Summer-along, week 5

Our little knitting @ work group skipped knitting today to go on a field trip to commuKNITy, the month-old yarn shop on the Alameda in San Jose. I really did get a sense of community from our visit today - I ran into Nathania and Nancy - 2 knitters I know from online and Nathania's Knit In in January - and it turned out that another member of our group also knew Nancy from a completely different context. So already we are linked.

The shop is just 10 minutes away from my work location, which is good to know, you know, for emergencies. Their yarn selection had some very familiar favorite names, like Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Cascade, Manos.. small selection of Noro.. but some names that were new to me, like Elizabeth Arden yarn company and their Elsbeth Lavold designer's choice line. I am in love with the Cotton Patiné and the Sentimental Journey collection #2. I am yearning to knit either Garnet or Agatha in this lustrous cotton yarn.

Progress reports on the summer along: Mine you already saw: back is done. I'm taking a detour into a pair of Double Trouble socks for my friend Mary in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Valentine color. [I'm sorry to see that the pattern is temporarily unavailable. Glad I kept my printed copy!]

Progress from the others: T has about 3 inches completed, but managed to knit her flat piece into a circle during a meeting and had to do a bit of backing up. Believe me, T, it happens all the time! J is into the opaque section after completing 6 inches of sheer section. Her sheer section seems narrower than expected, but the opaque section is spot on. H. bought some Cascade 220 at commuKNITy to work on Tempting from knitty. She hasn't cast on since her first scarf, so we'll be kicking off her knitting next week with a review of caston and a gauge swatch.

For me, the best part was that our knitting @ work group really felt like a knitting group today. Everyone has projects, we went for a field trip, progress is happening. Community in action! It was sweet.