Snakes and Ladders

One sleeve left on the Snakes and Ladders gansey from Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel, I started this in October but I put aside the knitting to finish Anne's postage stamp quilt before she arrived. I seriously thought we were having another boy, and I intended this for Neil Adrian, not Anne Margaret. A happy surprise, though. The gansey is in Elann's Devon color 667, which they don't seem to have in stock at this time but I have plenty left over, a good ball and a half. I might have to get a ball in another color to make striped socks. What do you think, chocolate brown and lemon chiffon? Maybe Antique Blue or Dusty Plum with the brown? Anne will also get a pair of socks to match the gansey, probably plain stockinette.

Brown is my favorite color, I like so many (pale blues and greens, bright red...) but when it comes down to it, I'll have to pick a deep brown. So many shades and hues, pale and milky and rosy like baby's skin, dusty like a mongoose or scaly and variegated like the cobra. Woody and warm (I won't go into the bears now, that's another post), earthy and cool. But I'm a brunette and prejudice to it. If I were blond, I'd probably gravitate to yellow, or coppers if I were a redhead. Definitely more brown to come, such as the yarn in the mail as I write.

I've (minimally) organized my knitting log/record book, and it contains most knitting projects from 2003-2006. Records from 1995-2002 are shoddy, regrettably. I'll start new for this year since the book is bursting at the seams and I'm not happy with it anyway. I'll be in Philadelphia mid-May for sisters-in-law's graduation party, one is finishing an art school and the other a PhD in dance history - what amazing talents they have. Maybe I'll find a record book there, nothing at home besides chain stores or overpriced boutiques. The first weekend in May is the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, the whole family is going this year. I will have tons to share on that. The end of June will see me and the kids back in Michigan for a few weeks to be with my family, my husband will be working and saving up hours so we can drive to Montana next summer to be with his family. His dad has sent links to job openings in and near Helena as not-so-subtle hints that we might move closer. Even if I were back in Seattle monthly trips would be more feasible. Can you tell I'm getting wander-lust again? Though I never really liked this area to begin with, besides the Blue Ridge just to the west and the small towns like Waterford, Hamilton, Harper's Ferry, and Berryville.