We’ll Go Down in Hist-o-ry
Check out Dave Ritz’s sweater below, in a wonderful shade of royal purple for the child of a friend of his. I don’t know how he does this, with 2 salons (one on each coast) to run! He’s amazing, don’t you agree?
I’m amazed, and thrilled, by what else is happening today – Barack Obama’s inauguration. Back in the 60′s, when I raised my head out of my little western Pennsylvania hometown and got acquainted with life elsewhere, just when horrible and wonderful things were happening in this country – assassinations that still make me cry for what might have been, civil rights demonstrations that radicalized and alienated one of my best friends but also made today possible, and women’s lib that opened my life to possibilities beyond a job at Monkey Wards and hoping to get pregnant – this day wasn’t even contemplated, wasn’t even dreamed about, and yet here it is.
Aside from it’s being an historic occasion for the fact that he’s African-American, it’s also a relief – and another reason to celebrate – that he’s really smart and well-educated. After the last 8 years of having to listen to someone who probably hasn’t ever read anything more challenging than Batman comic books (if that), it will be most welcome to hear someone who can string more than three words together coherently and who talks to us as if we have brains and judgment and can understand a cogent argument for making a certain decision. Not “I’m the decider” with its implication that we can like it or lump it.
Okay, done with politics – I usually keep this space pretty bland, and I think that’s appropriate, but today is special and I wanted to take note. On with what you’re really interested in:
Here is a sweet baby blanket in Encore Colors that Ana Dorta finished off with tassels at each corner:
And this week’s Belle of the Blog is Billie Beadle – isn’t alliteration fun? – who made this bobbled beauty of a sweater in spite of the directions. Isn’t it irritating when there are horribly wrong instructions in a knitting book? (Sorry, I don’t know the name of the book she used exactly and I don’t want to mention it and possibly impugn another book that’s perfectly okay.) Why do they think we buy these books, to look at the pretty pictures? Why don’t they understand that correct instructions are what we need? I can understand (a little) about magazines – they come out frequently and under deadline and many different designers are used and printing errors happen, etc. But books? Really, if it can’t be proofed, then don’t print it. Anyway – my goodness, I’m on a soapbox today – here’s Billie in her wonderful sweater, made from Kathmandu Aran: 
And since it’s between yarn seasons and we haven’t begun getting in spring yarns, we were excited by a small shipment of this exquisite yarn called Consonance. 
It’s from Jade Sapphire and is a beautiful fingering-weight blend of cashmere and silk. That radiance you see is built right in so just imagine the lovely lace you can make with it.
That’s all the photos I have this week – it was busy at the store last week despite the deep freeze (thank you all!) so we never had time to take many pictures. I can’t complain about that!
See you soon…
Trish
