Talk amongst yourselves: yarn is not a necessity.

I was pregnant with Anna when I started learning to knit, so that takes us back to 2004. I'm still learning; I can't purl yet, I own circular needles but so far they're just a way of distracting Anna when she's getting into my knitting bag, and I still have to say that "over the fence, catch the sheep" chant to myself as I go along. I can make a mean scarf, though

So big news, for me: I finally finished something THAT I KNIT FOR MYSELF. You can sort of see it in this picture, but not in it's full glory. I'll wear it all the time soon, though. Ask me where I got it, ok?

Now, it's not like I haven't been steadily knitting away all this time. See below for evidence to the contrary. I walked into Flying Fingers in November, maybe two weeks before Thanksgiving all those years ago, and announced that I was there to knit, and that I needed to make five scarves for five little girls by Christmas. That was when the shop was still in Irvington, and I consider all the lovely ladies there to have exhibited a huge dose of patience with a crazy pregnant lady not to have laughed & thrown me out. Well, I guess I finally finished Anna's scarf last April (that makes six in four and a half years, in varying colors, but all in Karabella Puffy, on size 15 needles), and it was time to do one for me.

Since then, Elise Lundeen-Goldschlag has moved her business and her family to Tarrytown. In what I think is the most visually gorgeous shop on Main Street, Flying Fingers has advanced the idea of building a community here that goes beyond the storefront (exactly what we're trying to do around the corner). You are always welcome to come in and browse, to bring your Flying Fingers yarn back in for help from the knitting wonders who work there, and I defy anyone to leave feeling less happy and un-inspired by the yarn displays, the finished examples of what's possible (someday!), and the camaraderie in the shop.

Talking about moving to and staying in Tarrytown, Elise says she loves having her "whole life in seven blocks", a sentiment that I think many Manhattan dwellers use to explain their commitment to staying in the city. With our seven (or so) blocks bounded by the Rockefeller Preserve, the Tarrytown Lakes, and the Hudson River, I'm thinking that our little town may be the nicest neighborhood in the metropolis.

So I've started again...it's about fourteen weeks until Christmas (2008). I have the yarn. I have a goal. Six plus one for my handsome husband, forever-chilled, transplanted from California, who thought he was getting this last one.

Keeping my fingers busy, one way or another. Thanks for reading.

tt