Fun with Friends at Limerick Irish Eatery, plus knitting

To celebrate the birthday of a friend yesterday four of us got together for lunch at the new Limerick Irish Eatery in Quechee, Vermont.  Very nice meal. Friendly server, and it was great to be able to chat with Jessica, the owner, for a few minutes.  She is such a busy lady.  It is always fun to be with friends...we chatted for 2 hours before we ran down enough to leave the restaurant, carrying the conversation into the parking lot.

One quick stop at the White River Coop (not Upper Valley Coop this time), where I picked up some tortillas and a couple other things to use for supper, then an even quicker stop at the bank to drop off a key to the safe deposit box then on to home for a nap.

Morning had come early.  Before 6 AM I was at the Incredible Sweater Machine hoping to finish the strips for the Church blanket.  In two hours I had three new strips made as well as hand-stitching together  the parts of the previous two days' worth of struggling with the machine.  Yay!  I decided that four strips would be better than the six strips I previously planned to use.  This way the border will not get lost in the strips.  At least that is the idea.

Before leaving for lunch I had managed to sew together half of the strips.  Sewing together is not my forte, but it will hold the blocks and strips together so I am going to stop agonizing about the job.  After the nap I made burritos for supper:  whole wheat wraps instead of tortillas, though I don't really recognize the difference, plus shredded cheddar on fat-free refried beans plus some homemade pico de gallo (which, by the way, I used chopped parsley for the greens instead of cilantro and have decided I despise...at least in this batch).  For "dessert" I used a slice of lavash bread on which I spread cream cheese (it would have been more successful if I had removed the cream cheese from the refrigerator an hour earlier...!) and then grated on some Blueberry Cheddar cheese, then put in the microwave for one minutes.  Really not bad at all!  Liz suggested it at lunch.

After supper I settled into the great room upstairs along with the sewing/knitting project and A Touch of Frost on NetFlix.  It took me two shows to complete stitching together the strips and begin picking up stitches around the edge for the border.  I had to stop because I needed more cable on the needles to get all the stitches on.  I think I will need about 100 inches of cable....

Just now, on Saturday morning, I have spoken with Lois at White River Yarns to see if she had such a needle.  She didn't but told me that when she picked up stitches for a border on a beautiful large afghan she has in her shop, she used three needles with 40-inch cables and a fourth needle with 40-inch cable for the knitting, just like four giant double-pointed needles!  Isn't she the smartest thing!!  I am so thrilled.  Now I need to see how many more I will need--based on how many circular needles I have with 40-inch cables!

Since I wrote that last bit I have knitted a swatch for the Scandinavian Hat class I am going to this afternoon at Country Woolens in Lebanon, NH.  Using the size 3 circulars with very LONG cable, I got gauge the first time!  Yay!  That is good news.  But that was knitting flat.  Now I am working a gauge on double-pointed needles and size 4...since that is the size I am supposed to use for the River Chullo River Star hat that Bob actually wants.  I will go along with the class and the Country Creations hat...small child size for some little person for next winter...mainly because if everyone else in the class is a beginner at this sort of hat/knitting style, I am afraid my knitting with 11 colors and an ear flap with be confusing.  Far be it from me to confuse people when it is unnecessary.

After the class I will go work on the computer to enter do some Visiting Teaching work plus maybe some genealogy then go to Jonathan's after supper to pick up the bulk order that is being collected in Worcester today.  So...off to work.

PS  In case you are worried, I did make Bob a nice omelet for breakfast. I ate a great leftover salad...about 10:30.