Capelet and cap for Sonu

 

This is another poncho, similar to the ones I mentioned in a one of my previous posts, here.  As I recalled in that post,  back in the 80's it was called a Cape.  Just the other day, while chatting with a knitter friend about one of her ponchos, she said the word "poncho" is dated and referred to it as Cape or Capelet.  What goes around comes back around!

The model here is a niece, daughter of cousin R who I talked about in this post. I feel that Chitra Baneerji Divakaruni must have been thinking about the two of us when she was writing certain paragraphs in the initial chapters of her novel Sister Of My Heart.  We can relate to each other in a lot of aspects.  We are the same age, both grew up in India, both made our homes in the US,  both work for the same company, both have two daughters.  We are there, just a ping away, to reassure each other every time we second guess ourselves as we nurture our girls. 

It was wonderful to watch the kids connect with each other during our visit to WI last summer.  All four of them mailed hand written letters after getting back home from the vacation.  I heard that the sisters were occupied the entire day writing and fine tuning their letters before they gave it to mom to mail, Sonu marveling at what she had produced.  Many skype sessions filled what was remaining of the summer holidays before school started.  Sonu is a sweet heart, guess you can tell from the picture :)

Knitting @ noon

I have, finally, resumed my regular attendance at Knitting@noon sessions at work after the break in summer.  Part inertia and part being swamped with everything you have to do with two girls in the house getting back to school, including, fighting what I call the 'back to school bonus' bugs.  The kids fought better this time, but mom needed a course of antibiotics for an ear infection.  It took some time to get organized enough to narrow down a pattern and shop for the necessary supplies.  I love that time though, right after summer, when the routine resumes.  So much to learn and experience, so many opportunities for the kids, I would not want it any other way, but for the sickness part!

This blog post was a long time coming.  I have been itching to write about Knitting@noon group at work. Allow me to share how it started.  Flash back a couple of years . . . I went to the conference room as usual for our weekly team meeting one afternoon at 1:00 PM, this time, my mind completely engrossed in the presentation I was to give about my research and analysis of the latest GUI (Graphical User Interface) Test Automation tool that we had discovered and explain how it would be the best thing for our project.  We waited till it was time and one of us peeked in and the friendly bunch in the room said, "Oh we are wrapping up, come on in"  and what do I see?!  A group of colleagues with yarn and knitting and crochet needles!  I have brought my hobby bag to knit/crochet during various activities that kids have been enrolled in over the years,  on long drives, camping trips etc.  But to work?!  It had not occurred to me that it might be a possibility.  My eyes still wide open, and with a smile that would not cease, I finished the hour long meeting.  By the way, the presentation went very well, decision was made to use the tool I had presented and the project was a success.

First thing I did after I went back to my desk that afternoon was shoot an email to one of them to find out more.  It did not take too long for my calendar to show "Knitting@noon" from 12:00 to 1:00 on Mondays and Wednesdays!  It opened up a whole new world to me with introduction to sites like Ravelry, WEBS , Knitting Universe, etc, by my wonderful colleagues.  Looking for something new to knit or crochet? Need opinions about yarns? Can't decide on what colors to use? No problem!  Friends to the rescue.  And you get to brag about your work with a "show and tell" once it is done.  We sometimes just show up even if we are not knitting that particular day for whatever reason. It seems like it does wonders to just sit around people knitting, the aura is so pleasant.  Just the other day, one friend stopped by to say she was not going to knit that day and stayed the entire hour :)

Braced with the support of this wonderful group which includes a few experts, last year I ventured into my first knitted garment, a vest for C.  I had knitted scarves, baby blankets and afghans in the past,, but not a garment for an adult.  A very happy recipient who wears it proudly, made for this impressive picture.  Impressive enough for the editor to request it to be featured on Lion Brand Yarn's Pattern page here on Ravelry.  Gotta love the handsome model!