Counting My Blessings

My back hurts. A lot. It feels like someone ripped the muscle away from the spine and back-of-the-ribs on the right side. I mention this because it’s pretty much all I can think about at the moment, but I want to do a blog post anyway . . . so we don’t get behind. Please forgive any wandering thoughts. Because pain killers.

Here’s the news from my corner of the world.

Pictured above is the first 100% unexpected, mouth agape, knock-me-over-with-a-feather, surprise birthday present I’ve gotten in a long, long time. This is such a nice gift I felt badly about accepting it for about one nanosecond. Then the needle lust took over.

Do you know about Signature needles? They are like little knitting magic wands. The tips are exactly the right amount of pointiness, the needle surface produces exactly the right amount of friction against the yarn, the cables on these circulars (which rotate freely at the needle!) are so flexible it’s like they aren’t even there, and the join . . . what join? Close your eyes. You can’t even feel it.

I’ve wanted a pair of Signature needles for a very long time, but I would never get them for myself, and none of the big time gift givers in my life understand knitting well enough to know that these needles are THE GIFT. Last weekend, though, I saw my dear friend P—(she appears here pretty regularly—I need to ask her if it’s okay for me to use her actual name)—and P handed me a birthday present that turned out to be these needles.

To say I love them is putting it mildly.

I spent a day picking a pattern worthy of them. Sunday, I cast on Veronik Avery’s Travel Shawl.

K3tog? Hah! These needles scoff at your k3tog. I keep expected to find myself knitting 17 together by accident. Magic, I tell you. Pure magic.

For my Travel Shawl, I’m using the same Peace Fleece DK sport I used for the Calligraphy cardigan. My original plan was to rip back the cardigan and use that yarn since my gauge issues gave Calligraphy a less-than-ideal fit. I’ve started with fresh yarn, though, and I’m enjoying it, so I just might continue with it.

This is a great pattern, and these needles make it such a pleasure to knit. If I were to just knit this pattern with these needles until the end of time, that might actually be okay.

Other news . . .

At the Knotty Ladies Retreat last weekend, in addition to the wonderful camaraderie, there were these mitts from Spinfoolish. Actually, Spinfooish had a whole basketful of drool worthy mitts, but these jumped onto my hands and refused to leave.

I have worn them every day this week until today when it was finally warmish. Besides being a great pattern that fits well and looks even better, these are hand knit from my friend Dorothea’s handspun yarn. I think Dorothea herself knit (knitted?) them although it might have been her incomparable mother, “Mummy” to Dorothea and wannabe-Mummy’s-children like myself.

These mitts are instant happiness. From the moment I put them on, I’m warm—inside, outside, all the sides are warm.

The other thing that I absolutely could not leave without on Saturday was this red yarn from Good Fibrations. This red. Oh dear angels of color inspiration, you have outdone yourselves with this red. As I’m looking at it now, the gloriousness of this red is *almost* enough to take my mind off the pain in my back. I swear—it resonates beyond the reach of normal color. I want to gently part the strands and sink into the center of this luscious hank of red. Seriously, there are no words for this red.

And finally, guess what! After waiting for nearly two years, I’ve made it into the Hello Yarn Fiber Club. I got the invitation yesterday! I’m beginning to  think my sore back might be a blessing. Without it, I’d probably explode from all the fibery good fortune.

So that’s it for now. I’ll be back in a couple of days with more Travel Shawl. In the meantime be well, my knitters!