Knit Sisters

Once upon a time, lo these many years ago, I played the flute in the high school marching band.  (And I was pretty good, too, although that’s another story.)  When marching in parades, we did this complicated maneuver to turn corners that we called, appropriately enough, “cornering.”  It involved stopping, backing up in separate columns (are they ranks or files?  I think files…), marching in place, marching forward in those columns at certain times, making the turn, marching in place, and then marching forward in columns again at specified times.  All this while continuing to play.  Astute watchers could always tell the freshmen from the upperclassmen because we stopped playing during cornering and just faked it.  It was quite complex, but a beautiful thing to behold when done correctly.  Much, much prettier than simply “gating” around the corner.

Fast forward to present-day:  I have cornered on Rumpelstiltskin!  Not quite as complex as that marching band manuever, but still fairly pretty.

You realize, of course, that this is just the first corner.  I have three more to go.

I have faith that the little bit of pouchiness at the inner corner will resolve itself with ruthless blocking.

I have also begun to pack!  (Really, the line “We have not yet begun to pack!” would be so much funnier there, but I just couldn’t fit it in.  Sorry.)

 

Here you see my suitcase.  Isn’t that fascinating? 

Here’s my theory of clothes-buying: 

1.  Buy the separates you like in a limited palette, and then everything will go with everything else.  No need to buy “outfits.”  So when you pack, you just pitch in the newest and best-looking clothes in the safe and secure knowledge that when you arrive, you can start pulling together gorgeous (well, OK, at least presentable) outfits at a moment’s notice.

2.  Buy or make a few really beautiful and eye-catching (dare I say signature?) pieces that will coordinate with most of your basics (see above).  This trip that piece would be the Handsome Triangle shawl.

Of course, like all theories, this one at times works best in theory rather than reality.  But, “Reach for the stars!” I always say.

In a related but so much more important vein, I have also begun to pack my knitting for the trip.  To that end, I had to wind off more of the laceweight mohair for Rumpel.

Here you see my swift and ballwinder, one of the best fiber-related investments I have made.  I believe that the possession of these two tools really separates the women from the girls, so to speak.  (Or I suppose you could look at it as separating the still sane from the obsessed, but that would just be uncharitable.)

Anyway, winding those balls was the first step down a travel-knitting road that will end in California.  I guess you could say that I’ve turned the corner.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 3:08 pm and is filed under Rumpelstiltskin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.