I Love My Knitting Group

My knitting friends and I get together once a week. Every Tuesday night at 6:30, there is a group of knitters in Baton Rouge knitting together somewhere. Most Tuesdays it is at McAlister's Deli where we generally get something to eat and drink then sit and knit while we visit and get progressively louder and probably scare the muggles in the adjoining room. (We do sit off on the side in a room known as "The Patio," even though it is closed in and air conditioned - this is Louisiana, after all) On the third Tuesday of the month, we get together at one of the yarn stores in town, and if there is a fifth Tuesday, we have a special dye and spin night at the home of one of our members. As with any group of people who get together on a regular basis, not all of us go every single week. Some of us do, others of us go as our schedules allow. And if we are just too tired to go, well, we don't go. There's no guilt. It's really very informal and very friendly. We range in age from college-aged to retirement aged, and we get along splendidly. We are always happy to see each other.
One of the best things about knitting group is that we have show and tell. Anything that gets finished (or purchased) gets brought to knitting group to be shown off. And everyone is always genuinely impressed with anything that gets shown. Let me tell you, we do have some talented knitters and crocheters in our group, too!
I went to knitting group tonight, and I brought 3 things for show and tell:

my Arwen Cardigan,

my Math Geek Hat which I finished last night











and this little guy who I had started and almost finished when I went to group (I finished him after I got home)










Everyone there oohed and aahed so much! They really make me feel as though I have accomplished something amazing. Really, though, I think the amazing thing is having friends like them. I love my knitting group.

I finished the Arwen Cardigan!!! Finished Finished. Seamed, ends woven in, finished! It is absolutely beautiful, too. It is a little short, though. I haven't washed and blocked it yet, so maybe when I do that I can stretch it out a bit. Even if I don't, I don't think it will be too short. DD is not that tall, and her torso isn't very long. It should be okay for her. I made my other DD try it on, and it fit her a little snuggly and looked like a cropped cardi on her, so I think it will be fine for DD#1. I will wash and block it tomorrow, let it dry, and send it off to her later in the week. I hope she likes it. :)
While I was perusing patterns on Ravelry the other day, I ran across one for a Math Geek Hat. Knowing my DS#2 the way I do, I just know that he will love to have that hat, so as soon as I finished Arwen, I cast on for the hat. I'm halfway through the charted section, so it is knitting up really fast. I'm thinking I will probably finish it tomorrow.

Lunch with Three Irish Girls

My normal lunchtime routine goes like this: kids are released at 11:30, I go home (two blocks away,) check the mail, take the dogs out of their kennels & put them outside on their leads so they can get some fresh air & sunshine, go back in the house, fix myself a sandwich or heat up some leftovers, eat lunch in front of the tv, then knit until it's time to go back to work at 12:30. Two days ago, lunchtime started like usual; I went home, checked the mail, threw it on the table on my way in the house, took the dogs out of their kennels, took them outside, then, while I was tying them up outside, I noticed a package sitting on one of the chairs on my patio. I grabbed it on my way back in the house to fix my lunch. Before I could begin preparing a bologna sandwich, though, I noticed the return address on the package. Three Irish Girls! And it was a BIG package! Was this the large order I had placed in order to knit my oldest DD the Cardigan for Arwen? I grabbed a knife, tore through the tape, lifted the flaps, pulled out the brown envelopes (there were two of them) that the yarn comes in, and ... IT WAS! This was the beautiful green BFL DK weight yarn that I ordered hoping to make an Arwen out of! The green is a bit brighter than I had originally thought it was going to be, but I have enough of it for an entire cardigan!!! I immediately forgot all about my lunch, grabbed a skein of the yarn, ran over to my swift and ball winder, and immediately wound up a cake of yarn. Then I hunted around the living room until I found the pattern that I had printed out two months ago when I first ordered the yarn, located the needle size I needed, grabbed those needles, and ran to my room and my tv. I turned on my tv, found a show to watch, and cast on for the back of the cardigan. I didn't even swatch first! I knitted my lunch hour away just as happily as you please. That afternoon after I got home from work, I looked at it again and decided that if I am going to do it, I need to make sure I do it right. So I pulled yarn from the other end of the cake and swatched. You know what? I was DEAD ON!!! The gauge is perfect. I'd like the fabric to be a little firmer, but I think it'll be ok. (I hope, anyway - I mean, I do want her to wear it)
So last night I was looking at the progress that I was making on the back and decided that I needed to blog about it right then because I was really flying on this thing. So I took some pics with the intention of blogging about it then, but I didn't do it right away and ended up going to bed instead. So now I'm writing about it and using last nights pics. To tell the truth, I haven't gotten much farther on it tonight because I had to go pick up DH from the airport and haven't really been home very long. But 13 1/2 inches in two nights is not so shabby, right? I didn't think so.