Bruce, Stella and the Hunt for DK Angora Yarn

My schedule has become more normal over the course of the last week or so as my late nights have become less late and my weekends have actually included some leisure time. Though I have spent the better part of that "leisure" time battling a rather feisty and stubborn cold.

Last Monday night we trekked out to Toronto to catch The Boss play the Air Canada Centre. Springsteen's stamina never ceases to amaze me, though my friends and I were a tad disappointed that this show was shorter than those of concerts past. We initially thought it had something to do with the lackluster Canadian crowd, but when I later reviewed the set lists for the previous Magic Tour shows, it appears that he's cut his playing time a bit. One can't really blame him though -- the guy is 58 or so. He still played for over two hours, and his voice is as powerful as ever. I actually think it's the strongest I've heard him -- though that may have had something to do with the acoustics, which were excellent.

So, did I mention the lackluster Canadian crowd? I bring this up again because if it weren't for the less-than-spirited audience (among other things, my friends and I were perplexed in observing very few Canadians wearing concert t-shirts), we may not have gotten the personal acknowledgment that made our night. After politely sitting through some slower songs, we shot up onto our feet for an upbeat number. It didn't appear that anyone else in our section cared to join us. Bruce made it over to our side of the stage, saw us behaving like crazy, obnoxious American fans, gave us a wave, as much eye contact as can be made up to the second row in the 300 level and a shout out to us "Up on top!" It really doesn't get much better than that.

In knitting news, I took a little break from the Central Park Hoodie (which I ended up frogging in order to correct the cables) to sneak in a couple Last Minute Knitted Gifts for my friends' recent addition to the world -- a beautiful little girl named Stella. Some friends decided to throw a Welcome Stella party in lieu of an earlier baby shower, and had it last weekend. Talk about some truly last minute knitted gifts -- the invitations were sent out just under two weeks before and despite my recent resolution to no longer cram for knitted gifts, I just couldn't resist. Baby girls will do that to a person. Especially since I'd already met little Stella a few times and knew how adorable she was.

I never cared much for knitting baby booties, but after seeing Kate knit up the Baby Angora Booties a while back, I was tempted. Figuring I'd knit up a couple pairs to go with the Baby Bonnet from the same book, I calculated about eight hours of knitting time which meant that I'd have plenty of time, right? Not so much. Who knew that DK weight angora yarn could be so elusive? I ended up trying four different shops before I was successful. By the time I actually managed to get the yarn I needed, it was the Friday night before the party. Then I thought the party started at 4 and figured I had all morning to finish knitting. It's a good thing my friend Amanda thought the party started at 1, or we may have never checked the invite to find out it was actually at 2. Needless to say, I failed yet again to finish a project in time. I did however complete the gifts shortly thereafter, so that's a small accomplishment. And really, aren't they just too cute?!