MIA

I definitely didn’t plan to be gone so long but there’s been a lot of excitement ’round here lately, and blogging and even knitting haven’t exactly been front and center.

I got to spend four great days with my college roommate Ange (not Angie!) in Boston, a city that I have both loved and hated and from which I drove back out west faster and happier than I’d ever driven before. Nonetheless, it’s a fabulous city to visit and Angela is an even better friend to visit. Here are some highlights from the trip:

Me at the Massachusetts State House celebrating my recent arrival to the city.

Me with a comical pair of meatballs! I have been talking about these meatballs for the past couple years, and I don’t think anyone really believed me, so we went back to this great restaurant and I ordered them again and now I have photographic proof!

Ange and I at the Cape Cod National Seashore – do we look cold?? I know I do at least. She might be a little bit better than me at pretending to be comfortable for the camera, but it was SO cold. I have a thing for the beach in the winter though, so I was happy just to be there. And then I was really happy to get to a warm restaurant and have a hot cup of coffee!

This photo was taken in honor of one of my best friends’ birthdays (hi Caryl!). This statue is of the inimitable William Bradford, first governor of Plymouth who came over on the Mayflower, and let me tell you, I have heard a thing or two about this guy from Caryl (starting with a fifth grade presentation, if my memory serves me) so I was pretty excited to see this statue! This one’s for you, buddy!

It was a great trip, a nice break from work and life, and so fun to see Angela again. I’ll definitely be back someday.

Then I came home to find a brand spanking new computer waiting for me and I’ve spent way too much time acquainting myself with it. And it’s so fabulous it’s got me wanting to write a thesis on it after five glorious years of research so I’ve been checking out grad schools and practicing for the GRE and having all kinds of fun looking for jobs to get me there.

So, I haven’t done much knitting. In fact, I even skipped knitting for about 4 hours of flight time to peruse my GRE book, which is a rather remarkable fact, given my track record. That said, I’ve made a bit of progress on my Gathered Pullover:

It looks much smaller here than I do, but only because the back is all scrunched up on a too-small stitch holder. I tried it on last night before I divided the fronts and back and I love it! I added in a bit of waist shaping and dropped the cable motif down about 3/4 of an inch and I think it’ll hit in just the right spot. For anyone considering this sweater, I’m making the size 32″, which will give me about 2 1/2″ negative ease, and I think it fits perfectly – not suffocatingly tight, but well fitted – I’ll post pictures when I finish the back and can try it on properly. This is such a great, fast knit, exactly what I needed right now!