Catching up with TNK

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Gosh, it's been almost a week since I've last blogged. Not an intentional departure, I just had a few extra things on my calendar this week and the blogging got subsequently pushed back to the weekend. But, better late than never, right? Or, have I lost everyone, in my absence? Serves me right, I guess....

And, if you've been eager to keep up with the latest antics of the Tuesday Night Knitters, I'm sure you've already read Jane's or Robin's accounts of the evening. It's brutal when three bloggers attend the same knit night -- we're like knitting paparazzi, pushing each other aside to get the good shots of our celebrity knitters and their glamorous FOs or WIPs. And since Jane and Robin H. have both scooped me, I haven't felt a particular urgency to post my version of the evening. But post it I will, if only for consistency's sake on my own blog.

Speaking of Robin H., who lives two hours away in the bustling metropolis of Buffalo Junction, near Clarksville, (did Virginia ever even have buffalos, and were there really so many that they required a junction?), I met Robin and her son Brian for dinner at our new favorite Richmond restaurant, Bookbinder's Grill, which is conveniently located just across the street from the Barnes & Noble where the group knits.

For dinner I ordered the grilled chicken with garlic & mushrooms (same as last time), and had the clam chowder and wedge salad as appetizers. I love their wedge salad - yum! Robin & Brian were brave enough to try the "world famous" snapping-turtle soup, and Robin let me taste hers. My first, ever, taste of turtle soup -- it's pretty much like a thick beef gravy. I kept expecting to see a little baby turtle paddling in the bowl for dear life. Or perhaps a turtle shell floating in the soup. There was neither, thank God. The waiter does bring a little decanter of sherry, and you pour some in the soup, which gives it a little tang. Different. I probably wouldn't order it on my own. Not bad, just not fantastic, in my opinion. My clam chowder was okay -- again, not fantastic. I'm a soup connoisseur, so all soups are measured against some of the best I've had. And most recently, the best I've had was that she-crab soup at the Lone Cedar, when we were down at the beach. I could live on that stuff.

But this is a knitting blog, not a soup blog, so I will now move on to more topical subjects.

Here's Robin, after we waddled away from the dinner table and on over to Barnes & Noble:

Writing up sales - cha-ching!
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Robin brought her soaps, oils & body butters to fulfill some orders from group members. I'm not much of a fragrance person, as most really bother my allergies, but I do love anything that smells lemony, (why is it impossible to find a lemon-scented air freshener anymore?). I bought some soap, body butter and after-shower spray-on oil/lotion. Verrrrrry lemony, which makes me so happy. I grow lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla) in my garden every year, because it is the lemon-iest smelling herb you'll ever smell. It makes my mouth water, it's so lemony, and I am constantly picking leaves from it and rubbing them and then inhaling the released fragrance as deeply as I possibly can. Robin's lemon-scented products are just as lemony as my lemon verbena, so, yum! But, of course, she sells items with many other fragrances, too. She has a separate website for those items, if you're interested.

Here's the rest of the gang, at knit night:

Paparazzo Jane, Cathy, Sherry Y., and Mary Jane
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Tami, Deb, Norma, Sherry R.
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Susan and Tami
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Here's Mary Jane holding up Renny's completed feather-and-fan bridal shawl for her daughter's wedding, from the book Folk Shawls, (which I own, yee-ha!, thanks to Jane!). Isn't it beautiful?

Renny, one of several professional photographers in our knitting group,
becomes incredibly shy when forced to be in front of the camera.
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Renny is now working on a seed-stitch cardigan. Here's Patsy swooning at the thought of all that seed stitch, as Renny shares her progress:

Jo, Rita, Renny, Patsy
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But will you take a look at this seed stitch? This is a Shaefer mercerized cotton in a hand-painted colorway, and the seed stitch is the perfect vehicle to showcase those colors:

Gorgeous!
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Here's Linda, holding a Fuzzy Feet slipper she knit awhile ago, but brought to show Cathy how they look knitted up:

Warm!
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Deb finished the baby blanket for (?) -- I'm sorry Deb, I forget who you said this was for -- your son and his wife, who are expecting, maybe? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, it's adorable!

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Another victim of the Noro virus, Rita is working on adding the ruffled edge to her Sursa Shawl:

I love the Silk Garden colorway she used here.
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And Issy continues to plug along on her Civil War shawl:

It's now as big as a big shower cap.
I believe she was up to row 68 when this picture was taken.
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Amy is working on her socks knit with the Socks That Rock in "Chanticleer" that she won from my blog contest back in October. Doesn't that yarn stripe wonderfully?:

Here's a closer shot of the sock -- isn't that a pretty pattern? I want to say it's from the Fall or Winter issue of Interweave -- Amy, correct me if I'm wrong.

Love cables!
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A fun time as usual, with my knittin' peeps! Tomorrow, I'll share pictures from another knitting group gathering I attended on Wednesday night. Stay tuned!

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