Being Penitent

Usually, on Sunday, I spend the day at the pool, lounging with the Inky and the Times. This Sunday, however, spelled the coming of fall (which also brings football, the E-A-G-L-E-S, and all of the accompanying Philly drama), and I was back to my fall routine of hanging out at Barnes & Nobles with my sesame bagel, an iced coffee, and the papers. The Times' Supplement this week highlighted the fall fashions (hmm . . . I didn't see any mention of Rowan 38), and low and behold, my leggings are so in!:

How sad that this ol' project keeps getting moved farther and farther on the backburner!

So, did I run home to cast on the second stocking? No, instead, I took the bad weather as an opportunity to attend my first Penitent Knitters in Fairmount. No, it's not the AA of Knitters, nor a Knitters Anonymous group, rather Penitent Knitters is so named because it convenes across the street from Eastern State Penitentiary, a long-closed prison, built in a hub, based on solitary confinement and Quaker principals. Normally, my thinking is I spend enough time at the very real prisons on State Road, why would I want to spend my Sunday knitting in the shadow of the country's first prison? And, between my very busy pool and football watching schedule, I've never been able to get to this Sunday knitalong, but a little rain, a little coffee, a very comfy couch, good company, and we have a front (and part of a sleeve):


Because this project is going so swimmingly, what did I do? I cast on another. The Alan Rickman of Rowan 38:




I just had to do it - had to! See, I came back from court on Monday, bummed out, I guess, just because I had to slog over to court in a suit in the rain. And on my desk - my Rowan package had arrived from England! Sweet! Love that Ebay! Rowan Tweed 4 ply, called Mulled Wine, at $3.25 per ball (normally $5.50), even with the postage. And, since this project takes 10, count 'em, 10 balls, I couldn't pass up that kind of bargain, could I? And, it really is a more challenging project than the baby cardigan. Knit on 2's (well, the pattern calls for 3's, but I'm on gauge on 2's, and frankly, the yarn feels much more comfortable on 2's, the 3's seemed kind of bulky), it's a kind of knotty pattern, a combination of yo's and P3tog's. And, I did continue on in the prison theme, watching the 2 hour premiere of Prison Break.

So, I should be penitent that I haven't cast on my legging. And I should be really penitent that I didn't finish my future nephew's cardigan before starting something for myself, and I should be penitent for the chocolate bar I ate for lunch - but you know what, eh! I'll wait 'til Yom Kippur and get it all over and done with in one day.