Boston Diary - Day 2

Hi,



Woke early, so without disturbing Jon I left the hotel and legged it round Boston Common for 3/4 hour ending up in Starbucks for a peppermint tea. Had to fight with the lace knitting from yesterday and lost ended up in the frog pond but now - 8 hours later - back to where I was before I hit my knitting wall. Hey ho. Anyway after a rocky start to the day, Jon and I got our act together and went back to Flat Black, a wonderful coffee shop near the harbour in Milk street where we enjoyed another excellent coffee before we set off for a day in the museums. We had been primed for heavy rain but after speaking the lady in Windsor Button (popped in for a quickie) we changed our minds. She promised the rain would not arrived in Boston until 3.00 pm so we decided against the Art galleries and hit Harvard instead.



What a revelation Harvard is. It is beautiful and rich. Everything is white if you know what I mean. Neat, tidy, clean and symmetrical. The buildings are spotless and well maintained and it is quite stunning. Like yesterday we followed a walk that took us through the university and back down over bridges and the Harvard Business School. Amazing. We had a fabulous lunch in a veggie place that was rough and ready but very good food.



I splashed out and bought a new Swatch Watch called Rebel. At 53 I'm delighted that I'm still drawn to purple and even more thrilled that the style is called Rebel. Sad but true. Anyway we then caught the T back to Park and then Government Hall where we stood in awe at the Holocaust Memorial. The finest I have ever seen. I felt utterly humbled.



Anyway we are now shattered after all the walking and so taking a rest for the evening. Fab day though and still waiting for the rain!!

Bye for now.

Boston

Hi,

I know, I know, still no photo of the sequin square. It will have to wait as events have overtaken me. Here I am sitting in downtown Boston having seriously broken my vow of not buying any yarn whilst away. OMG The Windsor Button is THE most fantastic shop. The guys in there are delightful and helped in every way possible including finding me the Highlighter Tape that not only does the Yarn Harlot love but is impossible to find in UK. Still, I have some in my hot sweaty hand. Anyway back to the start. Travelling here was seamless and uneventful in fact really quite a pleasure. I switch off and dozed on the flight and suddenly we had arrived at Logan Airport, Boston. Taxi to hotel and then straight out for dinner. The hotel room is basic, very very basic but we don't intend to be in it for long except to shower and sleep. So it will do. First stop this morning was Starbucks for breakfast - thank god for the Multi grain bagel and then off to the Freedom Trail. I might add here that the sun was so hot today that I sweltered even without my vest on!!!! The trail took us around all the hugely significant historical sights from the Boston Tea Party thing to the first City Hall and for the most part it was interesting. Of course the best bit was straying from the trail and going to the Windsor Button where I bought some exquisite yarn. Some sparkly Dream in Colour (black with silver sparkles) and some Madeline Tosh Lace (Magenta) and two wee skeins of Elite Merino in the shade green to knit the Prairie Rose shawl. The second we stooped for coffee I was knitting, same with lunch. I feel my holiday has officially started. Anyway we completed the trail and ended up at the harbour where we sat for a while, then made our way back to the hotel reluctant to go indoors as we know the weather tomorrow is rain. Still an excellent introduction to Boston. Plus, I popped back to the WB and bought some stitch markers and some more Addi lace needles - as if I don't have enough!!

Anyway huge thanks to Janie B for recommending the shop and for my Guilty Knitter friend Judie for saying I'd love Boston. She is right.

Catch up soon.

Jane

Whoops!

Hi,

When I last posted about the .......... (insert your own swear word) sequin square it seems I completely overlooked the fact that a few days later I am off on holiday for a week to Boston in the States. No reason why you should care much however, firstly this lead to the camera being packed early - I'm not in charge of camera packing - hence no picture! Secondly what am I going to knit on the plane and the week away? Anyone know this one? So I think, lovely I can knit with the exquisite green silk yarn from Fyberspates and make another shawl like the Prairie Rose Shawl. All was going well until my good knitting Buddie pointed out that this yarn was not doing to give me a lovely cosy shawl like my other one (see Jane13 Ravelry page). She is absolutely right and consequently this lead to further panic and a dash to Loop my favourite London Knitting Store to buy some cashmere yarn. But who knew they no longer open on Mondays!!! The disappointment was huge especially as half the purpose of all this knitting stuff stops me thinking about the journey to Boston which is not my favourite part.

