It’s been a wonderful week here – culminating in a great concert at the Taste of Minnesota last night, just fabulous!
We’d toyed with the idea of going up to Avon, to the Lake Woebegone Park to hear the 35th Anniversary show of A Prairie Home Companion. But in the end we decided to stay here because of financial considerations – and because of all the work I need to get done. Hard to work while driving (or sitting in traffic) It was probably the best decision!
HATS!
I’ve been working on the 1,000 Fabulous Knit Hat book – the submissions are coming in SO fast and I’ve been a bit overwhelmed. I’m in the unusual position of not having enough time to log them in, and also worrying that not enough will arrive to make 1,000 hats. Dang.
The publisher’s agreed to an extension, and I’m happy to take images of hats right up until I can’t take any more! If you’d like to submit an image of a hat, please check out the information page at http://1000fabulousknithats.com, and follow the instructions to set up a folder at box.net to hold all of your files.
Remember, if you don’t upload or send me a Grant of Rights (GOR) then I can’t use your images – so don’t forget that important step!!
FUR WRAP
I’ve also been carrying around the fur wrap for History on Two Needles, looking for all the world as if I were dragging road-kill in my Squam Arts Workshop bag around St. Paul. The Spash from Crystal Palace is frightening realistic when knit up…
We had a great day at the MN Historical Society on Friday where I heard a little presentation on fur traders in early MN history.
I took the opportunity to photograph my fur wrap next to a real muskrat fur – knitting will never replace the genuine article, but it’s a bit easier on the woodland creatures.
I worked on it all through the concert last night, and finished it today. I think it’s finished… It looks good to me, and it’s a surprisingly simple knit.
The “scarf” piece is picked up and knit onto the wrap, creating a strong neck shape that will keep the whole piece wearable for a long time.
While at the museum we cavorted in some of the great exhibitions. I sat and knitted in the “house” for a while, the kids visited the WWII era soda shop (where radio reports alerted us that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor – ironically my own mom was in a drugstore having a soda when she heard the news…)
The boys had a minor traffic accident (Gerry’s such a bad driver!) Max was happy to toss his friend under the bus. Nice.
Max was fascinated by an article in a 1943 magazine on Wind Power. Why has it taken us 50+ years to get around to this?
The high point was the Taste of MN yesterday. Max and I rode our bikes down to Harriet Island in the afternoon, Gerry and Hannah following in the car, and we all met up at the Burt’s Bees tent.
While the kids ran around eating anything they could get their hands on, Gerry and I scoped out great free seats for the concert and set up our folding chairs (and his walker- he’s had a lot of pain lately) I sat and knitted, the kids brought me tid-bits of food they’d scoped (my favorite: bacon wrapped shrimp – and on Shabbat!)
It was a long day – and Max and I were a little worn out by the (short) bike ride and the (long) walk from where we’d parked the bikes – so sitting and listening to bands was a phenomenal joy.
When Elvis took the stage I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve seen him more than I’ve seen any other act, I think this was my 5th or 6th time seeing him live, I love his shows. They’re not showy, not big, just good.
He was WONDERFUL. It was one of his best, and if I thought he seemed slow during the 2nd song he made up for it by playing pretty much NON STOP for 90 minutes. Amazing. No breaks between songs, no pattern, just good music. Lots of old stuff, some great songs from his new album (and I got to embarrass my kids by knowing all the words to Alison.)
I was closer than I’ve ever been at a Elvis Costello concert – all free, baby! The pic is from my cell phone and it’s bad, but the view was great!
I’d told Max over and over that EC had song Nick Lowe’s (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love & Understanding, but it didn’t sink in. It’s one of his favorite songs, he was introduced to it on the Colbert Christmas Special, and it was very cool to see his face as he heard it live.
We watched the fireworks from the Wabasha bridge, Hannah and I listened to Elvis on my ipod and we oohed and ahhed along with the Hmong family we were sitting next to. What a great night.