Love Is All You Knit

If you missed it, you can read part one here.

We woke up the next morning and hopped back on the bus to head across town for a radio performance.

The show consisted of a short interview and a few live songs performed in front of a studio audience. One of the other wives, Fiona was in town and she and I decided to slip out for a little bit of sightseeing while the guys did their interview. We walked around, meandering our way towards the Eiffel Tower. It was such a bright and sunny day and I was speechless for a few moments before I asked her to take my picture.

I knew our time in Paris would be pretty busy- Joey was there to work, after all- but the only ‘must do’ item had just been checked off my list and so Fiona and I headed back to the station just as the guys were wrapping up their performance.

Afterwards, we all hopped back on the bus and across town again to the studios of Canal Plus France, where the guys would be filming an episode of ‘Album de la semaine.’

I stood in the wings of the theater and watched their performance. Their harmonies sounded so wonderful, despite three of them fighting off sore throats and failing voices after being on the road for three weeks and performing two to three times each day. I watched the audience’s reactions and I welled up with pride for my talented husband and our talented friends. To spend your days traveling the world and making wonderful music that brings other people happiness is a very good thing.

After the performance it was a quick goodbye as the guys were heading on overnight to Belgium and I had a plane to catch in the morning. My years living in NYC served as good training for venturing out on my own in Paris, back on the metro to find my hotel for the night. I stayed in the St Germain district and sadly didn’t get to explore it very much as it was getting late and I was really looking forward to a hotel bed and a good night’s rest before my long journey home. I took the RER to the airport the next morning and while waiting on the train with my luggage in hand, a French woman about my age asked me something I couldn’t understand. I explained that I didn’t speak French and she quickly switched to English, asking if this was in fact the train to the airport. I confirmed that it was, and instantly felt a little more calm and collected. If I could look like an in-the-know Parisian instead of oozing tourist vibes, then I guess my two days in Paris served me well.

So here’s my progress on Joey’s Smokin’ Cardigan:

(that tiny white thread running across is a dental-floss lifeline!)
I’ve joined the sleeves and am now doing a few decreases, and will move on to doing my first saddle-shoulder! (I should probably read up on how they are actually constructed so I won’t be confused…)

Once I finish off the shoulders, I’ll pick up those stitches that are being held by the white waste yarn and knit a garter-stitch button band that forms a shawl-collar.  I can’t wait to finish this one!

I just love it when I see someone knitting in public, especially when I spot them knitting on the subway. Funnily enough, I’m usually too embarassed to knit on the train. Every time I try it, I always look up to see about five different people watching me. I dont know why this should bother me, but as a lifelong-shy-person I typically avoid doing things that draw attention to myself.
The other day, I sat down on the train and right across from me was this lady, knitting a beautiful moss-stitch and cabled garment.

It looked like she was knitting two fronts of a sweater simultaneously on straight needles. I was so excited by this knit-spotting that I kinneared her. (I kept her face out of the pic cause I wouldn’t want random strangers taking pics of me and posting them online.) Seeing her knitting on the train made my day.
Then yesterday, Joey emailed me this:

a guy knitting on the train! Even better knit-spotting! I’m not sure what he’s knitting here, but I give him props for taking advantage of good knitting time and not worrying about what other people think.
I was inspired by these knitters and decided I would give knitting on the train another go. I knitted on the train on my way home from work, and I knitted on my way to work the very next day. Both times, I looked up to find people watching me, but I kept going. I mean, I watch the people I see knitting on the train- so maybe, like me, the watchers are genuinely interested in what I’m making. And maybe, just maybe, another knitter who is too shy to knit on the train will see me knitting and be inspired to give it a go.

Another good thing that comes from knitting on the train? Visible progress! I have two completed sleeves now:

Whoo! This is going to start looking like an actual cardigan soon!

On Monday, I had surgery to have my gallbladder taken out. I was looking forward to a week of laying in bed, watching good movies with my husband, and lots of knitting time. What really happened was a week of more-pain-than-I-ever-imagined, complete inability to sit up, lay down, move my torso, or do anything on my own, and lots of delirious grogginess from the pain medication. I was able to eek out a bit of knitting yesterday, and even more today, so I can tell I am finally on the mend. Phew! Here’s my sleeve progress:

Even though its going pretty quickly due to the big yarn and needles, I wish it were going faster. I’m ready to have this baby finished and get some modeled shots. I still have a cardigan to knit for myself before winter gets here. And I was eyeing some noro online today for a kerchief/shawlette….

I’m re-entering the blogosphere after an unintentional break. I don’t really know what happened, I just got really busy and had nothing exciting to blog about.
It’s been slow-going on the knitting front, but I cast on for the Smokin cardigan for Joey and I’m really enjoying the bright turquoise.