Twinknit

Wow. That’s all I can say to the incredible response to my last post. Thank you all for your suggestions and advice. I decided to plug along and see if I liked the colors any better and if the southwestern feel of the mitten started to grow on me. And, well, it has. I’m still not sure it’s necessarily my taste, but now that I’ve gotten to the repeat of the brown pattern (featured at the wrist), the whole thing looks a lot more cohesive. But now I’ve got a second problem. Just as I got out of the bulk of the colorwork, I decided to try the mitten on and see how it fit. I was surprised to find that it’s looking a little long.

(sorry for the nighttime photos)

I still have four rows before I even begin the finger decreases (if you look at the wrist pattern, I still have from the first blue and brown row at the top to the first orange rown below it… if that makes sense. I can’t “draw” on my photos unfortunately — no photoshop chez twinknit). Should I follow the pattern as written and trust it, or rewrite it to start the decreases early (this would disrupt some of the colorwork, so I’d have to rechart)? Keep in mind I’m not the most patient knitter (although I’m getting better) and the idea of knitting it, finding it too long, frogging it and reknitting it is surely a recipe for an unfinished mitten (or at least a mitten without a mate).

And, for good measure, a picture of the back with the colors in all their glory:

Wow. My colorwork looks much more even in these photos than it does in real life!

As for the Nostaliga mentioned in the title — I spent most of today in Boone, North Carolina with my friend Julie. We got up early and drove from Jonesborough, TN to Boone (where I got to sit in a coffee shop for a few hours and work, which might be my favorite thing to do in the world). The morning light was so beautiful, I had to snap a few pictures through the windshield. Don’t worry, I wasn’t driving.

The liscense plate on the truck in this picture read “Moon Pi”. To quote Bob Wills, “That’s what I like about the south!”

When I got home this evening, I poured myself an Augustinerbräu Edelstoff,** cranked the tunes, and packed a few boxes. I leave the mountains in two weeks. To prevent myself from thinking too hard about this, I decided to have a little musical-nostalgia-fest. On the “stereo” (i.e. my computer) tonight? A whole crapload of Weezer, Sebadoh (because ‘Bubble & Scrape‘ is seriously the thing getting me through these last few days), and (because I have a sense of humor) Liz Phair. Something about this mix of music made me laugh, rock out, happy, and nostalgic all at once. Times like tonight are the moments I can really revell in the power of music to transform and transport. Doesn’t music rock?
** If it hasn’t been mentioned before, I’ll say now that I’m a big fan of beer. When I say that, I don’t mean “Dude! Beer is RAD!” I mean that I am a self-declared, unashamed Beer Snob. I know a lot about it. I’ve had a lot of it (and I don’t mean all in one sitting). And there is nothing that makes my evening more than a good beer (except maybe for a good glass of bourbon. But then, you knew that already). Every time I go to Philly, I go to my favorite bar (where Spitey is the bartender and I used to tend occassionally) and mix myself up a case of good beer to bring back. I’m working my way through the ends of that now, just in time to head back north. If you like beer — not too sweet, not too hoppy, just plain delicious — then get your hands on the Edelstoff. It’s my favorite beer right now. Augustinerbräu also makes a mean Doppel-Bock, if you like a sweeter, darker beer (it’s called the Maximator). ‘Nuff dorking out about beer. If you’re still reading…