Run With the Big Dogs or Stay On the Porch

It seems like just yesterday I was waiting for the azaleas to bloom, and here it is already the end of August. Since then I cried my way through a high school graduation, tucked another semester of classes into my own folder, packed a kid off to college, and took a short vacation in sunny Altoona. Now I have started another semester of classes (hopefully the last) and am planning an Eagle Scout ceremony.

In between I have managed to keep a few things on my needles:

I had a hankerin' to work with this yarn from my stash, a kitten-soft merino/cashmere blend I bought in the Stitches East market 3 years ago. It is another crop circle, this time a Christine Duchrow doily. This particular circle stands on its head. Instead of starting with a few manageable stitches in the center, on July 4th I provisionally cast on 612 stitches for the outside edge. I didn't want to. I searched and searched for a different pattern, but every time I looked at the skeins of green I saw the pine trees around the edge. It reminded me of a particular stand of pines in perfect rows somewhere along the drive to Hartman Creek.

You know that "be careful not to twist" warning they always give when joining cast-on stitches for circular knitting? Be careful not to twist the first row of knitting, too. After about 2427 stitches, I realized there was nothing for it but to start over.

It is going much better now.

And here are those azaleas from a few months ago, the most beautiful in Virginia.