color, you know), but the finger-stubs are a lovely mustardy yellow-orange. If I had a digital camera, I'd post a picture. But I don't. Maybe someday. Would it be considered uncouth to register for one? I'm sure Macy's has a lovely selection.