For The Greater Good...

Good Morning Everyone!

We know winters are long up here, even with the promise of Spring just around the corner, the grip remains tight. That's ok, I take comfort in my many layers of handknit garments, slowly eliminating the layers as the temperature starts to rise. I don't see this happening in the near future which is why I currently have 2 sweaters on the needles and have knit tons of new hats. I'd honestly forgotten how quickly I can have a brand new hat and JUST HOW MUCH I LOVE NEW HATS!! Not as much as a new sweater, but extremely gratifying in a fraction of the time. Speaking of hats, this Thursday, February 26th 5-7:00, there will be a group meeting in North Hero at Kraemer and Kin to knit/crochet more Red Resistance Hats. I plan on attending, let me know if you're interested in going, carpooling would be awesome! Blue Heron Farm is supplying the red yarn, or you can certainly bring your own or just work on whatever project you have going. There is a very active fiber community in the Islands, I attended a knitting/crocheting event at Two Heroes Brewery last Thursday night, 22 WOMEN!!! I arrived late and was completely blown away by how many had shown up, I LOVE THIS! I will be closing the shop around 4:30 on Thursday so I can get over there on time, the address is 3517 US 2 North Hero, easy to find, I hope to see you there!

I shared my knitting hieroglyphics yesterday, many of you were amused and could identify with the intricacies of this method of madness. What I didn't realize is how much my brain replicates the process, I'm still dumbfounded by my discovery. I never throw away my knitting notes, I have decades of indiscernible interpretations of charts and patterns for projects I've long forgotten about and will likely never make again, but I may need those notes, lol....anyone else have this condition? That being said, I happened across my first set of "notes" charting out which row would need the increases and on which end. They are exactly THE SAME AS MY SECOND! I honestly find this not only amusing, but unbelievable. Mostly, I'm absolutely relieved, this means that the front of my sweater is going to mirror the back, PERFECTLY! The row sequence is exactly the same with the increases happening in the same place. I realize that the pattern was written to be made as directed, but let's face it, there's so much room for error when working an increase at the beginning of every 12th row 6 times and the end of the 10th row once and then every 8th row 14 times while cabling on row 5. The fact that I charted it out the same way twice, is nothing short of a miracle. Perhaps it has to do with Asa's amazing pattern writing skills, but seriously, I am super impressed that my math came up with the same results, you know me and math...Best of all, it was a confidence booster, don't we all need one of those occasionally? I sure do, stay tuned, I am working my way quite nicely on my Brookline, full steam ahead!!!

I had an absolutely wonderful time watching the Olympics, I always do. There were so many exciting moments, I loved seeing Mikayla Shiffrin win her GOLD medal, I cringed watching Lindsay Vonn get tagged by a gate, the Women's Hockey team, the Vermont Medalist!! But I think what hit home the most was watching the Men's Hockey team put aside their NHL rivalries and pull together as a team. I found myself cheering for players I usually don't pull for, it was a lesson in seeing the greater good, understanding that differences can bring strengths not weaknesses. It gave me a sense of hope that people are able to unite, despite their differences, and accomplish a goal that is something to be proud of, to work together. I will say this, watching team Canada receive their Silver medals was disheartening, instead of being proud of the accomplishment, they were all frowning. Understandably a big loss, but to demonstrate such apathy during a medal ceremony was disappointing. It was such a stark contrast to watching the skiers rejoice and be happy for each other regardless of the placement which usually comes down to 1,000s of a second. Lastly, when the hell did curling become such a thing? I felt like I couldn't get away from it, lol....not that there's anything wrong with curling.

This Saturday, February 28th 9-11:00 is Knit Along! How is everyone doing on their vests? Not to brag, mine is finished and I've been wearing it, LOVE IT!! We will need to decide soon what to knit next, so start thinking. It is also time to get ready for the MARCH HAT OF THE MONTH CLUB, stay tuned, we'll be sharing the patterns very soon. We will be meeting tomorrow evening, Wednesday 6-7:30 for Stitch and Bitch, I hope you can join in the fun. Make it a great day and I'll see you soon!

Katy