I had a busy week of work, helping Nate while his dad is out of town (he is doing GREAT in high school; he really seems to be enjoying it more!), and watching while things get steadily busier on the real estate front. I ended up having to work about 6 hours this weekend, which really cut into my knitting time! :D Oh well, I'll take being busy over worrying about staying employed, any day!
Besides, I actually felt like I had a sort of social life this week! Last year, I had invited some favorite clients out to dinner and to the orchestra, and we enjoyed it so much I scheduled another evening for January. Our firm used to put on an annual event for clients, with a catered dinner and a talk by one of the musicians, but now we just sponsor the Minnesota Orchestra and receiving a certain amount of tickets in exchange. As this kind of event is much more my speed than a Twins game, I try to take advantage of the tickets when I can, inviting two clients and their spouses. Since one of those clients is Eva, one of my best friends and knitting buddies, we always have such a lovely evening. Last year, my sister was in town, so I had a date, but this time, I went stag. Then Eva's husband had to cancel because of a work event, so we invited Renay(!) (Sort of like knitting night, minus the knitting part!) We went to a nice French restaurant called Vincent just across the street from Orchestra Hall, and then enjoyed a concert (Brahms; Peter Sirkin playing the Piano Concerto No. 2, and then his Symphony No. 1; Brahms is my favorite composer, although perhaps after 2 glasses of wine one should not go to see a concert by the composer who wrote the word's most famous lullaby...)
Speaking of wine: I received this interesting bottle of wine for Christmas from my friend Wardo; we met right at the beginning of law school and became close friends, and still keep in touch. He is a partner in a San Francisco firm, and married a wonderful woman named Melissa. We were pregnant together with our babies, and then I moved to Minnesota; they ended up having a total of 3, and now are raising their family while both working as attorneys, which has got to be a challenge!
Anyway, this bottle of wine had such an interesting shape, and I don't usually feel comfortable drinking at home much; Nathan took DARE very seriously and looks at me like I'm a grave disappointment to him whenever he seems me with a glass of wine in my hand. So I brought it along to the restaurant to share with Eva, Renay, and my other guests, Richard and Melissa. The waitress told us that the sommelier saw the bottle from a distance was just THRILLED, and couldn't wait to tell us all about it! Apparently, this type of Italian wine, called Gattinara, was the favorite of the Pope; the bottle is curved to fit right into the palm of his hand. The sommelier also shared with us that, according to the legend, after having a glass of Gattinara, you are absolved for any sins you might commit for the rest of the day! (Sort of too bad we all spent the rest of the evening feeling snoozy and listening to Brahms; hardly sin-worthy behavior...)
I decided to dress up properly for the evening, and wore a velvet dress and my new Florentine Shrug Shawl:
It was a big hit at work; all my pals who are following the KOTOTW Project were so happy to see it finished, having seen me working on it for the past 3 or 4 months. And I must say, I felt very elegant, and cozy. The yarn is an incredibly soft blend of merino and cashmere. (Note to self: Find more excuses to dress up more often!)
I've finished the side inserts or "godets" for the Senorita's Floral pullover, about half the flowers, and the decorative edgings that are stitched to the side of the godets. Although the pattern uses only two of these, I decided to make four total, so that I can decorate both sides of each wedge-shaped insert. The pattern was really fun, requiring you to knit one stitch, slip it back onto the left-hand needle, and then slip the 8 next stitches over it, which creates those little arches. I'm now worrying that I won't have enough of the main color of yarn (black) to lengthen the sweater as much as I'd like (darn you, extra 2 1/2" waist length). So, I'm knitting a few balls and calculating stitches per row and rows per ball to deduce whether I'll make it, or whether I have to hunt up some extra balls or start again with another black yarn. It is too bad this Rowan Calmer isn't being made anymore. It is a stretchy cotton blend, and it feels like it would be very comfortable to wear against the skin, but lighter than a pure cotton yarn.
My Catkin is coming along; I have finished the first section, and am now ready to start the second, middle band, which is all textured stitches in the lighter color. My sister, Susan, is much farther along with hers:
I'll have to check in with Renay to see if she can send a photo of how she is coming along. I am guessing that if this is a race, however, Susan is going to beat us both! She has already finished the middle section and is on to the very bottom, which is striped like the top, but has these intricate balloon shapes made with slipped stitches - very intriguing. The gauge swatch (wisely) contains one of these, which got me over my fear of trying to make the pattern nicely. Once you tackle that, you realize you can totally make the whole thing. The instructions are beautifully, carefully written, and have really nice multicolor graphs. I'm going to look up other patterns by this designer, Carina Spencer, as I've enjoyed making this one so much.
It was an icy, rainy morning, but I braved the sleet to have breakfast at Little Oscar's with my friend, Regina. I had to stop a few times to scrape the ice off the windshield, as the wiper fluid was just freezing up, and the weather was too cold for the heat on the inside of the glass to keep it from turning into a solid film!
Regina and I meet for breakfast a few times a year, and we always have the best talks. She is also someone I met through work, and has become part of my "professional women's knitting group," (PWKG is a hard acronym to pronounce!) Regina took to knitting really easily and quickly. She jumped right in and figured out how to make gauntlets, and is working on some scarves. She sent me a photo of this cozy cowl (which is perfect for weather like we had today, actually!)
Well, I'm off to knit a bit more before I go to bed. Tomorrow morning promises to be an icy, snowy mix; part of me hopes for a blizzard, so Nathan and I could have a snow day!
XOXOXO, Mar.
You looked so lovely in the Florentine Shrug and your velvet dress. Your waist is so tiny! A beautiful shrug for a beautiful lady. :)
I'm getting really excited about the Seniorita's Floral Pullover.
Your Catkin is really coming along nicely. Can't wait to see that finished. too.
And congratulations to your friend Regina on really embracing knitting. Welcome to the club of knitters.
Posted by: Linda | January 23, 2012 at 12:57 AM
May I just say that you really look beautiful all dressed up in your Florentine Shrug - gorgeous! (The girl and the knitting!!)
Again, you never cease to amaze me with all the additional knitting you do. As if KOTOTW isn't enough to keep you busy. Whew!
And thanks for the interesting info about that wine. Quite fascinating and I especially liked how the sommelier was so happy to see the bottle and get to tell you all about it.
Stay warm and happy knitting!
Posted by: Barb | January 24, 2012 at 05:04 PM
Wow! You look fabulous in your very beautiful shrug! The Catkin is also a very beautiful pattern! Hope everything is going well for you and Nathan!
Posted by: Cynthia | January 25, 2012 at 11:36 AM