Thanks for all of the sympathy and good wishes you sent my way. We've cleaned up the debris from the hail storm and put a tarp over our skylight, but there's not much else we can do until an insurance adjuster comes to assess the damage. So we're waiting.
In the meantime I've been knitting and reading. You probably figured that. My Dejeuner bag finally looks like something. For the first few rows it just looked like I spilled oatmeal on my knitting needles, so I'm happy that the pattern is developing. At first the pattern wraps took me a long time to complete, but I'm getting more comfortable with them so the rows going faster. I will say that the pattern instructions aren't very clear for the end of each row. Luckily Ravelry came to my rescue, as several other people had already encountered this problem and written helpful tips.
This week I'm reading Minor Characters by Joyce Johnson. It's billed as a memoir about the Beat Generation, but so far it has chronicled Johnson's early life in New York in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Even though I haven't gotten to the Kerouac gossip yet, I still find it interesting to learn about New York at that time and the mundane details of a teenage girl's life. I was a teenage girl enthralled by the creativity of the Beats 50 years later, so I'm sure my teenage self would have loved this book. In a way, I feel like I'm visiting my younger self as I read this book. At 16, I read lots of Beat novels, kept a writer's notebook, and ached to get out of high school. It's a strange sensation to meet that girl again.
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What were you like at 16? I'd love to hear.
Sorry to hear about the hail damage. Hope it all gets sorted out soon with the insurance company and you get your skylight fixed.
ReplyDeleteThe pattern does look pretty complex. I'm glad that you're getting more comfortable and it's going faster. I started a herringbone stitch dishcloth before I cast on my sweater and it's just a repeat of two rows but each row takes forever. Kind of takes the joy out of it.
And isn't Ravelry great? I don't think I'd have the courage to knit what I've knit without all the great reviews, opinions, experiences and comments folks make on patterns.
mmm...I've had that tea before (I ♥ it)! sounds like an interesting book. As a 16 year old I also disliked school. I did like my chemistry class...we had a lot of fun labs! I still love hands-on learning. I learned to crochet at about that age, actually! From an older woman at our church...she taught me the granny square.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the storm damage. Yikes - that's scary!
ReplyDeleteI frequently think about life at 16 because my daughter is at that age now. We are very different. I was very into reading and loved school. My daughter is more about the socializing and fitting school work in when it's convenient. God bless her - her grades are good but could always be better with more effort. I guess I was kind of like that myself...
What's that saying - "If I knew then what I know now...."
Ugh! At sixteen, I was constantly arguing with my mom because we are just alike. I was also spending most of time reading trashy romance novels and praying that high school would finish up faster.
ReplyDeleteHUGS! Glad you figured out your pattern!
ReplyDeleteI love that bag pattern! And the yarn you have is perfect for it. Like Jen, I was reading trashy romance novels and erroneously thinking that romantic love was THE most important thing on the planet. I am deeply, truly, madly in love with my husband but, unlike that silly 16-year old, I know that there is more to life than JUST romantic love. I so wish I had known that then...
ReplyDeleteAt 16 I was wearing mainly black, was studying my ass off while listening to rock music very loudly and went out with friends! To think that I had a life before knitting or crochet is (at the moment) unimaginable!
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