Shows, and Show and Tell

The last few weeks have been pretty splendid, full of good music, a bit of travel, pretty great people, and, of course, knitting, too.

I believe I already mentioned July's earlier excursions to see Rosanne Cash, and Fountains of Wayne. Last night saw another awesome band added to that list. It was my first time seeing the Old 97s live, and also my first show at First Avenue. (It was 18+, so I didn't get to use term 'diaper show', but that's okay.) The lead singer and bass player (Rhett Miller, and Murray Hammond, respectively) each have their own solo careers as well, and they each played a set. So they opened for themselves. My favorite parts of the evening were the parts that involved Rhett. So about 80% of the show. I'm not sure why he isn't an obnoxiously hugely famous rock star.



Also, I saw parts of the old Batman movie before the show and between sets. This was a completely new experience for me. If you haven't seen it, you should. It is IMMENSELY amusing. ("The Drinking Water Dispenser is clearly labeled!")

Earlier in the week, I also took a short trip to Chicago to visit my LVC placement. I met Sarah, who's in that placement now, and went with her and a bunch of youth from the community to the Field Museum. I have lots of pictures of dinosaur skeletons, and I'm feeling more confident and less anxious about next year.

Spindles in the Ancient Americas exhibit.

And so, the knitting. One new project, one new finished object, and a photo of the lace I mentioned last time.

First, the Estonian lace:

I also mentioned the shrug I cast on for as an impulse. Well, I found some motivation on Monday and managed to finish it. I had to use some of the cast-on tail to finish the last two inches of the bind-off. All in all, I had 17.5" of yarn leftover, all of which were cut off from the woven-in ends. Perhaps my most efficient stash-buster yet. And I used a cute button from my tiny, tiny button stash. It fits: perfectly.

Modeled on a friend.

And the socks. I started a pair in Mountain Colors last week, on Bastille Day, when my family and I attended a production of (more or less titled) 'all of Shakespeare's plays in 97 minutes by three guys in tights'. It was hilariously funny, but the sock was pooling in vertical stripes. So when I hopped on the Greyhound to Chicago, I took my Misti Alpaca and started the Herringbone Ribs Socks from Knitting Socks in Hand-Painted Yarn. By Friday, I had about five inches, and it was beautiful. I tried it on, and it didn't fit over my heel. So this weekend, I frogged it, cast on more stitches, and started again.


Things are going pretty well. I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (only once so far), and made some stuffed eggplant and black bread last week. And we've even gotten a little bit of rain. What more can you ask for?