Sorry, I have knitted barely a stitch since arriving in Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon. This is an opportunity to spend time with my son – who has ordered a couple more pairs of socks. He wants a black and a brown pair. When I was in Maine, YardGoods Center had just received a new shipment of one-color sock yarn and one of them was in brown. So, of course, I bought it. My son wants his socks to be only about 4 inches in length from the ankle (heel?).

Bear’s Who Dey! Socks (2009)

The first pair of socks that I made for him were with a fun self-striping yarn that was in the colors (or nearly) of the Cincinnati Bengals. He said “don’t bother” to make him socks because he probably wouldn’t wear them. Well, I decided to make them anyway and gave them to him for Christmas last year. A few days later … well, maybe a week later … he texted me and said that he was “obsessed” with the socks and wondered if he could “order” more. Go figure! Obsessed? Ha! I’m just glad he liked them and it tickles me to make him more. He’s such a good kid … ever heard that once you have children your heart lives outside your body? Well, it’s true. I love them all more than life. Lucky me!

Years ago I attempted a provisional cast on for a knitting Olympics where you are challenged to try something you’ve not tried before, you cast on during the opening ceremony and finish, presumably, on closing night. I was planning to use this beautiful silvery gray yarn to make a lace shawl or scarf (I don’t remember exactly what it was but I still have the yarn and the pattern, of course!) Anyway, it was a particularly difficult period in my life (and it lasted for nearly ten years) and I couldn’t even get the cast on right. I gave up, needless to say, and claimed to have had an injury; I had fallen on my needles.

I’ve never attempted another knitting Olympics nor the provisional stitch until today. My middle daughter in Chicago seldom asks me for anything but she wants one of the “infinity scarves” or “infinity cowls” that are all the rage in Chi-town. Mom answers prayers in the simplest ways and gave her the log-in information for my Ravelry account where she found the cowl that she loves.

Last night I was at my knitting group/class at Yardgoods Center (in Waterville, ME ($6 for a knitting class and members of classes enjoy a 10% discount when at class!) I bought the most lovely shade of dark green yarn for a Frosting Scarf. So with my trusty pattern in one hand and a recent issue of Interweave Knits (one of my favorite knitting mags) in the other (no, really they were both sitting on the dining room table where I had the most room) I made my first stab at a provisional cast on using the crochet method.

First challenge is how to do a single crochet but that’s also in Interweave knits (there is always a section at the back to help the knitting challenged with a “sitchy”! I quickly put my crochet hook aside and used my fingers to make a single crochet chain with an old bit of left-over yarn and then with my beautiful new green Peruvia, picked up 38 stitches in the bumps on the back of the chain. Voila! I’m off and knitting!

Photos soon!