Knit PH at Perk: January 13, 2009

Brrrrrr! 12° on a Saturday morning, more coffee please. I stopped into Prospect Perk after running my errands and sat next to Matt and Stacey. Matt asked if I've ever made a baklava. Stacey corrected him "No Matt, you mean Balaclava, not that Greek filo pastry." Matt broke out the iPhone and Wiki-ed "Hmm, Crimean War... Battle of Balaclava, you're right." I added that the raglan is another Crimean War invention attributed to Commander FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan. The ingenuity of the mitered shoulder made dressing easier for Lord Raglan after literally losing his right arm at Waterloo. Stacey joked "So did Commander Tube-Sock lose a foot? Who buys those stupid things anyway?" I pulled the cuff of my pants lower to my shoe — 4 pairs to a pack— how can you go wrong? "The Charge of the Light Brigade" — a horribly planned war, but a great movie.



We had a full house at Prospect Perk this past Tuesday evening : regulars + guests - cancellations - a few no shows + walk-ins = a total of 12 people. Although the news warned of "Storm 2009" it was a mild 38°. Tomo and I arranged the tables and chairs into one sitting area and the rest of our group poured in. Kudos to Marci, her work is in a juried craft exhibit at Phoenix Gallery, she showed us the catalog. Lisa showed off the new knitting bag that Jose gave her for Christmas. You can park a car in this thing! Sara was working on something sweater-ish made from yarn that she spun herself. She's in good company since have a few spinners in Knit PH — Lisa G., Tomo, Eliza B., Alexandra to name a few. And the advise flowed freely. Apparently it's more difficult to spin a consistent medium-weight yarn.



I sat next to Alysia to show her my version of the invisible rib cast-on when I heard a little thumb on the window behind me. A little girl with glasses pressed her face against the window, she waved and pointed at the group. I shrugged my shoulders and waved her to come in. The door flew open, she ran in with her mother following behind her saying "Don't bother them!" Lisa said it was OK, so she skipped around the group, braids bouncing, asking each of us what we were making. Mittens, sweaters, hats, scarves , socks — she was so excited. Lisa told her we meet here Perk every second Tuesday evening if she wanted to sit with us. Her mother reminded her that she's supposed to be studying for an exam, and as they left she said wants to knit a coat.

The excitement of a child — it's like a fresh coat of paint in a well-worn room. Knit PH might have it's youngest member yet. I eventually settled in the corner table next to Tracey as more people arrived to knit. She's nearing the end of her scarf, I'm still relsolving pattern issues on another hooded scarf.