Post Visit Round-Up...

In case you're wondering about how the whole potential post-election family meltdown went, I am here to tell you that there were no blow ups, slammed doors or shout fests. Just knowing, furtive glances and a smug feeling of superiority and self-satisfaction, which anyone who knows me can tell you I do really, really well.

Luckily our visit was filled with what linguists call 'varied input', meaning there were plenty of different experiences, including a surprise encounter with New York's rollicking Spiders on Friday evening at Brooklyn General. In I walked and there they were. Can you believe that Minty was even there making a special cameo celebrity appearance? So. Much. Fun. I was thrilled to see knitters I've known a while (Katy and Virginia-woot! woot!) and meet for the first time Stephanie, Jess, Lisa, and Carrie, knitters I've admired from a far. I celebrated the occasion with, well, what else:

The thing that just slays me about Malabrigo is that there are so many damn colors. Seriously. Some of them I'd never heard of and have quite inscrutable names. Rhodesian? Roanoke? Molly? I don't see the relationship between the name and the color, but... ok, yes please. Also pictured are Violetas, Cactus Flower and Tiger Lily, three other major winners.

I also got to meet the girls' baby sister Aifric who is a brand new resident of Brooklyn. She and her mummy have emigrated from Ireland, just in time for me to gift the Baby Surprise Jacket and Tween Thing's Juliet, because you know, the sweater made Tween Thing look 'fat'. Luckily the girls' step-mom is quite small in stature so I now have the perfect person to knit for, although I hope the knitting gifts don't weird her out in a Single White Female kind of way...'Who made that sweater for you? 'My husband's ex-wife', 'WTF?!!!'.

Since I had all that Bridge and Tunnel time to kill, I was also able to complete a project, and if you can believe it, I have no complaints about it. Not a one. Maybe that's because I've road tested it many times before--I believe the Koolhaas is now my go-to pattern when I'm in need of restoring my knitting confidence.


The Specs
Pattern: Koolhaas by Jared Flood
Yarn: Malabrigo in Indigo. This yarn was repurposed from a Gloria cowl that just wasn't working for me. I unravelled it and reknit it, lickety-split.
Needles: Size 6 and 8 addi turbos
Time: I-80 to the Garden State Parkway, GW Bridge to the West Side Highway, Verrazano Bridge to the Jersey Turnpike and then the Pennsy Turnpike. For real!