Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Knit One, Almost Two

Usually, I don't do a lot of knitting in the summertime. I tend to get the urge to curl up and work with yarn when it gets cool outside. I guess it just feels like a cozy craft to me. This summer, however, I've been doing a lot more knitting than usual. Perhaps that's in part due to the unseasonably cool summer we have had. And I've knitted my way through four seasons of Northern Exposure from the library, so watching such a wintry show might have had something to do with my desire to knit as well.

I remember enjoying this show when it originally aired back in the nineties. I was in high school at the time, and it has been interesting to watch it again from a different perspective. The thing I like most about it is the strong sense of community between the people of the town. Although they don't always like each other or even get along very well, for the most part they are very supportive of one another. They always seem to be there for each other when they need it. I have been a little disappointed that despite being set in Alaska, so far the only reference to the Orthodox Church has been a throwaway line about the Russian influence on the state. At one point in the fourth season I got my hopes up, because Chris (the radio show guy played by John Corbett, who among many roles also stars in My Big Fat Greek Wedding) decides to visit a monastery, but it turns out not to be Orthodox. I have two more seasons to go, so maybe there will be something yet.


I have two knitting projects that I've been working on, and I'm getting close to completing both of them. I thought I'd share my progress on this one so far. I'm about to turn the heel on the second sock in the pair. I used this pattern, and the yarn is Tofutsies. I don't have the band anymore, but my guess is that the colorway is 802. I bought the yarn last Christmas to knit a pair of socks for my dad. It was the first pair of socks I ever knit, and I bought two skeins thinking I might need one for each sock. My dad kind of has a thing for crazy socks, so I chose this really colorful yarn for him, and he was quite pleased to get them in his Christmas stocking. Since I had the extra skein, I thought I would knit a pair for myself as well.

I've found I really enjoy knitting socks, and I liked this pattern a lot. I suspect I will use it many times again in the years to come. There is plenty of mindless knitting in the round, so it's perfect for watching movies (0r TV shows on DVD.) They've also come along to Bible study and on long car rides. I like that just when I can't take any more knitting in the round, it's time to turn the heel. Once the heel is done, I get to go back to knitting in the round, and when I start to lose interest again it's time to start decreasing for the toe. This pattern has a round toe, which is perfect for my narrow-footed, long-toed family, but it also gives an alternate kitchener toe. My unusual summer knitting spurt has been well timed, since it means these will be done just in time for sock weather. I think my other knitting project will be off the needles pretty soon, so that will likely turn up here before too long.

4 comments:

  1. Nice socks! Yes... funny how pop culture ignores huge parts of a culture, esp. when it has to do with Christianity and also Orthodoox Christianity...

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  2. I agree, great socks!
    I wasn't a faithful Northern Exposure watcher, and not Orthodox yet when it was on that I recall - but I do remember my midwife mentioning there was going to be a homebirth on it (I don't know if there was)

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  3. Oh, and wait - I have another NE thought. It was filmed in Roslyn here in Washington, and the town next to it (Cle Elum) had an Orthodox Church about the same vintage as my parish's chapel (in Wilkeson - founded by coal miners from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late 19th early 20th century) that burned in the 30s

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  4. Elizabeth, I guess it's impossible for a TV show to capture everything, but I really noticed the gap now that I'm attuned to it.

    Mimi, hmmm, I don't know about a homebirth. I'm guessing I haven't gotten to that yet, because one of the characters (Shelly) is pregnant at the end of the last season I watched.

    I knew that NE was filmed in Washington. That's interesting about the church nearby--sad to hear it burned. Maybe it would have ended up in the show if it were still around.

    Thanks for the compliments about the socks! They've been fun to make.

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Thanks for sharing your thoughts--I love hearing from you!