I signed up for Becky’s Bottom’s Up Bucket Hat knitalong awhile ago. (Have any of you noticed that when ever Becky is referred to on a blog, she is never just “Becky”, she’s always “the incredibly talented Becky”? It’s true.) I really want to do it (the knit along), but I need yarn help. I made one, if you recall, out of Cotton Classic, but I totally changed the pattern. Now I want something stiffer. Any suggestions? (And Becky, if you happen to read this, can I mess with the pattern again and still count it for the knit along? I love what diagonal ribs do to a bucket hat).

As far as mom’s sweater goes, I didn’t make much progress yesterday. Cotton is hard on the hands. My left hand in particular gets really sore. Abigail was throwing up yesterday morning, so she required some extra care, and I’m trying to “finish” (train) my very difficult dog such that he can be fully integrated into the house.

He was loose in the house all day yesterday, and he only ate about 20 small toys. That being said, he still did remarkably well for himself. I didn’t have much knitting time, can you tell?

Last night, Nate brought home the new issue of Vogue for me. He sat down and we both looked through it together. I’m not sure what my overall opinion is yet, but I do have an opinion about parts of it, and many other knitting magazines for that matter. WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH ALL THESE BREAST BARING PATTERNS? Do people actually wear these things? I’m having a hard time picturing them looking right with shirts underneath, and they certainly aren’t modeled that way…… I don’t get it. I love lace knitting, but a lace pattern across the chest that is going to expose more than it should is just tacky. You can’t wear it to work, I can’t imagine wearing it walking down the street, you don’t wear a big, long sleeved sweater in nightclubs. Where do people wear them? It’s ridiculous. To me it seems like a waste of space in a magazine. If I’m missing something then please, fill me in.

Deep breath.

OK, so I’m knitting last night on mom’s sweater

and Nate comes over, picks up Abigail’s scarf, and starts knitting himself. (He’s done this a time or two). It is a truly interesting feeling knitting along with the husband. He has turned Abby’s scarf into a bit of a sampler in that there’s a little bit of garter stitch, a little bit of stockinette, then back to garter stitch with no apparent pattern. It occurred to me last night that I should probably go and get a skein or two of a nice yarn, establish a simple check pattern or something, and hand it over to him. When I asked him if he’d be receptive, he make a strange face and said that he would, however don’t expect him to stick with the pattern. Now, he doesn’t knit often, and I really don’t expect that he will ever take it seriously himself, but it is super cute to see him do it. He enjoys the simple, repetitive movements. He agrees that it is relaxing, and he once said that he can see how addicting it can be. So there we were, together on the couch, quietly knitting. Cute, cute.