Welcome back to Pops, baby!

One chorus-only rehearsal and one quick orchestra rehearsal, and already I've got the first Pops concert under my belt. Gotta love the preparation! We got some music a week or so ago, new music last night at rehearsal, and then tonight they struck a piece and replaced it with something I'd never heard before. My sight-singing has improved incredibly in this group! We got yer schmaltz, yer cheesy key change, yer swing time, and yer oooh mellow right here!

Friday night on A&E (8pm Eastern time) you can enjoy all that and more (Vince Gil and Amy Grant) on "Holiday at Pops!" I sang in that one (recorded last year and broadcast now), so you might even see me. (Note: That's an oldish photo, I have different hair at Pops, and it's even shorter now!)

But does this stop me from knitting?

No way! I knit on the way to rehearsal, on the way home from rehearsal, during break at rehearsal, and often when I should be studying my music! My Lopi Lite sweater is all in one piece now. I have about 13 rows before I get to start the colors and I'm really excited. Carrying around the whole sweater takes up most of my backpack, though! The swatch for Flashy Lace went ok, and I got a good fabric by pulling tight on US8s, so I cast on with 7s and got the ribbing and a couple rows of pattern done this afternoon. I have to go to Hartford for work for three days, so I'll take them both and see what I can get done in the evenings. Too bad I have to drive -- all that knitting time, wasted!

In finishing news, I blocked and started seaming the Mexicali Ole, but it needs more concentration than I have right now to finish, so I'm going to aim for the weekend. And hopefully then I can finish my Berroco jacket! The colors seem better again after drying, so I'm happy again. I need to check my reference books again for instructions on setting in a sleeve. Either I skimmed to quickly or it didn't tell me simple things like whether it should be RS or WS facing, so I'll save that for the weekend, too. That poor mitten is sitting on the couch looking lonely, but I can't think about its gusset yet, either, it will just have to wait.

Best Christmas Present Ever!

This summer at Tanglewood I taught a fellow chorus member to knit. We went to Colorful Stitches in Lenox, MA and picked out yarn and needles. We sat on the porch and started with casting on and then knitting. When she made a mistake, she was adamant about taking it out. If we had to take it all off and start over, she was up for that, too. Maybe a week later she was ready to purl and we figured it out over the phone. She said she was addicted. Tonight I saw her for the first time since this summer and I was so excited! She brought the scarf she'd completed and showed me her new project - an afghan! She said that she did a lot of research and then chose a book (I didn't get the title, but maybe I can on Saturday) that has a 60-odd square afghan. All the squares are different and use different techniques (mosaic, lace, cables, twisted stitches, etc.) so that by the time you finish them all you can do anything. She showed me about 10 or 12 completed squares and they were all beautiful and perfect. I'm so excited! She thinks she needs to start a sweater so that she can have a project to finish in the relatively short term.

As Monty Burns would say, "Excellent..."