Winter Knitting Season

I am down to two weeks left in my Winter knitting season. Then two weeks of finishing and on to the Spring knitting season. I’m feeling some pressure. My time estimates have proven to be overly optimistic, so Belon took much longer than anticipated although it was completely worth the effort because it gave me needed coverage in a chilly room, it was completely comfortable to wear (no fussing required), and it looked fabulous!

Esperance Knitting

Esperance, as you have read, gave me some fits and starts. Once I figured out why I had gone wrong on the cast on, it was just a matter of getting the right count. That took three tries because I had insufficient moveable markers with me, and I had to keep recounting. Then it a round of placing my embellishments, another round establishing the pattern and I was off with my knitting.  I used my phone to figure out that knitting a single full round (504 sts) took 48 minutes. I timed it and it took exactly the same amount of time to do the identical second round. So. An hour and a half for every pair of rounds, which ends up giving me 4 rounds in depth of knitting. I need a total of 4 rounds (which is 4 rounds each side of the cast on) to get an inch and I’m shooting for 9 inches. I will need at least another 20 hours to get to the bind off on this version. I am working the L now and I can attest that this goes much faster when you are working fewer stitches.

Sneaking Knitting into the Queue

I need to make a chemo cap. I will make Chocco which is my favorite and goes fairly quickly. I’ve got the yarn selected and will cast on tonight. This is knit flat. I wonder if I can finish it by Tuesday? I feel I might need a quickie project right now so I can fully concentrate on Esperance which I am just going to be able to squeeze into my remaining days to the 16th of March.

Beverly Hills

I was knitting madly on Belon to get it done for a dinner we were attending in Los Angeles. For some reason, probably because the hotel address was on South Santa Monica Boulevard, I thought it was in Santa Monica. When I set out making a lunch reservation for Saturday I realized it was in Beverly Hills. I made my reservation based on what seemed like a comfortable spot to meet a friend for a leisurely lunch.

When Mitch had finished his meeting and I had knit up all the yarn I had with me, we checked out of the hotel and set off to find Maison Margiela which was about three blocks away. It was like a fashion refreshment. Cool silhouettes, nice colors, nothing terrifically over-the-top (there were a couple of things), and a nice sales person who told us they are opening a store in San Francisco. After discussing the way I wear my pin, and looking carefully through the merchandise we started to leave when he suggested we go into the store in the back which features about 40 designers–Mameg. It was like a lovely museum exhibit and I was so glad we went back to look at it. I wasn’t in the market to buy anything, but it was food for my soul.

We set off in the opposite direction to Rodeo Drive. If you need anything about your physical appearance attended to, this might be the perfect spot to be. SMBlvd was filled with salons of every variety and type. We did some window shopping, but Beverly Hills in not really my type of place. We looked in a few places, and then headed back to our lunch reservation. Il Forno Caldo was cosy, welcoming, and unfussy. They gave us a table tucked in a small back room and the three of us had a lovely 2.5 hour lunch. Then back to the hotel. Back to LAX. Back to SFO. Back home. Back to real life.