So what am I going to do on the plane? I'm still not sure, I am taking some bright pink Madeline Tosh Yarn but when I get an idea fixed in my mind it is very hard to budge it so hey ho I'm guessing my first stop in Boston will be the highly recommended Windsor Button to seek that elusive Cashmere yarn.

Catch up soon

Jane

Fish and other News!

This is a short post until I have got round to taking a photo of the ... square.

As you know I am a huge fan of Debbie Abraham's and her skills as a designer of blankets but on some rare occasions I have been known to mutter her name with a few added swear words. Those of you who know me will know that I don't hold back when it comes to externalising my feelings!!!! So during the week when I started a new square I was excited to be doing the sequined one. Then on reading the pattern I discover there are 153 sequins per square. Yes 153 sequins!! Anyway they were duly threaded onto the cotton glace (colour Tickle - what a name) and over a couple of evenings I completed the square. It is stunning. So worth the effort. This is turning into the very best blanket ever.

There is another important event going on for me at the moment. Many years ago when my contemporaries were finishing school and going onto university I became very unwell and had a breakdown. Nothing that remarkable but the consequences of bowing out of the rat race for a while meant I missed many of the normal events that my peer group experienced. I was having a whole range of experiences that I'm not sure others would particularly want to have!! Psychiatric wards back in the late '70's were not that brilliant for a 19 year old and it was a very sad time for me and my family. Anyway I'll get to the point, yesterday I enrolled at university. This brings tears to my eyes. Yes I have professional qualifications - I caught up a bit later in life - and I am studying a new model of psychotherapy rather than getting a degree in Ancient Roman History or some other grand subject but none the less I have experienced the enrolment process and felt so welcome. I thought to myself "better late than never"!!! My 50's are proving to be an exciting time of life.

The course is part time, 26 Thursday's a year, and I am doing it for myself, I'm pleased that I don't really need the qualification for work, so I am under no external pressures. I feel very lucky and am really looking forward to the course starting. I shall keep you informed and hope I keep up this positive frame of mind when I'm knee deep in reading and assignments!!

Jane

Fish Blanket

So, here are some photos of the first strip of the Fish Blanket completed. Before you say it, yes I agree, the photo trying to capture the whole strip is pretty pathetic, even for an amateur which is why I did the close ups!! When I browse others blogs I am constantly in awe of how they photograph detailed knitting project that are the size of a small house whereas I can't seem to get a decent shot of my first blanket strip!!! Hey ho, hopefully you get the idea.

I have now progressed to the second strip having completed this months Mystery Blanket square and I am still delighted with each new square. Even when they are repeats.

A true joy.

Jane

Knitter in Distress

When the phone rings very early on a Monday morning there are a number of thoughts that can go through my head. One is " that's it, the cancer (or heart failure) has finally beaten my mother and she died in the night" another is " daughter has had a accident and is lying in hospital in Sardinia" (just to clarify she is on holiday there at the moment) one more thought is " husband has forgotten to tell me something before leaving for work 10 minutes ago". You'll notice that as these thought bombard my brain they are getting less and less important but non the less in the 5-10 seconds it takes me to reach the phone not once did I think this is a friend in a Knitting Crisis. But it was. This friend was in a real frenzy regarding the very serious matter of knitting a garment that when tried on (knitting a top down garment allows for this joy) was not just large but actually resembled a tent - her words not mine!!! So with blue light flashing I of course respond with equal seriousness and we arrange to meet later to discuss the way forward.

I can't go into the details of this trauma but suffice to say that my poor knitting friend is going to have to 'frog' a huge amount of knitting and what's more it is 2 ply lace weight yarn. Need I say anymore!!! The good news is that she is, for the most part, a process knitter and now that my heart has returned to normal I resolve to remember that when the phone rings either early or late I shall remind myself that the most likely reason is a Knitter in Distress.

Jane