Commuting Report 6/27/08

I finished some pretty big projects at work this week. On my commute in this morning, life seemed pretty good.

• I worked on my Skye Tweed Ribbed Cardigan. This pattern is a story for another day. It's an adventure. Maybe choose your own adventure is a more appropriate explanation. We'll talk more on this later.
• Midway through my commute I got a hankerin' for some Ray LaMontagne, or as Hubby calls him, "Ray The Mountain." My ipod supplied the necessary fix.
• Pulling into North Station is always a transition for several reasons:
  
• We cross the bridge and it's official. We're in Boston. We're all definitely gonna have to go to work.
  
• Everyone starts packing up. Newspapers are put away, zippers are zipped, yarn disappears.
  
• Everyone gets a little antsy vying for a spot close to the door so they can escape the train first.
  
• You can hear the signal bell as we pull into the station.

• Once I step off the commuter rail onto the platform, my taste in music totally changes. I turn into a different person. I'm not knitting girl. I'm do-not-eff-with-me-no-I-won't-give-you-change-get-outta-my-way-don't
  -expect-me-to-hold-the-door-for-more-2-seconds gurl. Ray just won't cut it anymore. I switched to AC/DC.
• When I got to the bus I kept knitting and listening to AC/DC. I cannot even tell you how much it tickles me to knit on a stuffy/tweedy cardigan while listening to AC/DC.
• I decided this morning that if I were to do karaoke, I would choose "Back in Black." Yes, I'm let loose, from the noose, that's kept me hanging around. The jury is still out on whether I would sing it in a normal voice or in a Bon Scott/Jack Black type ROCKOUT voice.
  
• It is impossible for me to suppress the urge to squeal like a sorority gurl when I hear the first 3 bars of "You Shook Me All Night Long." (Chrisie is so rolling her eyes right now.) This is a totally unexpected byproduct of my college years. It's a completely visceral reaction. I will forever want to abandon my drink and run onto the dance floor. My first instinct is to search the crowd looking for my friends. I imagine I'll be 80 in a nursing home and I'll have the same reaction, putting down my Ensure and wheelin' my chair to middle of the rec room.
  
• When I was within one block of work I saw the best t-shirt: "Pickles are cucumbers soaked in evil." While I don't agree with the sentiment, I did find it hysterical and laughed right out loud.
  

After consultation with Hubby, he thinks Bon Scott/Jack Black is a must and he said he'd headbang in the front row. It's good to have groupies.

Rutabaga

One week. One bag.

Pattern: Rutabaga
Source: Knitscene Spring 2007 (also recently released as single pattern here.)
Materials: GGH Tara, cotton/microfiber blend
Amount: 3 skeins
Needles: US 5 & 9 Addi Turbos
Started: June 15, 2008
Finished: June 22, 2008

I've been eying this bag at Butterfly Yarns for a year now. I finally made it. Things I like about this bag:

1. The yarn. Not an obvious choice for this pattern. I think the pattern uses Cotton Fleece and I think most people would steer towards a mercerized cotton to make this type of bag. The thicker sproingy Tara is lovely though. I never in a million years would have picked it. Had Kim not took a chance on knitting a sample for the store I never would have knit this.
2. On the garter strap, the pattern has you slip the first stitch of each row. I always forget about the slip stitch edging. It's lovely and on something as simple as garter stitch, it's a mighty fine choice.
3. It's gray. :)