#2 daughter and I both had yesterday afternoon off, so we went out to lunch. We talked about boys. Oh, yes, we also talked about London, and music and school and stuff like that, but we particularly talked about boys. The Princess, The Empress, and The Poster Queen have all been giving #2 daughter excellent boy advice in absentia, so I passed it all on. Along with some of my own.

It has been many years since The Empress and The Poster Queen and I engaged in recreational romance, so we like to give The Princess and #2 daughter advice. The Princess is using an online dating service, so she particularly needs plenty of good advice from older women. Plus, she is a little older than #2 daughter, so she can join in on both sides. Since we are not emotionally involved with any of it, we can enjoy it all much more than an actual participant. The girls may think that we are buttinskies (as my mother used to say), but really this is harmless fun. Like reality shows without the mean-spiritedness.  If you need any good advice for your own romantic recreations, just ask us. We are so good at it, you wouldn’t believe.

Then, to further my researches on triangular shawls, I headed over to the local book store to check out the knitting mags and books. Let’s get rid of the suspense immediately: no luck at all. Spinner Mom suggested a book, but I did not find it there — I can probably order it at the store where I work, though, so I will check it out at amazon.

I did get to browse through a lot of books and magazines, though. I have noticed that a lot of experienced knitters can get very snide over the new knitlit. I think I understand why.

Consider the fact that I own 38 knitting books. I have given my daughter a couple of the new ones, but mine are Alice Starmore, Debbie Bliss, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Elsabeth Lavold, Mary Thomas, Barbara Walker — the classics. So I have several hundred classic knitting patterns on my shelf. It follows as the night the day that most classic-style knitting patterns will be similar to what I already own, doesn’t it?

And since I own several dozen classic knitting  books, I must like those classic styles. So it is probably no surprise that I find the edgy new patterns a trifle bizarre. 

Since the largest audience for new knitting books right now is the beginning knitter who wants easy patterns, it is natural that most of the new knitting patterns will be simple things made of rectangles. However gorgeously they may be photographed, I am not likely to find those exciting, am I? At the very most, I’ll think — “Ah, that’s a nice thing to do with a rectangle. I’ll try that out” and turn the page.

So I do not plan to say any snide things. But I also am not going to recommend any of those books or magazines. I did enjoy looking at them, though. Then #2 son and #2 daughter arrived and we went to the music section so she could search for this Finnish CD. The person helping us was the one helpful guy in the place. I always want to give him a tip or a cookie or something, just for being a knowledgable and helpful person in a store which specializes in unhelpfulness and ignorance.

They did not have the Finnish musician. Nor was there even one thing about complex triangular lace shawls. We went home.

#2 son packed for his stay at the university. #1 son came in from his baseball game and remarked that baseball was really hard work. #2 daughter and I knitted. We measured everyone and made nachos with plenty of peppers and tomatoes and three-grain tortilla chips, and watched TV. It was the laziest possible evening.

I did make some progress on the bath ensembles. I am using a yarn called Morocco, a heavy weight linen and cotton blend. It has a wonderful crunchy texture and knits up very well, especially in texture stitches.

When we were on vacation this year I had an opportunity to see some spun flax, and it quite amazed me. I love linen, and am fortunate enough to have linen pillow cases — truly the very height of luxury. But I had no idea that the stuff looks like hair — like human hair, really — when it is first spun.

The colors here are moon blue and raisin.

I’m off to work now. Enjoy your weekend.