A Glimpse at the Final Glory--what it means to be a knitter

Not all that much to report this weekend, but I do have these lovely photos of the finished Kauni Jacket with the edging on for you. Really came out well, didn't it? Lots of photos, but hey, I like them.

Also, here's the photo of the new socks that I promised in the previous entry. I took a better picture now that I am further along on the Charybdis socks. Pretty pattern, pretty yarn. OK!

Sorry the jacket is a little wrinkled--I'd been sitting on the couch. Doesn't the black edging make it look sharp?

Anyway, I had lots of fun at the yarn shop yesterday--I got to help more people than usual, since it was crowded. And it was fun hanging out with the regulars and meeting new folks, both. After a while, Katie and I went to the new JoAnn's Fabric store to get buttons for the Kauni jacket, and so she could walk and walk and try to go into labor. Once I get them on, I will share one more photo. We found a blue and a green ceramic button that goes perfectly with the rustic qualities of the jacket. There were all sorts of really pretty buttons there, so I can't wait to use some on other products. (I already have the handmade buttons for Bridget when I get back to that project, though.)

A number of the usual knitting gang went to a baby shower for our other pregnant friend, Jen, where I think we overwhelmed her family and other friends by whipping out our socks. I was asked if I was able to listen as I knit. Boy howdy, I'd have had trouble in grad school if I couldn't! I think sometimes, when we spend most of our time with fellow knitters we forget the ideas others have about it. I guess most people probably think we all knit stuff and sell it to make money, that most knitters are grandparents (I was asked if I was retired--really need to get that gray in my hair recovered I guess), that Red Heart is "good" yarn, that making socks is amazing and complicated, and that knitting and crochet are the same thing. You just forget what assumptions you can make if the folks around you are knitters.

I should know this. I should remember what it was like when I went outside my little world of "attachment parenting" when my kids were little. It was like a different world. It was surprising to learn what odd ideas people had about me when they found out I held certain parenting beliefs. But I've mostly learned to cope with the wide variety of other ideas out there--I need to hang out with the "outside world" a little more so I don't get so surprised at the ideas people have about me because I knit.

I'll just step out, proud to be in my rainbow jacket that screams out to the world, "I am a knitter," and just say "thanks" when people tell me I am super-dee-superly talented for simply picking a nice yarn and knitting some rectangles then sewing them together! It's just who I am.