Hello Knitty

One of my Mom’s favorite stories about me is from when I was a little girl. My Grandma Brockway had a subscription to Time magazine, and whenever we would visit her house I would make a beeline for them. This was before I started elementary school, and while I was staring to learn how to read, the text was obviously way above my skill level. So I was content to look at the pictures, pointing out Ronald Regan, Jesse Jackson, and other well-known figures in politics and current events.

After I started school my Mom would read to me every morning while I was eating breakfast. We would take turns choosing books since we had very different tastes. She would choose Little House on the Prairie, and as soon as that was finished I would choose a book about the Lincoln assassination.

My boyfriend and I often laugh at how predictable I am. I might be 30 now instead of 3, and I may not like Care Bears any longer, but this is the book on my night stand. It’s the first in a quadrilogy of awesome I’m going to be reading. A book each about the Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy assassinations.

So what does this have to do with my knitting?

I was flipping through a stitch dictionary the other night, and came across the King Charles Brocade stitch, which included a description of how the stitch got its name.

King Charles I was wearing a waistcoat when he died. It was made out of silk, with a light blue background and a dark blue diamond pattern that was later named after him. The waistcoat is famously stained with blood because, um, Charles had a wee misadventure with an ax. When I read that there was a stitch named after the execution garments of a king you’d better believe that my next thought was MUST. KNIT. NOW.

Since Charlie lost his head I thought it was only fitting that I knit a cowl. Something to help keep my neck safe from any errant axes. And since we don’t want this to get too morbid, I chose a nice bright yellow yarn. It’s a happy beheading.

Before moving to Houston I wondered how my knitting would change in a hot climate. I imagined a sad life, giving up my beloved wool for cooler, more summer-appropriate fibers like cotton and bamboo. Instead, I wore woolen handknits three times last week even though Houston is nearing 40 days this summer with temperatures at or above 100.

Handknits in 100+ degree temps? Sounds…sweaty. This was the forecast for the last weekend in August. It actually got hotter than that.

This town is SRS BSNS about their air conditioning. On multiple occasions I’ve lamented my lack of fingerless mitts while at work because my fingers are nearing frostbite levels. I work out of two offices, one on the lowest level of the museum, which is always cold, and one on the top floor, which is like spending my day in a walk-in freezer.

I need hats. I need armwarmers and cowls and worsted weight shawls to help keep me warm. This? Is a problem I can get behind.

Because obviously I don’t have enough.

This is just a quick post to say thank you to all of you who purchased Taos this week or left me comments on the blog/Ravelry/Twitter, letting me know how much you liked it.

Another exciting thing happened this week – the 5000th project of Multnomah was added to Ravelry! Two years, 5000 projects. So amazing, so unexpected.

Thank you for all of your support. It means the world to me.