Topography by: Sharon Olds (1942- )

After we flew across the country we

got into bed, laid our bodies

delicately together, like maps laid

face to face, East to West, my

San Francisco against your New York, your

Fire Island against my Sonoma, my

New Orleans deep in your Texas, your Idaho

bright on my Great Lakes, my Kansas

burning against your Kansas your Kansas 

burning against my Kansas, your Eastern

Standard Time pressing into my

Pacific Time, my Mountain Time

beating against your Central Time, your

sun rising swiftly from the right my

sun rising swiftly from the left your

moon rising slowly from the left my

moon rising slowly from the right until

all four bodies of the sky

burn above us, sealing us together,

all our cities twin cities,

all our state united, one

nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all


Love!

Sharing the Awesomeness!

So tonight Steve and I are going to "Symphony on the Rocks;" it's a summer-long event series hosted by Red Rocks Amphitheater and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
Tonight: Sarah McLachlan and the Symphony! YES YES YES!
The best part? 15th row reserved seats!
Oh wait, that's not the best part; the BEST part?
THE TICKETS WERE FREE!!! That's right, free.
Our landlord was trying to get rid of them because she's not able to go tonight and Steve just happened to be there when she was on the phone... Thank you for THAT convenient timing! Obviously, greatly looking forward to that!
Baking super special brownies (not potty) as a thank you: triple death-by-chocolate Ghiradelli mix with chopped pecans, fresh raspberries and an orange. I'm curious to see how they turn out. Of course, as brownies do, they smell amazing in the oven!

Shooting another knitty update: gift giving in t-minus 13 days so I gotta hustle!
Still working the "chart A" portion, the notes say that "chart B" will take nearly half the appropriated yarn amount so I've made the pattern just slightly bigger which works into my fourth ball of yarn of eight total so I think I'll be well set for a decent sized end product.

Getting anxious to get into the second portion of the piece, I'm excited to see how the lace will begin working out (yes, the pattern comes with photos of the worked piece but it's still not as exciting as seeing it working out from your own hands)!

 And of course I'm wicked excited to get it completed to test my blocking (for the first time) skills and see the REAL end product!

Hoping it turns out just as gorgeously as I still imagine that it will.

Have many, many more knitty project ideas floating around in my head too: want to get back to the sweater, obvious goal is to get that done before the end of the summer so that I can sport it through the seasons at Sterling; have several scrap ideas working--I have a pattern for fingerless glovelets that I think I'll easily be able to work at least 2 sets with some yarn pairings I have sitting in the massive basket and Steve came up with a righteous idea a while back to make "Scrats" (scrap-hats) so I was chewing on that idea yesterday and know that they'll work up super quick and will inevitably be quite funky but thought to add yet another little edge of unexpected/funk, to throw in a cable here and there just to see how they play with the different yarns and colors and shapes/folds that will result from unplanned miscellaneous cables strewn about.
The final bit of awesomeness that I want to share is the Florida trip I have planned; seven days with my loverly mom, the beaches of Florida (which will be necessary considering the trip is in the dead of Florida hell-fire heat season), family, and a birthday celebration! I can't WAIT!
Love!

Knitty update:

So I'm still working on a little something for a wonderful someone; here's the progression so far:

I'm stressing though, I don't feel like it's NEARLY large enough to become just what I had intended; do I need to double my yardage to get even close? I did some research and what I found was the opposite of encouraging! I chose this particular material for it's light weight and not-gaudy shimmer but have learned that as far as blocking (enlargement) goes, it won't grow much. I may be a self-proclaimed experienced knitter but I find more and more that I'm a LOT less experienced than I think I am. Still learning the nature and personality of the vast array of fiber options out there and unfortunately, I am through and through the girl who learns the hard way--I really hate that!

So I'm left with this debate; do I just suck it up and buy another pack of yarn to double my original amount and therefore (surprise, surprise) practically rewrite the original pattern to double it's size? Or do I just finish it with what I've got, still do the blocking as necessary and just hope for the best? Maybe it won't be what I had hoped for but it'll still make for a great alternative piece!

And besides, I can always just make another one using the other pattern I purchased specifically with her in mind but this time, I'll know better about what type of yarn to buy for a more realistic end result!

Bottom line, I'm still loving this design though; I'm finding that even though the piece is worked on size 4 needles (which normally would KILL my arthritis), it's working up quickly and pain-free. Encourages me to continue working wraps, shawls, and the like; they're nothing like the self-imposed torture of knitting socks! But I won't get into that, to each their own right?!

Love!