Watching the World Go By

There are lots of days when I all I want to do is sit on a post, feel the breeze ruffling my hair, listen to birds chirping and generally watch the world go by. Then a friend or two might walk up and join me.

Those days are extremely few and far between now but I appreciate them when they come along, especially when they are unexpected.

On this particular occasion I had been driving around a neighborhood close by, looking at homes for sale. Karl and I are entertaining thoughts of moving into a bigger home and there was one in a neighborhood near these trails and a preserve.

It was dusk. Karl was doing a "walk-by". I discreetly parked near the trail entrance to wait for him. Karalyn was asleep in the back seat. The day had been long, and we had decided at the last minute to look at the house. I was glad to sit in my car and do nothing even for a few moments.

That's when I noticed the cat on the post. He was just sitting there, idle, the way cats are. He was so relaxed even as birds chirped in the pond and flew by him. Then another cat, the calico, wandered along the trail. He looked up at the tabby as if to say, "Yo dude," then settled comfortably at the base of the post.

When I was 20 my life was similar. Back then I dreamily thought of all that the future held and what I would be doing by the time I was 40. Little did I know that at 40, I would dreamily and nostagically be remembering the simplicity and easiness of being 20.

My thoughts for the day. Have a good one.

The Hoodie - Hot or Not?

Project Specifics

Pattern: Santa Cruz Hoodie from Knit2Together, size 1 year
Yarn: Plymouth Dreambaby DK ), 50% acrylic microfiber and 50% nylon. 4 skeins in #127 (dark green), 2 skeins in #125 (sage). Yarn was double-stranded.
Gauge: 3 sts/in.
Needles: #10 and #11 Lantern Moon circulars.
Comments: A super easy pattern. I love raglans because they are easy to knit either in pieces or top down. I originally wanted to convert this to a top down. But using 2 colors and double-stranding the yarn changed my mind - too messy. I also decided not to make the pockets. What kid uses pockets??

I'm not sure what to make of the hood. Hoods seemed to come back into fashion a couple of years ago but to me they're rather a bother. Most of the time they are ornamental; I simply don't like wearing them on my head, especially if there are no ties. I debated not knitting the hood for this sweater but the cuteness factor won in the end. My friend will appreciate it.

Hoods, though, just aren't my thang. If I make this for Karalyn, who also has a hoodie phobia, I'll leave it out and make a roll neck instead.

What do you think? Would you knit a hooded sweater and actually use the hood?

My resolve to knit small things is competing with the nagging urge to complete the finishing of some sweaters. Wiggles and Waves comes to mind. I've also got a cardigan that I've never shown you because I've been too embarassed with my (lack of) finishing skills. The seaming needs to be frogged and redone. You'll see what I mean if I can bring myself to take a picture of it.

In other life news...my rose garden has exploded. Two years ago Karl and I planted three climbing rose bushes in what was then a very bare planter box. Karl even built a trellis. That spring the bushes spread like weeds because we had so much rain and ever since then we've had a lush, full rose bush trellis. Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!