Mary, or MaryBeth if you see her at the library, was the first to actually invite me to stay with the group. She is sharp as a tack and was working on a beautiful white mohair scarf. Light, frizzy, and little curly just like her long hair. Mary B (I've decided to call her) has a twelve year old son named M who is currently finishing up fifth grade. "We held him back a year" she explained. She works at the local library. I actually recognized her right away. A few weeks after Escher was born my mom decided it was time to get Lea over to the library for Storytime. When we arrived Mary B was sitting in an arm chair circled by ten or so small tots, some on stools, some on the floor, singing the "clap your hands" song welcoming each participant that day. Lea was enamored. When they got to her name she sat in disbelief. All these people were singing a song about her? What magic! My mom and I were thrilled as well. Finally, a huge smile on our girl's face. It had been a while. This was her first "post-Escher" smile.

The day's theme was the farm. Mary B read aloud several books related to the subject: ducks, horses, farmers, pigs, chickens. Some were sang-read, some were acted out. Between each book there was a small song or rhyme the whole lot announced together. Lea was in bliss again. At two and a half she was finally seeing how it was to live outside the walls of our rented home. Other children were around who knew the same songs and loved the same things and all seemed generally excited and upset all at the same time, just like her.

"What are you working on?", Mary B asked as I unravelled my sweater from it's tied scarf package. As I showed her Julie turned to take a look. Even though she didn't recognize me, she did the yarn. The Malabrigo!

Friday Knitter's Club

...or how I came upon crashing an existing knitting club....

I started feverishly knitting while pregnant with Escher, now 7 months old. After finding and falling in love with the most beautiful baby merino wool at the sweet little knitting store in the harbor shops i decided my soon-to-be baby boy needed a mommy-made sweater. I had never made anything but hats, a few botched mittens, and some scarves. A sweater? Holy crap. Bring it on. I was 7 months pregnant. Jeff and I just got the email from our jackass landlord that, yes, he decided after all he was going to place his house on the market. And, yes, we did after all need to move out by August 1st (30 days before my due date) or buy the place at the fair-market price of $899,000. Ha! OK. No problem. Go ahead and tell the 7 month pregnant tenant that she does not need to nest. No! She needs to pack. Put everything in boxes. Create utter chaos, in fact. OK. No problem. So, I found myself very pregnant needing to pack up our home yet unable to physically do the work. Not because I couldn't do it, but because I really shouldn't do it. It was time to call upon the family for some help. While I managed all this chaos I needed something to do to keep in one place, feet up. Escher's sweater. I found myself so incredibly immersed in the sweater. It worked like a charm. My mom joked, I better pace myself because as soon as I finished the sweater Escher would arrive. And he did. Right on time. Thirty-two days after we had moved into our new home and about 4 days after I had completed the sweater.

Then came the crazed months of having a newborn and toddler to care for. Five months into it I finally found a part-time nanny, Sarah. She was coming twice a week for about 3 hours a shift. I dreamed of so many projects I would be able to tackle, work on, complete. But this was not the case. I found myself keeping Escher with me to allow Lea to have some special "Sarah time". Secretly I didn't know how to wean Escher from my milk just so that I could work on my art, or get away for a bit. It just never felt right. Eventually, however, I did make it out the house sans kids. One Friday morning I had decided not to run errands or be "productive". I resolved to follow my heart and go to the library to pickup some books on hold and then drop into Peets to drink coffee, gobble down a lemon scone resembling a slice of cake, and work on the cardigan I had started for myself. Myself! Wow. It felt so rebellious to even consider it. Julie, from Fengari, the knitting store in downtown Half Moon Bay, helped me pick out the amazing yarn; Malbrigo twist in the color "pearl ten". It looked like dark iron and felt like cashmere. Perfecto! And the pattern. Oh yes. The pattern is called "solstice sweater" and it's the sweater I'm always looking for in stores, but never can find - or refuse to afford. It's a simple cardigan, with pockets - an absolute must - and a beautiful shawl collar. Complete with cables down the sleeves and inside hem of the arms. It even includes a belt rib stitch for a beautiful polished look and a little shape. I had been working on it, jaw clenched, for a little while until one day it finally clicked. I got it. I was making a life-sized sweater. I found myself knitting it in my mind, while nursing, rocking Escher to sleep, or playing with Lea. It became my guilty pleasure.

Apparently, Peets was the place to be that Friday morning. I pretty much land there once a day to pop in and grab the drinks for Jeff and I. But, I hadn't seen it that busy in a long time. I ordered my drink, looked around, and spotted the only seat left in the joint; a small spot on the booth-side of a table acquired by a group of ladies, all knitting. I recognized a few of them; one was Julie from Fengari. The other women, Mary - or Mary Beth, I recognized from the library. She had done one of the toddler story times my daughter frequented. I asked if it was OK to sit in the empty spot (something I never would have done if it wasn't so crowded. I would have just looked across the room, longingly at the happy group of knitters, and kept to myself). There I was, sitting with a group of adorably amazing women. Knitting away. Talking about my project. Asking about theirs, Listening to their conversations and stories. And making some new friends.