at the swift

yesterday it rained. actually, if you were on top of Ester Dome (as Lisa and i were on a weekly trek up the hill), it snowed. yep, it snowed. it might have even hailed a little since the snowflakes seemed to be bouncing off us at one point. i don't think snowflakes bounce, do they? at any rate, yesterday was a great day for what we had planned (except for the run): meeting Cara, Lynne, and Mia at Inua (our local yarn shoppe) to help them pick out yarn for their new projects and the getting them started on said projects.

Lynne couldn't make it to Part II of our plans, but Mia and Cara showed up fashionably late with Stevie in tow. our first activity: the swift. the swift, for all you non-knitters, is simply the coolest thing ever.

coupled with a ball winder, the swift transforms twisted hanks of unruly yarn into neat adorable little balls. balls that are squat and flat on both ends so they sit on most surfaces (a table, a couch, your husband's thigh as he sits next to you - wherever you're knitting) and obediently stay put as you pull yarn. most of all, a swift liberates us from asking our partners to hold the yarn between their outstretched arms while we laboriously wind a ball by hand. they don't like it, we don't like it. the swift saves us. it is a wonder. really, the eighth wonder of the world. plus, it's cool looking. mine has taken up residence at the end of the dining room table, in eternal vigilance against the chaos of magazines, paperwork, and the general detritus that my husband brings to the table. it is a beacon of creativity and hope shining over us all.

Mia and Cara also like the swift. in the interests of time, they wound only one ball each (save some for later, i say), so that we could get started with the cast-on. 96 navy blue stitches for Cara and 112 green/yellow sts for Mia that reminded me of a frog, in a good way. (check out the swankin' new poncho Mia made for herself, and the extremely cool green felted slippers she made for Cara!)

in no time, they were off, casting on and knitting! the pattern, a freebie from Lion Brand, is a painfully cute little baby hoodie, all in garter st. all 4 of us will knit the same thing for 4 different lucky babies.

Norma came to offer some moral support (and to pick up her knitting instructions that she left here the other day) and spread a little love around while she was here. That's Nuchie, the love hound (when he's not being the 'bad dog.') Nuchie also ran up Ester Dome in the snow. i think he's pooped.

while all this creativity and creating was going on, this is what the boys did:

who can blame 'em?