It’s October! Can you believe it? It’s starting to come down to the wire for me. It’s crazy to think that my year of vintage knitting will be coming to a close in less than three months. Which brings me to the business portion of this blogpost! Starting November 1st, I am commencing:
OPERATION: FINISH GARMENTS. (cue Eye of the Tiger)
The challenge, should I choose to accept it, is to finish all of the garments I have started and quietly tucked away when something has gone wrong, I have gotten distracted with another pattern, or I have come face-to-face with my recent mortal nemesis: sleeves.
The contenders:
- The Jan Sweater in Susan Crawford’s A Stitch in Time
- “Doubly Lovely,” a modified classic 1939 blouse
- “Casablanca,” a 1930’s cardigan
- “La Vie En Rose et Lemon,” a modified 1930’s blouse
The goal is to get them ALL done within the month and to start/finish my final piece in December. But, as many of you know, November also marks the beginning of the Knitting-that-must-not-be-named….Christmas knitting. I hope that everything will be finished promptly and I will keep you posted!
Now, onto the fun part of this post.
This month has been incredibly exciting for me because I got to meet two women in the yarn world that I have always dreamed of meeting. Both of these ladies are so inspiring to me, and while meeting them both I was barely able to talk. These lovely ladies are Cirilia Rose and Clara Parkes.
Cirilia has inspired me for years because of how early in her life she got into the yarn/knitting world and made a name for herself. I love her unique knitting style and color choices! She came to Stash, the yarn shop I work at, and let me tell you, it was the most amazing day I have ever worked in my life.
Cirilia and I also pretended to be cats.
This is what dreams are made of.
And then there is Clara Parkes. In my opinion, she is one of the major living Knitting Goddesses. She came to Portland, OR for a book reading and signing, and when I first saw her, I had to do everything in my power not to cry with happiness. Her books and accomplishments in the knitting and yarn world speak for themselves. When it was my turn to approach her, I took a deep breath and readied myself for the well-rehearsed speech I was going to give her. “I am going to make an impression on her!,” I thought, “I am going to flatter her while also impressing her with my eloquent words!”
……
Here’s how it actually went. I got up there and felt my whole face go red. I was clutching my Marlene Dietrich books with all my might after I awkwardly slid her the book for her sign. I mumbled something like: “Umm, I uhh really appreciate all that you’ve done in the knitting world and umm I look up to you and you’re great and umm such an inspiration to me…” She was so sweet and helped by making a little friendly conversation, and I think I mustered out a few more awkward sentences as I stared at her awe-struck. Though I made a slight fool of myself, it was an experience I won’t soon forget. ❤
My beautiful coworkers, Clara, and me!
Hope you all are enjoying the fabulous autumn weather!
xoxo
Sydney
The Ivory Needles 