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Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don’t remember growing older
When did they?
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he get to be so tall?
Wasn’t it yesterday
When they were small?
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze
–From Fiddler on the Roof, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick
My daughter and youngest child, Alex, graduated from high school Saturday. My Sunrise Socks were finished a few days days ago, and were just the right thing to wear.
And, since it was Worldwide Knit in Public Day, I brought along a Marsan Watchcap I’m working on for the Whipstick Knitters.
This is now a season of last and first things: last high school play, last time getting up to make a 7:30 class, last day of school, last child getting ready to leave home: in September, the first time with no children under my roof for weeks on end, first time in a zillion years with no parent meetings or school volunteer needs.
But perhaps not the last time for a student to hug a favorite teacher.
And why were those socks exactly the right thing to wear? Because their colors are graduated, of course.
I went down to Seattle today to meet Susan for lunch — she’s a fellow member of The Gunroom, and also a Whipstick Knitter. Having a little time to kill before our lunch, I went over to Pike Place Market, and stopped at Beecher’s Cheese to replenish the larder a bit. It was the first time I’d been there when they were making cheese. The blurry, through the window, picture above shows just a section of a vast oval vat, one of two that was being stirred to create curds. The hip young thing behind the counter asked me what is becoming The Usual Question: “Did you knit that purse?” She went on to explain that she’d just taught herself to knit, but hadn’t tried felting yet. I gave her a couple of tips and told her about Knitty, but she was already in the know.
I met Susan at Wild Ginger, and passed on some yarn for her to use in an ongoing charity project of hers, knitting wee blankets for kittens brought to animal shelters. Appropriately enough, we both ate with chopsticks, expertly wielded.
A quick return to Pike Place Market yielded some roasted fennel ravioli and a sourdough ficelle from DeLaurenti and South African Boerewors from Uli’s Famous Sausage, all of which should make a tasty dinner. The harissa from Market Spice will be for another day.
If you look up at the top bar of this homepage you’ll see that a new page has been added, called The Whipstick Knitters. I’ll be posting photos of the pieces we’re knitting for the Christmas at Sea program. Stop over there every now and then to see what we’ve been up to!
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Last month, I wrote about my Fiber Resolutions for 2007, which included trying to live up to Wendy’s Working from the Stash Challenge. The Challenge has a few amusing exceptions, and I’ve decided add another one, namely:
It’s okay to buy yarn if it’s for Charity Knitting.
In another online life, I’m a member of The Gunroom, an online discussion group about the works of Patrick O’Brian, specifically his 21 volume opus, the Aubrey/Maturin series, which was loosely adapted into the movie Master and Commander. One of our merry crew suggested that some of the knitters in the group make items for the Seaman’s Church Institute Christmas at Sea program, which distributes hand-knitted scarves, hats, etc. to merchant seaman during the month of December. As the books are about sea-going life in the 19th century, it seemed a natural fit.
I’ve just finished my first scarf for this effort, and it’s rather nice, isn’t it? The SCI is exceedingly specific about what yarns to use (4-ply, must be machine-washable) and what patterns to use (theirs, on the site), so there’s not a lot of room for creativity. But I rather like the basketweave effect of this design. I bought some more yarn to make a watch cap and a balaclava, but that’s okay, because it’s Charity Knitting 
