Knitting group therapy.

Last night Juno was huddled on the couch, enflamed with PMS and hostility, wishing that a) she was dead or alternatively b) that every one else was, when the phone rang and a voice enquired “Are we at your house or L’s?” What? Who?

The caller turned out to be friend H, with whom, or rather, at whose behest Juno is taking a class on doll making. Juno had offered her house for one session on the principal that in July, central air is better than no central air. But no date had been confirmed. A quick review of the state of the residence informed Juno that NO ONE was getting through the front door to see the 12 loads of laundry waiting to be put away, the half sorted contents of the tool closet littering the laundry room & family room floors (part of a half complete attempt to create a textile closet) and, most particularly, to witness what the cat did to the living room rug that morning. (As of a trip the local rug emporium this week, Juno will have purchased no fewer than 5 living room floor coverings in 3 years). But it turns out that the unusually temperate July meant the location was L’s and Juno had not received the email.

Despite her reluctance to leave the house and talk to any, you know, other people, Juno went and she is glad she did. Making a small doll out of wool and fabric had never been a desire, but the class is full of wonderful women and Juno has had a surprisingly good time learning how to fashion a shaggy-haired little toy. She will be turning this doll into a firefighter for her nephew. Or she will be if she can figure out how to crochet or knit a little fire hat. Any suggestions? Juno’s nephew is only 9 months old, so fortunately she has plenty of time to figure it out.

Juno understands why some are frustrated with long shaggy scarves and novelty yarns that are made of things that might do the space program some good, but it was novelty yarn that caused Juno to pick up her needles again for the first time since college, and it is the sudden growth of knitting as a hobby that brought teacher L into Juno’s life and with her not just a doll class, but a monthly knitting group and with both of them that joyful sense of working with other women, rediscovering the way that tongues loosen and laughter flows when the hands are occupied productively and everyone is relaxed where they are, not gathering themselves for the next task, the next item on the list, the next obligation.

Suddenly Juno no longer feels like the worlds needs to GO AWAY. Permanently.

Knitting proceeds. Combination knitting has suddenly fallen into place after Juno re-read the directions to leave the hanging yarn alone on the purl side, rather than trying to guide/hold/tension it with her index finder. Enlightenment. Unfortunately, now the top 5 inches of the sleeve look significantly better than the rest of it, but Juno thinks she will wait until the rest is done before making any firm decisions about re-knitting.

Also – how gorgeous is this?
The yarn is a silk blend and there is some simple, pretty detail at the neck. The cuff/hem detail is a ribbon woven into the knit. The electronic picture does not do it justice. Like Juno needed another knit magazine to buy. Or another sweater warming up in the bullpen.

Comments

[Juno]

I hadn't thought of that particular problem, but I'm certainly enjoying the visual.

Fringe carries risks, it it true, but we like to live dangerously. The doll class did make a group decision that one could get the woven effect without the dangly bits and it might be even more attractive. And safer.

Thanks for stopping by, Marcia.

[marcia]

Nice place here! I'm commenting way down here because I want to say something about that blue sweater with the dangle thangies hanging thayre. It's a cute sweater but all I can think of is getting a string caught on an escalator stair (maybe I'm trying to look up a cute guy's pantleg) and getting sucked into the moving stair netherworld. Just a thought....