This week I feel like a technical genius! First I got an Amazon Fire TV Stick and actually got it working properly. (This is no reflection on my technical acumen; it’s pretty user-friendly.) Then I managed to update my car’s map – this was no piece of cake! Subaru sent me an email about the update a couple months ago but I just got around to it about two weeks ago. I jumped on the link, downloaded the update….then I had to:
- set up an account for map updates on the map site;
- read the Owner’s Manual to find out where the map data actually physically resided; (It’s in a tiny little thing that could have fallen into a crack in the floor of my garage and never been seen again.)
- ordered another thing that would hold the tiny little thing
so that I could put it into the correct slot on my computer; - work through all the steps of the update (15 minutes of my life I’ll never get back);
- retrieve the tiny little thing from its slot (which I did incorrectly, engendering utter scorn and indignation from my computer) and insert it back into the car; and
- hope that it works the next time I need it, which will probably be in 2020 or so.
Meanwhile, back in the day, by which I mean a couple of years ago, I would have run over to AAA and picked up a new road atlas on my way to the grocery store, a 10 minute stop at the most. Is it any wonder we’re so distracted and overwrought these days?
Knitting is such an excellent antidote to the confusions and frustrations and challenges of living in the digital age – so I have been doing quite a bit of it!
Virginia Griffith made this Camden Hills Poncho in beautiful Manos Maxima for winter – why I don’t have a photo, I can’t tell you – and I thought it would be a very nice piece for summer if it was made in a cotton blend. The pattern features a dropped back hem, a simple lace motif on the front, and a flattering, not-too-wide neckline.
The hems are worked separately, then it’s joined into the round for the body, and the shoulders are shaped with short rows and joined with 3-needle bindoff. I used Modern Cotton, a pima cotton/modal rayon blend for my version. I knit it at a slightly smaller gauge which scaled back the volume for summer, and I love the way it turned out. I modeled it in a long-sleeve tee because it was (still) cold as heck in the back room but I envision wearing it with just a tank top for summer. It would also make a nice beach cover-up, and it’s completely machine wash and dry. A nice selection of colors will be arriving this week (I hope)!
Also coming this week will be Regatta, a cotton ribbon from Berroco that I used to make the Alfama cardigan. Super cute, very wearable and quick to make, this cardigan can be made any length. The yoke and sleeves are sideways, then the body is picked up and knit down to the hem so you can try it on for length. The front band is then picked up and knit and boom! you’re done and wearing it!
The yarn comes in a limited range and I picked what I think are the best two colors, black with white and navy with denim blue.
I’m about to embark on Sunshine Coast, a wonderful design that has flattered everyone who made it and that I planned to do last summer but never got to. This is the year! Anyone want to knit along with me? Let me know and we’ll see if we can schedule a few sessions.
Other news: Deb Cech is adding two new beginner classes to our May schedule, both on Thursday evenings from 6 – 7:30, on May 10 and May 31. If you’re a beginner or know someone who is interested in learning, please mention these dates to them.
And! You may know that we have an assortment of knitting themed novels and mysteries in our back room, many of which have been kindly shared over the years by our customers.
I mentioned to Bronwyn Gamble, Executive Director at the Reading Public Library (and excellent knitter), that I would like to donate them to their Book Bonanza fund-raiser since we’ve all read most of them, and she got a very librarian-ish gleam in her eye. Rather than just selling them, she would like to set up a knitting-themed nook at the Library – and isn’t that a wonderful idea?? If you have any needlework-themed literature that you are tired of dusting, bring it to the shop and Bronwyn will collect it at some point – let’s make the cut-off the end of May – and thanks!
