Knitting

Ah, Easter season. The moon is full and work has been crazy.

Someone recently asked Ms. Packratty about knitting in Rome. And knitting in general.

Yes, Ms. Packratty did knit in Rome and got a lot of curious glances for it. Apparently knitting in Italy is only for nonnas or grandmothers and although Ms. Packratty is indeed old enough to be a grandmother (without any teen motherhood involved), she has been told she does not look it. So what would happen if Ms. Packratty started to knit while in line or waiting for a bus or whatever would be a lot of very open looking and the occasional bit of yarn petting and questioning, which was always interesting given that Ms. Packratty knew no Italian knitting words at all.
Ms. Packratty took these socks (Zauberball, gift from her mother) and finished the second foot and toe (except for Kitchenering the toe) on the plane over. She only tackled the Kitchenering after she was at the tiny apartment, had a good night's sleep and a fortifying glass of wine.









While she was there, she started a scarf from a lovely kit gifted to her a couple of years ago by Ms. T which had been waiting for the proper time to wade into – so something quick, simple and knitted with luscious yarns was definitely the proper time. The picture makes it less rosy than it really is, but it is yummy and rosy like the last gasp of a truly spectacular winter sunset.


Ms. Packratty knitted it on the Metro, on the Piazza outside the Pantheon, outside St. Cecelia in Trastevere, at the bus stop, in her little rented apartment. It was not done when she left Rome, but was too big to work on the plane, so Ms. Packratty cast on this sock while on the Leonardo Express train to the airport.







Yes, the train ride was smooth enough to cast on and join sock yarn on 00 dp needles, which is impressive and Ms. Packratty got a bit done on the train, in the waiting area from Hell (Note to airport designers – most planes carry close to 200 people these days and they almost always fly packed like sardines. Those same passengers are forced to come to the airport 2-3 hours before their flights, so supplying 75 seats at the gate area, no matter how tastefully designed, is NOT sufficient.) and a little bit on the plane, Unfortunately, the very chubby little man next to me kept doing things that put his elbows into Ms. Packratty’s knitting zone of comfort, (Ms. Packratty herself is not slim, but she is at least aware of the space she takes up and makes all possible effort not to intrude into the space of others. Her seatmate? Not so much.) so she did not get much done on the plane and since she came back, she was occupied finishing off the last of that scarf and starting the 10 Stitch Blanket in a periwinkle wool/acrylic blend for a co-worker whose spouse is expecting their first child.

I’m working it in a solid because I couldn’t find a blue dominant (yes, they know it’s a boy) that I liked that was a> suitable for a baby blanket and b> wasn’t either ugly, all synthetic or way too expensive to be a baby blanket. Love my coworkers, but I am not spending $100 on the yarn for a baby blanket. Maybe when Miss Adorable or her Brother Darling make me a great aunt, but not before then.

So she has 4 UFOs UnFinishedObjects) – a shawls whose edging she cannot for the life of her figure out how to knit on and is thinking of knitting separately and attaching later; a scarf for a coworker which is nine-tenths done but boring; the socks mentioned above; and the baby blanket. That’s a generous plenty, especially with the black cardigan sitting in a drawer in all its separate pieces waiting for sewing up inspiration to strike.

Plus there are other non-fiber related projects that want attention. Lots of attention, like getting the garden planted, washing Charlie, and giving away the last bits of cat related stuff. Ms. Packratty has decided that Charlie is going to be an only child for the foreseeable future.