Sunday Knitting

It was challenging at church this morning.

The pastor was in fine form as usual, his analogies hitting the mark perfectly. His message was clear and appropriate during our present times, exhorting us all to think deeply about our lives and the lives of others. Even my voice was challenged this morning by the vast range of music that the worship team had chosen for this weeks praise. Yet the most challenging aspect of the service came in the form of a fellow worshipper.

I shared my pew today with a lady who knits. Now, I'm well aware of the fact that our pastor has nothing against people knitting during his sermon, what I wasn't aware of though, was how absolutely, torturously tempting I'd find it!

Out of the corner of my eye I could see her needles flying as she made great headway on a hat for a local mission project. I found my thoughts wandering from the pastors words as I wondered whether she was an English or Continental knitter; a wrapper or a thrower?

I snuck a surreptitious glance to my right and quickly ascertained that, yeah, she was a 'cottage' knitter just like me and she throws her yarn!

As the pastor continued his eloquent sermon, I wrapped my arms around myself to try to contain the movements that my hands were so desperate to indulge in. I could see the rythmic movement of the knitting needles just within my line of vision. I can't tell you how painful this was. In the end I had to position myself very slightly turned towards my left in an effort to ignore my fellow knitter.

Sitting on my hands, it took all my concentration at church this Sunday not to yell out, "Are you knitting top down or bottom up?!"

A Memorable Hat

Here's another little finished object, my second Chameleon hat. This one is made out of Cascade 220 in a beautiful shade of blue appropriately named Puget Sound. During the run up to Christmas, this was my "Purse Project" (it sat in my handbag!)

This is the handbag in question.

I bought it several years ago, used it a handful of times and then threw it in the back of the closet. Last year I came across it during a daring spring cleaning episode and decided that it would be perfect for carrying a small project with me. It has several pockets inside which hold needles, markers, candy and the obligatory umbrella, while the outer pockets are useful for all those boring necessities like, keys, cell phone and, oh, yes....my wallet!

So, this is where my Chameleon hat has been hiding out. It's seen a lot of life during that time, I must say. When I look at it, I remember.......the Allergists office:-

"k1,P1,K1, P5..."

"Mum, I'm scared."

"K1,P1...you'll be fine, dear. P1,K1,P5...."

"Mum, it hurt SOOOO bad!!"

"P1,K1,P1,K5....never mind, dear. It's all done now."

Then there were the late nights parked outside the High School waiting to pick up a child from band or dance, football or hoops.

"Blimey, it's getting dark in here. I wonder how much more I can do before the light fades. Was that a knit stitch or a purl? I can't quite make it out. Maybe I can do it by touch? Oh, do shut up Peter Cetera, I'm trying to concentrate! I think I just dropped a stitch (raising panic). Oh no! Now I'll have to take back the last 3 rows."

I finally finished up during basketball season though. I took the hat to every practice, sitting on the sidelines while my son ran around wearing himself out before bed (perfect!) The problem with basketball practice though is that it doesn't seem to matter where you sit, you always get hit by the ball! I studiously avoided sitting directly under the hoop, that would be asking for trouble, but it proved extremely difficult to find a spot that was safer. I swear those balls have homing devices in them. I seem to spend every session, looking at my knitting and bobbing my head up and down to avoid a basket ball-induced concussion.

To be fair, the players treat me very kindly. They do always yell, "Look Out!" or "Heads Up!" as the ball comes flying in my direction, allowing me just enough time to incorporate the appropriate manouvre into my knitting:- "K5,P1,K1,Duck1,P1,K5,Head1, P1!"

So you see, Purse Projects are not for the fainthearted. You just never know where you'll be when you have a spare ten minutes to whip out your sticks. Exterior challenges can abound! But what makes them the most wonderful projects to indulge in are the memories you'll weave into them. They're priceless.

Sock Humour

Humourous moments are what keeps our lives on a steady keel. I had one such moment this week when I went for my annual physical. Now, the doctor's office is not usually a place where I have a lot to smile about, but this time it was different.

When you have a full health check-up, you have to strip down to nothing and put on one of those awful gowns that gape open at the back showing your derriere to the world. The only things you can keep on are your socks.

I was wearing two pairs that day; one white cotton and the outer layer a simple handknit pair made from self-stripe yarn - Reggio by Gjestal. They had been a relatively quick knit, made as they had been not for me, but for my daughter and designed to be practical not ornate.

As I climbed up on to the examination table in my homemade, slightly too large, multi-coloured socks (DD2 is a shoe size 8 and I'm a 6), the doctor was totally enamoured of my socks. In fact, she loved them so much that she pointed them out to the attending nurse!

It was enough to make a grown woman blush (or at least smirk silently to herself!)